Gamerade - PROPERLY Cleaning & Restoring a GameCube - Adam Koralik

www.figureitoutproductions.com
In this video I clean and properly restore a Nintendo GameCube I got from a dude named Chad.

[@tempestfury8324]

A word of warning not mentioned : There is a small switch activated by two very fragile black plastic pieces that tell the GameCube if the lid is closed or not. If you snap off either of these fine black pieces - you are screwed and your GC will not work. Just a word of advice when you are taking it apart and re-assembling the GC.

[@dylanhinkel3548]

Tempest Fury if you can answer, are you talking about the black pieces attached to the lid, or black pieces near the disk mechanism that would connect to the lid

[@DGDoodles]

@@dylanhinkel3548 it's on the inside, you have to be real careful, it's more fragile than I thought and I broke mine

[@DGDoodles]

Heres the link to replacements if you guys need it www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Replacement-Nintendo-GameCube-Door-Lid-Open-Close-Sensor-Switch/193182430471

[@Tak4r]

Had this problem. Cant i simply connect the cables and it should work?

[@tempestfury8324]

@@Tak4r not unless you replace that switch. If the GameCube thinks that disc door is open, it won't boot.

[@RedguardSpy]

This man has more expressions in one hand than some people on their face.

[@Eyetrauma]

>"Gamecubes themselves cost about $5" I come from the future bearing bad news

[@Victor32179]

just saw this and looked it up like shit might as well buy one for 5 dollars. RIP old price.

[@Eyetrauma]

+MexieDoesGaming sorry fam

[@_ThreeFold]

WHY DOES MELEE COST SO MUCH

[@Mexicomank2]

+Nicholas McNew this why I'm glad I never sold my GameCube or any of the games

[@skellena8940]

I bought a Gamecube for 4€ :3

[@GjpRion]

I dont even own a Gamecube... I just love listening to this guy...

[@AdamKoralik]

[@AdamKoralik]

*****

[@SMGJohn]

Amazing how tiny the GameCube actually is and had superior performance to the PS2 and similar performance to the XBOX while challenging a lot of the mid end gamer desktops at the time.

[@TinyGoliath]

+SMGJohn well it wasn't as powerful as its competition but it sure as heck had better performance speedwise

[@EthanPHX]

They shot themselves in the foot using the smaller discs. GameCube 100% would’ve had San Andreas if it used normal sized discs

[@SMGJohn]

@@EthanPHX Smaller disc did them no favour yes, but GPU performance was the best out of all 3 consoles. CPU was superior to anything when fully utilised.

[@Call_MeJD]

I just bought a 2nd gamecube and took it apart to clean it. Putting the top half back together was a pain as you warned us but I took the risk, went to sleep because it got frustrating, came back to it this morning and realized I was putting the back spring in wrong the whole time. I figured it out after taking a sleep break, and watched your video carefully to realize what I did wrong. It's fixed and it looks much better. No sticky buttons and no more scuffs. Thanks

[@payne540]

Adam, thanks for making all of these videos showing how to restore these old systems! You've now helped me clean out my N64, Genesis model 2, Sega CD, and my Gamecube, with and NES, SNES, PS1, PS2, and XBOX awaiting their turn. I wouldn't have had the confidence to disassemble and clean these systems without your videos.

[@scrunkykat]

Shit, the bearded guy shown up on my Gamecube.

[@AdamKoralik]

Muhahahaha.

[@christytownsend7025]

I really appreciated your video. First time opening my console to unstick the reset button. I ended up doing a major cleaning. I liked your thorough instructions. Thanks

[@Jack-ni2qs]

Thank you for the disassembly video. It was a good resource overall, except in how to reassemble the spring for the lid of the gamecube. The solution I stumbled on eventually was to prepare the cog, spring, and axle and pplace them in at the same time, pushing the spring to fit into where you placed it. I know the video is old, but maybe you could go over it again later with some better camera angles/wait times for those small details. As some other commenter pointed out, the top part was far more difficult than the console itself.

[@jpmadison98]

What do I do if the bearded guy shows up in my gamecube?! Help!

