Free NUON controllers

midnight8

NUON & Atari VCS Forum Moderator
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more than half of the controllers somewhat work after cleaning the contacts. What I mean by that is I can get them to function, but a common theme with all these controllers is they fit very loose in the socket as compared to the other hpi controllers I have. When they wiggle in the socket the game will come up and say insert controller 1. Maybe this batch of connectors was not completely up to specs. Also I found the contact cleaner does not help very much. rubbing them clean until they are shiny works much better but you have to be careful not for file too much off the pin. what I found that works pretty well other than the torch cleaner is the tie wrap that the cords were tied up with. you can get it in there and its not stiff enuff to hurt the pins. once I got some of them working I found a few more that had problems with the thumbsticks. another one that is wired backwards that makes 3 now and one the thumbstick does not work at all. I would be willing to bet many of the ones you have left will work if you clean up the contacts. you just have to be careful not to move the connector around a whole lot when playing a game. Which means thank god they have fairly long cords. another thing is these controllers don't like being plugged in while the system is on. for some reason. they will work a lot more often if you plug them in and let it boot up.
 

midnight8

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Ha! Wouldn't that be a laugh if all I had to do was clean the contacts? Well not so much a laugh as :banghead:

curious if you got any of your remaining ones working by cleaning contacts
 

Skah T

Former VML engineer
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Not yet. I haven't found a good tool to clean them. Also, I opened one controller and poked around, but didn't have luck debugging it. I'll try again today.
 

midnight8

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just put your multimeter on the different wires on top of the connector on top of the circuit board and see if there is voltage on them. from what I found most of them will have between 2 and 4 volts going across them when they are working. if there is no voltage then either the connector is dirty/broken or there is a break in the cord. something else that may work on the connectors is some alcohol on a pipe cleaner or q-tip. everyone there have only been 4 that I couldn't get working by cleaning the connector and those are the ones with other issues in wiring that I have to fix. I did ruin one of them because I tried to cut open the connector and ripped the pins out and bent them pretty bad.
 

Skah T

Former VML engineer
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Some success. I thought I was on a roll as the first three I cleaned started working. Things weren't quite that perfect, though. In the end I got five controllers working, one partially working, and eight either physically broken (so I didn't even try) or cleaning didn't help.

Pretty good, though. I'll run more tests on the ones that are now working to make sure they are stable before adding them to the pile of good controllers.

I have another big box to go through so I may recover a few more.
 

midnight8

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I still think maybe part of the problem is that the connectors are not the perfect size for the ports. Maybe hpi didn't get it just right. I think most of them fit tight enuff to work for the most part. maybe with a little more regular use they will stay working. When it all come down to it, the ones that are truly broken there are many electronics hackers over at atariage that are always trying to modify and hack things that might be interested since there does not seem to be a whole lot of people over here interested. just though I might throw that out there for a later date if needed, or if you have more that are backwards or partially working I can probably take care of those when I get a little more time. hopefully my traveling is almost over for a while. Mostly I can fix unless the chips are bad in which case I just don't have the equipment.
 
N

NearChaos

Guest
I got a bunch working by cleaning contacts. Since the deal was to share with the community, how about this for starters. If you're going to Too Many Games in Reading, PA on 4 May, and if you can find me, and I have any working controllers left, I'll give you one.

I'm the, uh, geeky looking bearded guy. That should help. :banghead:

Eric
 

midnight8

NUON & Atari VCS Forum Moderator
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I also have about 8 or so working now. Since I won' be at any gaming expos or anything. On a first come first serve basis 5 bucks each. this will cover my shipping cost and gas to the post office. respond by personnal message please
 

Xentorians

New Member
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Well if you got any controllers left midnight8 I definitely want one in case of any future development as some people said before. I can paypal you or send a check to your address. Let me know.
 

midnight8

NUON & Atari VCS Forum Moderator
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Well if you got any controllers left midnight8 I definitely want one in case of any future development as some people said before. I can paypal you or send a check to your address. Let me know.
check your messages
 
S

Starflare5

Guest
Anymore available.....

Hey guys,

I just recently bought my second N501 (Second because my psycho ex stole the first), anyway, I was wondering if there were anymore of these controllers available. Someone write me and let me know.

Thank you,
Starflare5.:)
 

Skah T

Former VML engineer
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I'll have to check. I have a list of people that registered interest so I can add you to that.
 
S

Starflare5

Guest
Anymore Avail...?

I'll have to check. I have a list of people that registered interest so I can add you to that.

Thank you Skah T. Btw guys, my hardware should arrive by tommorrow. Yippeee!!:D
 

megarat

Cool Member
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Hey, if any are left, I'll happily take two. This may be too late for some transactions, but why don't you ask for $5-10 apiece, and donate the proceeds to a cause that Riff would've approved of?

Thanks,
-cam
 

megarat

Cool Member
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(Oh, this thread was started last year. My apologies if I'm jumping on the bandwagon way too late.)

-cam
 

Skah T

Former VML engineer
Reaction score
62
No problem, I'll add you to the list. I admit I still have a few controllers left to give out and just haven't gotten around to contacting people. I'll try to do it soon.
 

midnight8

NUON & Atari VCS Forum Moderator
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All of the ones I had repaired are gone now. Did you get a bunch of yours fixed?
 

midnight8

NUON & Atari VCS Forum Moderator
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103
I'm glad to hear that. It would have been sad for that many of them to go to waste. most of mine repaired by cleaning contacts I had to reverse wires on the inside of some of them. Only one of mine ended up not working and that was because I broke it trying to fix a contact on it.
 
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