If you own a Nintendo 64 it is important to keep it clean. More than any other system, the Nintendo 64 has one serious nemesis – dust. Dust can get into the game cartridges and in the console making it impossible to play games. Thankfully, with some compressed air and a little extra attention, you can easily clean your console.
How To Clean A Nintendo 64
If you’ve ever opened a console or computer before, you will know that they can get incredibly dusty over time. Although you might not think your air is dusty, dust builds up over time and cleaning it is important if you want your Nintendo 64 to work properly.
Is Dust Bad For My N64?
Dust is an inevitable part of owning an N64. While some dust build up will happen, the real danger is that too much dust builds up over time and causes your Nintendo 64 to no longer work. Sometimes, too much dust can cause a hardware failure as well. So while dust can cause damage, you can simply clean your Nintendo 64 regularly to avoid this problem.
How to Clean N64
There are several ways you can go about cleaning your N64. If you are comfortable taking apart your N64 to clean it or if you want to clean your N64 without opening it, there are methods for each.
You will need several tools for this job, but nothing serious.
- Vacuum for the dust
- Microfiber cloth to wipe
- Compressed air
- Cleaning brushfor hard to reach areas
With your can of compressed air, spray along the cartridge slot while holding the vacuum next to your can of compressed air to suck up any dust. If there is dust remaining use a brush to clean along the cartridge slot, again holding the vacuum alongside it. Run the vacuum over the vent one last time to pick up loose particles.
Most of the time this is where you would stop the cleaning process. 99% of your problems with the N64 can be solved by cleaning the cartridge slot alone.
Of course, for the more obsessive among us, you may want to open up your N64 and get inside. Here’s how we recommend doing that.
Note: before you proceed, you should acknowledge that this would void any warranty. That being said the N64 is well over 20 years old at this point so warranties are long expired. All that being said, proceed at your own risk.
How To Clean The Connectors Inside N64
- Prepare a dust-free work surface, such as the kitchen table
- Unplug your N64 and make sure you are disconnected from the power
- Place your N64 on your prepared work surface
- Using the 1Up card, clean the connectors inside your N64. This is the best available tool on the market to remove corrosion from N64 connectors without damaging the console.
How To Clean The Pins On N64 Cartridge
If you cleaned the connectors inside your N64 but your games are still not working, you might want to try cleaning the pins on the N64 cartridge. Here is how:
- Take an old business card and wrap the card in two layers of paper towel.
- Lightly soak the paper towel in rubbing alcohol.
- Insert the paper towel along the inside of the cartridge and work your way around the edges (this will also work for cleaning the console itself).
- Take a q-tip and lightly soak it in rubbing alcohol. Clean the pins on the N64 cartridge gently. Don’t worry about water damage, the rubbing alcohol will evaporate quickly.
How to Keep Dust Out Of My N64
Now that your Nintendo 64 is finally clean, how can you stop dust from building up again? Here are the best ways to keep dust from building up:
- Store your N64 off the ground in a cabinet or on a shelf.
- Give your N64 plenty of space to breath, it is good to have lots of open air around the unit.
- Wipe down the area around the N64 on a regular basis to minimize dust build up.
How Often Should I Clean My N64?
While you should clean your N64 on a regular basis, different environments will have different amounts of dust so it will vary. If the N64 is used heavily, it is probably good to check at least once per month and clean the cartridge slot.
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