[@AdamKoralik]

***** Say "Beardy Mary" three times and banish him back to the depths of hell.

[@jpmadison98]

AdamKoralik Done and done. Shame. He had such a luxurious beard, if only he wasn't evil.

[@Soldazzz]

***** Thanks for the help! i had a creepy beard man on my gamecube to!

[@HKT-4300]

You scream

[@planetcentral8322]

jpmadison98 LOL

[@bobvelocity]

You know when people say "It's not bloody brain surgery, or it's not rocket science"? Can we add, "It's not putting a Nintendo back together"?. Seriously though, thankyou for the video. It was a fun idea to start but quickly turned into an anger management course. I now have a rather clean Gamecube. Cheers.

[@alexkhourieh2546]

Honestly a fantastic and very helpful video. The teardown pages exist on the internet but sometimes having a knowledgeable person talk and show things off in video is extremely helpful. I used the teardown site to take apart the gamecube and this video to put it all back together.

[@Thermoclorn]

Thank you so much. I just picked up an old gamecube for $30 and was able to restore it thanks to this video. This is the best tutorial for disassembling a Gamecube that I have found and I really appreciate it!

[@muckersTGN]

Great video, man! Tricky to see things at times but the GameCube is a teeny console. Anyway, you helped me get my lid hinge mechanism back together. I'd be banging my head against the wall with this one; took it apart to clean but I could not get it back together properly. THANK YOU! No-one else has these instructions anywhere.

[@NeutronNeutopian13]

The timing of this video is impeccable. I just picked up a GameCube with Resident Evil 4 decal yesterday at a really good price. I haven't owned in years and am so happy to have one back in my life.

[@AdamKoralik]

Happy to help.

[@BawesomeBurf]

It's surprising how many people don't know about the eject button. Anyways, really enjoying these cleaning and restoring vids!

[@RimmyTimfpv]

Super helpful! Thank you for going into such detail. I just pulled my family's old Gamecube out of storage last week and after enjoying some play time on it I was trying to think of how I might clean it out a little bit. I probably won't go quite as far as you did, but I'll definitely take the top off and clean out the fan and some of the ports. Thanks!

[@AdamKoralik]

+Daniel Maurer Happy to help!

[@YtheTie]

I have to say: That video was just amazing! I do kind of the same type of thing on my channel (only in german) and wanted to get into cleaning a Cube for a long time now. This vid definetly gave me the convidence to do it cause yeah it looks a lot more complicated then the prior consoles but also a lot like a "you did it once you can do always do it" type of thing. Thanks a lot for the help!

[@Illoma92]

Thank you so much for this video. I had to disassemble a Gamecube (the seller told me that it didn't read discs, actually he broke one of the two switches that tell the console that the disc lid is closed, so I've fixed it with a couple of solder joints) and couldn't put the top back together without your instructions. I appreciate your work on the channel, you've got yourself an Italian fan!

[@AdamKoralik]

+Loma Happy to help!

[@WarpedDimensionn]

Thanks for the lid mechanism part, spent like an hour trying to figure it out.

[@NatashaQuinonez]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your extra detailed video. My husband took off the lid of his Gamecube to fix the eject button and couldn't figure out what to do with the spring. The video he had watched didn't mention putting the spring through the hole AT ALL. It took us well over an hour trying to figure out how that spring even does anything until we saw your video. So thanks.

[@AdamKoralik]

Glad I could help!

[@JoshLeitzel]

Thanks for the tutorial dude! I just recently ordered a casing for a Japanese Spice Orange Gamecube off of eBay, because I've always wanted to own the orange one but never could due to region locking, and this video is really going to help me when I move the guts from my current Black console to the new shell (and I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it a good cleaning while I'm at it either). :)

[@Chadley7805]

Hey man I'm glad you liked the VMU. I loved the video and I hope you enjoy the GameCube.

[@AdamKoralik]

Thanks again Chad! I hope those discs I sent you fulfill your needs.

[@gaminglikeevan9924]

ITS CHAD

[@AdamKoskiTetrahedron]

Great video! Excellent walk-through cleaning the Gamecube.

