N64 acting funny

[HatefulGravey]

I broke out my N64 tonight and played around with a few games. When first I plugged it up it seemed to reset its self after about a min. I tried a different game and it reset but this time after about 2 min. So I went back to the first game and it reset after about 5 min. After a while it seemed to let me play properly but it has me wondering. I played for maybe 25 min without a reset by the time it was all said and done on a few different games just to see what was going on.

 

The games that reset like this were Mario Kart, Golden Eye, and Pokemon Stadium. There were 2 copies of Golden Eye that did this and then didn't after a while in the testing. This systems also has the expansion memory in it if that matters. I was using all 1st party cords and controllers during this test as well.

 

Any ideas what is going on here.

[zylon]

Try a different power cord. The internal circuit breaker might be dying.

[Eltigro]

It thinks it's in one of those old store kiosks where the game would automatically reset after a few minutes so that one person wouldn't hog the machine. I'd give it a stern lecture to set it straight. I tend to get the best results when I have one hand on my hip and the other hand wagging a finger at the offending hardware.

[SEgamer]

Try a different power cord. The internal circuit breaker might be dying.

+1

 

It might also be a faulty capacitor in there somewhere. Was the system in storage for a long time before you started playing it again?

[HatefulGravey]

It was stored in my house for a while. I played it a good bit a while back but in the last year or so I haven't had a pile of time for it so it is possible that age and the lack of use got to it. Tomorrow will hopefully be the end of a few things that have taken a great deal of time lately and I can start to work on issues like this one more again. Thanks for the advice so far and here's hoping I can get this thing back right.

 

Is there a way to figure out if its one problem or the other? I'm sure once that is known it can be fixed so..

[SlowCoder]

Is there a way to figure out if its one problem or the other? I'm sure once that is known it can be fixed so..

Yep. Find another N64, plug it in and see if it works. Then if it does work, you know your N64 doesn't work.

 

Seriously, though, I like zylon's power supply answer as the strongest possibility. Is it possible it's (the N64) overheating? It's a fairly powerful machine that relies on passive cooling, so I'm wondering if you have a loose heatsink somewhere in there.

[HatefulGravey]

Is there a way to figure out if its one problem or the other? I'm sure once that is known it can be fixed so..

Yep. Find another N64, plug it in and see if it works. Then if it does work, you know your N64 doesn't work.

 

Seriously, though, I like zylon's power supply answer as the strongest possibility. Is it possible it's (the N64) overheating? It's a fairly powerful machine that relies on passive cooling, so I'm wondering if you have a loose heatsink somewhere in there.

 

If it is over heating it is doing it really fast. I didn't feel any heat coming from it when I touched it so I really don't think that is an option.

[0078265317]

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[SEgamer]

I forgot to ask, but did the problem go away after playing it for awhile or does it still reset if it's been turned off for awhile?

 

I know that electrolytic caps will weaken over time if not used regularly, but normally it shouldn't matter too much unless if you were "lucky" enough to get a faulty one. I'm thinking that when you applied power to it the first time, the cap charged a bit then discharged quickly (or something to cause it to reset) and charged back up, and kept doing this until it "repaired" itself. Normally you would slowly apply more and more voltage to one if it's been sitting for awhile to get it back to working order.

 

I would keep playing it if it isn't causing any problems right now, since I would assume it's a capacitor in the power adapter. If it finally goes, then you can always get another power supply.

Edited May 20, 2011 by SEgamer

[TheGameCollector]

I had problems like this before. All I had to do in my situation was take out my expansion pak, clean its contacts and put it back into its slot. It was dirty even though it was inserted all those years...