Hardware Oldies Others Nintendo 64 cartridge connector research

[Axido]

Tl;dr: If you already disassembled your N64 console once (in order to clean it or whatever), did you find a 48 pin cartridge connector inside of it or a 50 pin connector? Please share your experience (and maybe some photos) so that we can see if the replacement parts sold online are actually useful or just a scam.

Console	Model No.	Cartridge Connector	provided by
N64 black - PAL	NUP104xxxxx	48 pin	Axido
N64 black - PAL	NUP150xxxxx	48 pin	Axido
N64 Pikachu Edition - PAL	NUP166xxxxx	48 pin	Axido
N64 black - NTSC-U	NUJ117xxxxx	48 pin	Axido

Hello, fellow tempers,

I recently had a few N64 consoles to fix as I was experiencing sudden resets in various games. I figured that the reason were worn-out cartridge connectors. I replaced an NES cartridge connector with an aftermarket part before and thought it would be very easy. In fact it could have been, since to my knowledge, you would just pull out the old cartrdige connector and plug in a new one. However, when it comes to spare parts available, there seems to be only one kind that is being sold currently apart from used original ones. And that is a 50 pin connector with a different spacing between the rows of pins (5mm opposed to about 4mm). After some research I came to the conclusion that I couldn't find a 50 pin connector in any of the twenty-something consoles I looked at. I opened up four consoles myself already, three of them PAL and one NTSC-J. All of them had a 48 pin connector with two pins missing in the middle (14th column from the left or 12th from the right). There are rumors floating around the internet about region differences, so I took a look at a bunch of disassembly videos on Youtube. In two of them I made out NTSC-U consoles and they still had the 48 pin connector and the corresponding holes on the motherboard. Long story short, I wasn't able to fix any console with those 50 pin connectors even after following a guide on how to make them work.

As there seems to be little information on this topic while lots of N64 consoles are nearing the point at which their cartridge connectors might wear out, I'd like to gather better knowledge about this, which hopefully leads to better replacement parts available in the future. In the end it's just a piece of plastic with conductive pins in it and nothing more.

So, in case you have taken a look at the insides of your N64 before or have other insights to share that I didn't stumble upon during my research, please post them here and I will update this post accordingly.

For reference, this is what your cartridge connector may look like if you have a 48 pin one:

(this one usually has an arrow and a model number or something like that on the other side)

This is the 50 pin one that is sold on Ebay, Alibaba, Amazon and whatnot:

The ports on the N64 motherboards I took a look at all looked like this with the connector installed:

And like this without it:

I took the pictures from product listings and Youtube videos, since I was too lazy to take them myself, but what is shown is what you'd expect my own photos to look like.

Edit: In case you haven't taken apart your N64 console yet, but are interested in cleaning it, here is a disassembly video that guides you through the process. Keep in mind that apart from your usual Phillips screwdriver you need a 4.5mm GameBit screwdriver.
Nintendo 64 Disassembly / Maintenance / Reassembly

 

[skawo]

In all three of my N64 consoles (two Japanese and one PAL), there are 48 pin connectors.

Having had about four more pass through my hands, I can say they also definitely had the missing pins in the middle.

Is it not possible to make that aftermarket connector work by pushing out the two pins in question?

 

[master801]

Replacement parts from China aren't usually good quality. I'm not surprised they cut corners and didn't make an exact copy (no shielding, no extra part.)

An example of this is the GBA SP charge port. The pins on the China charge port have to be bent like crazy to fit properly. So much so, that videos have been made doing the bending process lol


To be honest, they probably use the same machines to manufacture the 50 pin connector for a slightly different part.

 

[Axido]

Replacement parts from China aren't usually good quality. I'm not surprised they cut corners and didn't make an exact copy (no shielding, no extra part.)

An example of this is the GBA SP charge port. The pins on the China charge port have to be bent like crazy to fit properly. So much so, that videos have been made doing the bending process lol


To be honest, they probably use the same machines to manufacture the 50 pin connector for a slightly different part.

Thank you for this helpful piece of information. It's pretty much what I expected. I'm just baffled that it's this bad. Those alleged N64 parts aren't even remotely resembling the original parts and take huge amounts of work in order to at least have a chance to work. The weird thing is that they sure know how to make NES and SNES connectors as those come with their mounting brackets attached.

At one point I thought about modeling a 3D-printable cartridge slot complete with the mounting bracket (without the shielding, though) and the right spacing, but I lack the knowledge on how to aquire and insert the metal pins (if that's even a possibility at all). Additionally, a printed part with such small details (mostly the gaps for the pins) might still prove to be a challenge, as printed surfaces can be quite uneven. I'm not sure whether I'd really want to go with something like this.

 

[skawo]

The pins should just press out. Once they've been out, they usually don't stay in very well when put back in, though.

 

[master801]

Thank you for this helpful piece of information. It's pretty much what I expected. I'm just baffled that it's this bad. Those alleged N64 parts aren't even remotely resembling the original parts and take huge amounts of work in order to at least have a chance to work. The weird thing is that they sure know how to make NES and SNES connectors as those come with their mounting brackets attached.

At one point I thought about modeling a 3D-printable cartridge slot complete with the mounting bracket (without the shielding, though) and the right spacing, but I lack the knowledge on how to aquire and insert the metal pins (if that's even a possibility at all). Additionally, a printed part with such small details (mostly the gaps for the pins) might still prove to be a challenge, as printed surfaces can be quite uneven. I'm not sure whether I'd really want to go with something like this.

By the way, those metal contacts are called "spring finger contacts" or "spring compression contacts" (either or.)

Here's one manufacturer (or supplier?): https://www.te.com/usa-en/plp/spring-finger-contacts/Y30dD.html

I've had many troubles finding suppliers for them, but your luck may be better than mine.

I'm not sure how you'd use them into a 3D printed design though.


A bit off-topic, but here's something interesting:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/235039001237 (overpriced as fuck)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/174492488458 (best design overall imo)