[@iCach0]

Great job man! Thanks a lot, I actually followed your instructions and restored my GameCube. Just a couple constructive notes: 1) You can disconnect the fan assembly from the red/black wire and work more comfortable without the fan assembly dangling around the side. 2) You can unscrew the fan from the assembly which makes the cleaning process much easier for those parts. 3) Most electrical motors generate current when you manually make them spin (like when you blew the compressed air). So again, I would disconnect the fan from the assembly to prevent any generated current from damaging the board that it was connected to.

[@Lucasfr92]

Last week I'm watching your other GC cleaning video, and I thought to myself "Man, Adam needs to do a new GC cleaning video" and bam!! Here it is haha. Thx!

[@AdamKoralik]

My pleasure, thanks for watching.

[@MrCactus42]

Awesome tutorial! Once I get my gamebit screwdriver, I'm gonna take a whack at cleaning my gamecube. Thank you for making such an informative and step by step instruction video!

[@AdamKoralik]

Happy to help, thanks for watching!

[@Jacobro02]

Thank you so much for this video. I had just recently bought a gamecube from a guy near me, but of course it is in a bit of rough condition so seeing this video is really gonna help me overall restore my new gamecube to great condition(at least I hope it'll be)

[@AdamKoralik]

+Jacobro Happy to help.

[@musicgenius3215]

Bro I'm honestly amazed by your attention to detail 🤟😁 if only you had this much instruction on how to rebuild my Kawasaki Ninja 250 engine top end lol

[@ChrisKewl]

And with this guide I tested two Gamecubes. Thank you Adam!

[@ronaldhenson3379]

Hi thank you Adam koralic your video helped me save two original Nintendo game cube dol-001 systems I cleaned fixed inspected refurbished repaired restored and sanitized both of them and they work excellent

[@christurkthebrave]

Amazing video Adam! my black gamecube arrived in the mail today, to add to my collection. It wouldn't read the discs straight away so I cleaned the lens with a cuetip and windex like you show in this video, and it worked! thanks! When I have time I'll take it apart and clean it properly like you show.

[@AdamKoralik]

No problem dude, happy to help. Enjoy your Cube!

[@MrKykee]

Great Job man, love and appreciate all your videos!

[@ThatOldSchoolMagic]

Will this fix the problem i have in ssbm? Here and there after moving around the analog stick it will think im continuously moving left, right or down. Then i have to recenter it constantly. In not sure if its the controller port or the control's analog stick itself.

[@idlesiren]

What! I didn't know about the middle eject button and I'm still playing mine in 2016. Thanks for the video Adam! Great as always!

[@tavinblake437]

i accidently damaged my gamecube housing and reset button so do i have to buy new housing or can clue and buffing fix the cracks ,and if not i bought a replacement japanese spice orange game console.

[@CrimsonSteelMoonTheWolf64]

is the heat sink glued on via a glue+thermal paste combo? I'm interested in replacing the stock thermal paste with high quality PC thermal paste.

[@fossilfern]

Should also remove the heat sink covering the GPU And CPU, then clean up the old thermal paste and reapply a new layer.

[@rosebayrotord]

Really wish my old Gamecube hadn't broken back in the mid 2000s. That five dollar deal you got was amazing, lol. Very helpful guide either way.

[@Mugiwara1]

Hey Adam! I got a question, so I bought the screwdriver to take off the security screws. But it didn't come with a handle and unscrewing them without the handle is just impossible, you got anything to reccomed?

[@Minecraft101ToonLink]

Great job, Dude! I think I might do this on my GameCube! It's my FAVORITE Nintendo Console OF ALL TIME, and don't even make me say otherwise! 'Cuz it was AWESOME back in the day!

[@trancegotten3699]

I put a q tip on my ps2 laser and after it doesn't read anything now I have buy another ps2 and a gamecube and I want to clean what should I do and I don't know why the time I was cleaning the other after it didn't read any disk what you think ?

[@justadrummervienna]

my cube dont have a reflecting bearded guy .... ! was this a limited edition of the cube?

