The Famicom controllers are overall very reliable. Occasionally these do need cleaning and the Player 2 Mic is prone to buzzing. This article will cover the basic of cleaning the contacts and fixing these issues.
Supply List:
- Small Phillips screwdriver.
- High Polymer Eraser (from art stores or online)
- Dawn Dish Soap & Warm Water
1. Remove the 6 Screws from the controller bottom. Carefully pull the two halves apart.
2. Lift the motherboard from the shell, be gentle with the microphone.
Both P1 / P2 controllers are very similar in design. The only difference is the attentional buttons for Start & Select.
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| Famicom Player 2 Controller |
3. With the high polymer eraser clean all the button contacts illustrated below. Pay special attention to the microphone slider contacts. These are the culprits in most buzzing issues. Player one controller will have two attentional center contacts Start / Select
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| Player 2 Motherboard |
The microphone slider pins are the source of buzzing too, clean contatcs & proper tension is needed. Placing a small screwdriver behind the contacts will bend them back to spec and assist when cleaning with the polymer eraser.
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| Microphone Slider Contacts |
Separate the buttons and silicon pads. These can be cleaned with warm
water and a drop of Dawn dish soap. Mild cleaners vs rubbing alcohol
will prolong the life of the silicon pads. If the controller 1 pads are
worn-out they can be interchanged the player 2 pads.
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| Pads & Buttons |
I ripped of the microphone to see if that would work. It worked, but I found out that I needed it to play Zelda. I resoldered the microphone, but it's just worse now. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteDid you solder it in the right way?
DeleteIn the photos above, the capacitor looks blown and the (black) ground lead from the mic is soldered to the positive trace and the (red) positive lead is floating.
I'm not sure if the direction even matters with that mic, but at least check if both leads go to different pads and aren't touching. And test the capacitor.