N64 Best ways to maintain an N64 for long term use?

[TamagotchiTamaHero24]

What are the best suggestions any of you have for keeping an N64, it’s controllers, and it’s games well for long term use?

 

[Iguana-0]

Keep it in decent environments, keep away from disgusting stupid children [If you've got any], don't get water on it etc.

 

[NeonKnights]

Take off the shell and clean the board every so often. I usually clean the shell when I do it.
You don't have to go too far with it, though I dust it and hit the PCB with IPA and a toothbrush.
I usually take off the cartridge connector and clean it with some IPA as well as the board under it.
Also For the love of god change the thermal pads they're probably old enough to drink.

 

[Zooey]

Whatever you do, keep it away from bunny rabbits. Mine would hop thru the Sega cords, just to get to those sweet delicious N64 cords. Besides that, do normal things like keep it out of the sun, dust it, keep it away from drinks. Also dont blow into the games, that moisture from your breath can corrode your games overtime.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Whatever you do, keep it away from bunny rabbits. Mine would hop thru the Sega cords, just to get to those sweet delicious N64 cords. Besides that, do normal things like keep it out of the sun, dust it, keep it away from drinks. Also dont blow into the games, that moisture from your breath can corrode your games overtime.

My sister’s pet rabbit chew through my DS charger when we were kids! Guess bunnies just love Nintendo cords?

 

[bjork]

The system itself is simple enough, keep it clean and Nintendo hardware can typically survive anything. But the analog sticks on the controllers can be an issue over time, luckily there are a lot of tutorials nowadays about how to properly disassemble and clean them. That should help a lot if you're willing to go that far, as the controllers can get pricey, especially for originals.

 

[SpcDaicon]

The analog stick will wear down and get limp eventualy (hehehe) no matter how carrefull you are. We could say it is a design flaw from the era people were still figuring out 3d movement.

You can actualy mod a Game Cube analog onto your controller or buy spare N64 analog sticks from third parties.

For consideration: if you get spare N64 sticks you will have to periodicaly change the stick depending on how much you play or how intense you use the controller (e.g some Mario Party minigames, fighting Bowser in Mario 64, etc). Modding a GC stick will circunvent the periodical change but may cause too much sensibility and make some games hard to play.

All in all, aside from the analog stick problem, the N64 is a very sturdy system and having basic maintence is enough.

 

[NeonKnights]

Again I highly recommend the "smash64 resources controller guide".
It goes into testing 3d party controllers and repairing and maintaining OEM controllers.