[@jeremydaniel3961]

😂

[@chiefkeefsossa675]

+Jeremy Daniel not funny

[@asecretone]

not president

[@chiefkeefsossa675]

you cant insult your way to the presidency

[@Flixxy0]

Nope just his reflection

[@bighotman805]

Thanks! I really needed this. My GameCube is all the way from 2004 and has never been cleaned. Soon it'll be in mint condition!

[@Warrenmitchum]

My power button has a problem staying pressed. Do you have any ideas on how to fix it. My thinking is the button isn't making good contact. It'll work the first time then after that won't stay pressed.

[@1337CL4N]

great video. u know the dark clear disc window that says nintendo gamecube on it? mine had a lil smudge so i tried to clean it off with ISO alcohol and it made it worse and its covered in way more smudges now. Will soap and water fix this?

[@Letfordlay]

recently i got a jet black gamecube and when i recieved it there was a melted spot on the lid like someone set a cigarette on top so it looks brand new other than that, do you know anyway to fix it? i doubt theres a solution other than buying a new housing... but i though i should ask just in case.

[@DragonProtector]

can i get a link to those bits needed to take apart gamecube and also what do we do for fan not working or it feeezing on games randomly

[@paulsmith8057]

i think i might have a later model of the gamecube mine has the black back plate did they paint that one?

[@pablonator3000able]

Question: Are there any fragile spots that would get damaged if I use a compressor air to clean it out?

[@bryanmaldonado4879]

Can I use the magic eraser to remove little scuff/scratches on the black gamecube with out adding more scratches? Thanks!

[@williamburgoon1834]

got a gamecube today for 5$ makes a high pitched sound when reading discs and eventually the laser stops working, if i do this, will it increase my chance of it working or not? like i feel like the laser is dieing or something.

[@damienmeeks5263]

+AdamKoralik my GameCube platinum didn't have that last circuit board that the fan was attached to. Is this normal?

[@reptaronrice]

I just bought a GameCube from eBay and this is perfect for me to use as a guide. Thanks!

[@eddie1181]

your cleaning vids are great, helped me alot with cleaning my consoles and not breaking anything :D thus you have earnt my sub ^^

[@AdamKoralik]

Happy to help, welcome aboard.

[@darksondap94]

What are the specifications for the spring under the eject button (diameter, length, stiffness)? A unit i bought recently came without one and the eject button will not sit flush because of that! Not a huge dealbreaker but really iritating!

[@ronaldhenson3379]

Hi Adam koralic your video has helped me I finally put the spring under the open button and my original nintendo game cube dol-001 works excellent

[@musicgenius3215]

Bro you have no idea how much you've helped me out. Can you do video just like this for the Xbox 360? I would love to keep my old nostalgia systems clean 😁

[@PunkRocker290]

I have a GameCube with a busted memory card dust cover, still in the console and covers the slot. But, it makes it difficult to put a memory card in it, any advice on fixing the piece? Thanks.

[@lovestehloz]

Hi Adam, I've been very pleased with your videos for cleaning and restoring systems. Could you please do one for repairing damaged game discs?

[@eltaliboricuaairsoft66]

Hey Adam, i jist bought a gamcube out of nostalgia but it looks really blurry. I even bought that little converter box that you said not to buy, bought it before i saw that video. Anyways, when I saw this cleaning video i was wondering if I did a cleaning would it make a diference on the image quality being that the component cable is worth more than my kidney. Thanks in advanced.

[@luckduck5031]

can i use the magic eraser on my gamecube?

[@GrandmaStew]

At 14:50, the light flashed. Sp00ky

[@cutemimi25]

+GrandmaStew Turns out if you touch the ribbon cable from the controller ports to the metal on the Memory Card slots it'll light up, pretty cool huh?

[@sorual4604]

i JUST like an hour ago cleaned my gamecube using your original guide and now this is uploaded. XD

[@AdamKoralik]

Ha, sorry about that.

[@sorual4604]

no worries! i like cleaning consoles! :)

[@Artilliox]

I was cleaning up my sister's GameCube yesterday, and that little metal tab fell out of the bottom, but I can't get back below the heatsink because 2 of the screws are stripped, what do I do?

