Hori N64 Controller Analog Issue

Hello, I've had a Hori N64 Controller for about 3 years now & during a game of Jet Force Gemini the analog stick started to not respond and the character began to constantly walk downwards. Trying to push the stick in any other direction didn't stop the character.

I first thought to unplug the controller and then replug it back in, but even when disonnected the issues persisted. After plugging it back in it would stop for a second and then resume. Plugging in another controller in the same port would stop the issue.

Next I decided to try it with 2 different games: Donkey Kong 64 & Mario Kart 64. I had 4 official controllers and made sure all 4 controller ports were working: Which thankfully they were, The Hori still exhibited the problem in all 4 ports.

Finally i decided to carefully open the controller and disconnected the ribbon cable connecting the analog stick to the main board, cleaned both ends with a drop of Isoproypl (100% pure, carefully scrubbed with a Q-Tip) and use a compressed air can to clean any muck inside the stick itself, Reassembled it and reconnected it but to no avail the problem persisted.

Now i'm completely out of ideas on what might be causing it. At this point i'm considering grabbing another. So, any ideas what might be the culprit?

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

I don't know the Hori pad very well, but if you have an extra N64 analog stick around (or a controller you don't mind opening for a while), you could try swapping the sticks out, at least you'd know if it was the stick or the port in the controller.

 

My current idea is to grab another controller and switch the sticks around as you said (Hori analog sticks are only connected by a single ribbon cable to the rest of the controller, so swapping them is not a hassle)

 

Are Hori N64 Controller joysticks the same size as the OEMs? If so you can buy that $10 Gamecube like stick off ebay.

 

Hori's joystick is larger and completely different to the standard stick. The stick itself is glued to a small box which has 2 switches and rods for actual movement (which needs de-soldering to gain access to). That's attached to a small circular PCB which has nothing on it except for a female connector for a 4 pin Ribbon Cable that connects it to the controller proper which is finally secured to the shell by a single screw. I'll throw some images of it up later when I get the chance, As for the life of me I can't find any online that's not a dead link.

 

Here's the board and PCB of the Hori pad:



Here's the Ribbon Cable:



The Analog Stick itself: (It's tilted to try and show the inside)



And finally, The PCB Board it's attached to:

 

That's the same micro analog joystick from ALPS which is used on PlayStation and PlayStation2 controllers. Only difference is it does not have the push down button on the middle.

 

Any luck with this? I've got a Hori pad I need to change the stick on as it's worn out, but I can't just swap it round for another one as it's glued in place.