[@noahz6980]

Hey my gamecube light will come on for like 2 seconds but then go off and the fan will come on and stay on. What do you think could be wrong? Thank you

[@DragonProtector]

I remember this video! Also those screws on the metal under motherboard. What onea are they? Mine does not have any.

[@barrelroll_poopoopeepee]

How exactly do you put the spring back in that makes the door work?

[@clarahenson935]

Hi Adam Koralic your video helped me clean and fully restore a original Nintendo game cube dol 001 I bought my game cube off eBay

[@tabbuh6195]

Thank you so much man. The controller faceplates on both of my Gamecubes have yellowed and I've been meaning to treat them. Glad to see that taking them off isn't that hard.

[@AdamKoralik]

Happy to help!

[@herohunter81]

How reliable do you think the GameCubes laser is? I think Nintendo builds solid machines. I'm just curious because the Sega Saturn has a great laser and the Dreamcast doesn't.

[@Stlcardinal234]

Adam I have a GameCube with a stuck eject button, I think something sticky went into it. How should I try to fix it?

[@hopibustillos0314]

Please do another video and explain more on the door spring couldn't tell what you did to put it back into place.

[@hopibustillos0314]

Posted some pics of the problem I was having. After much complications I finally understood what you meant it was a lot harder said then done in this case still now it can be accomplished. If you can't figure out how to get the door to spring up then check out my pictures step by step of the process

[@RingEdge]

Thank you so much, I found my old GameCube in my garage, and it was extremely dirty, but now it looks near perfect.

[@AdamKoralik]

Happy to help.

[@jacobraeker3799]

whats that thing thats below your nintendo 64 at the end of the video and whats it do?

[@hiredgun7186]

wouldnt 25:18 be a good time to replace the coin cell battery on the board while you have it apart?

[@trevisz182]

Where can I buy this scewdriver? Can you tell me what is the name of it?

[@Minty_Meeo]

I finally got a gamebit screwdriver during the holidays, so I think I'll be following this guide to eliminate some really old dog piss that I'm sure got into the case.

[@rarecheese5095]

Who else yanked the disk as a kid because they didn’t know that the silver piece was a button

[@NJT4211]

Thanks for the video I've always wanted to see the inside of a gamecube

[@rat9625]

Can you put a dol-001 gamecube motherboard in a dol-101 gamecube? I have 2 GameCubes and one is in better shape with a better laser.

[@dushyantpuri]

Great vid, What kind of polish do you use? I had a few scratches on mine that id like to get rid of.

[@shahryarrizvi1]

Thanks for this vid. I had a GameCube that survived a house fire and just followed all these steps to get it working. Only two issues I'm dealing with are with a very sporadic display stutters/going out for a moment & and with a controller that will stop working but work again if I swap it into a diff port.

[@AdamKoralik]

I saw your post on Reddit, glad I could help!

[@kourii]

How is there already a dislike? Some people... anyway, always glad to see another cleaning video!

[@AdamKoralik]

I'm pretty sure there's always someone who just goes "A VIDEO I CAN DISLIKE!!! THIS WILL MAKE ME MATTER!!!!" Not saying the video is amazing or anything, but who clicked on this going "I want to learn how to clean a GameCube" and walked away going "well, that wasn't helpful at all!"

[@RileySkye100]

I'm actually in the process of restoring my Gamecube and following this video to do it. There's just one thing. For my Gamecube, when it comes to the button with the spring inside, my console in particular doesn't have that. Maybe it might be an earlier version or a later version. I just hope it doesn't affect the way I put it back together.

[@35151000]

Thank you so much for this video Adam and in fact for you're whole channel. I love gaming and I love restoring consoles (or having a go anyway) I've only done Nintendo DS s so far and now I'm doing my first gamecube. I must admit at first I was very scared about trying it but I dived in and it wasn't as bad as it looked. I didn't see a bearded man in mine BUT I did see a scary looking woman!!!! Thanks once again, Alison. P.S. Loved your video with Mrs Claus....

[@IEBIGCAT]

Nice video, thanx again Adam, truly the did cram a lot into a little space, well work rescuing, just like the Dreamcast, they both didn't compete well with PS2 or XBOX but are both worth owning and collecting for in my opinion

[@AdamKoralik]

Thanks for watching!

[@royex999]

Thanks for the hard and good work

[@TheHowlingStone]

I'm looking to get a Hanshin gamecube that has yellowing on only the top cover that pops open. After cleaning, do you think using something like Salon Care 40 would ruin the black stripes on it? I'm not actually sure how those stripes are applied if it's painted on or a decal.

[@AdamKoralik]

The Tigers one? It's so weird...I was looking at that yesterday. As for the yellowing that...SHOULD work...but truth is I'm not sure. I had the chance to buy a very yellowed one in Japan and passed because...I just don't know.

[@TheHowlingStone]

@@AdamKoralik Ended up winning it so I'll find out soon I guess! Thank you for the video, I'm sure it will help once I get everything!

[@sandplasma]

Great video, just finished cleaning mine following along.

[@AdamKoralik]

sandplasma Thanks for watching!

[@damian9303]

The sides of my GameCube are caked in dust, always been from memory. But it still works

[@meteorstarthearcher5350]

I have my old gamecube, I hope I can take it apart and clean all the peices so I know if it needs fixed or not :P

[@markfairfox2599]

hay did you know you can take the Nintendo GameCube Emblem off with two snaps on the bottom of the lid. good for a spotless cleaning.

[@texaspatriot4215]

Yes on the 001 models, but it's not removable on the 101 models

[@core36]

Very good video, was able to clean my gamecube and it works great

[@Kyosama08]

I picked up a GameCube off Ebay. Does anybody know how I can remove plastic in one of the main four screw holes? Someone obviously tried to use the pen trick and completely failed.The screw is completely surrounded by clear pen plastic.

[@dingusbrule5756]

So i'm going to do this for my game cube because it needs to be cleaned. I just have one question. How would you go about painting it? I know you need to get to the stage where every thing is gutted out, but do I need to worry about the gear thing for the lid being painted? Do I need to sand the gamecube before painting?

[@AdamKoralik]

+ǂƟƔȜɌǂ ǂĐƟΣϨǂ Sorry, can't help you there, never attempted that myself.

[@dingusbrule5756]

I'll do a little research it a little. Thank you for the video it will really help me out when I start! I just have to buy a gamebit.

[@Heffy_Boi]

This is probably going to be a handy video for me, I just bought a second hand GameCube. Such good timing. :)

[@AdamKoralik]

Happy to help.

[@KoenvdW88]

Thanks for the detailed video! It was kind of hard to see how you got the lid back together, but I'm sure I can figure it out. I literally just got my Cube lined up for cleaning so your timing couldn't have been better! I'm just curious about the plastic shifting colour - I have a purple Cube, but the sides that were exposed to the sun have actually turned darker, and the controller ports have yellowed. Any idea if Retr0brite or something like that could clear it up to its original purple?

[@AdamKoralik]

Sorry about that, the lid is just such a pain in the ass. Retr0bright would fix yellowed plastic, I don't know about restoring the original purple color. It might.

[@KoenvdW88]

AdamKoralik Thanks for the reply! So it would definitely clear up the controller ports on my Cube, at least that's something. I dug up some info on Retr0bright - apparently the LEGO community went nuts with it and uses it on coloured blocks as well. Like, blue that has gotten a green-ish sheen to it is restored to its former glory. My GameCube has a bit of a blue/yellow hue over it, same goes for the controller, from being exposed to the sun (no smoke ever got near it) - it sounds very much like the discolouration on those blue blocks. I'll try some Retr0bright on either my controller or one of the small bottom covers and post the results. Here's hoping it works, might help some other people with restoring their consoles as well. Sadly, Cube's aren't as easy to come by over in Europe anymore.

[@DatGameCollector]

would it be possible to get a orange spice gamecube and swap out the internal with a american one or are there differences?

[@AdamKoralik]

As far as I know it's possible, I don't think they really changed anything. I have an orange spice one now, a fan sent it to me. But I didn't attempt that guts swap.

[@DatGameCollector]

AdamKoralik i really wanna try it one day. game cube is my favorite system. wish we had got the spice in america.