Recap guide
Recap the Nintendo 64
Guides agree the N64 is not a capacitor-plague console, so a recap is preventive. The PAL power supply and aging caps are still worth a check.
Open the interactive checklist Tick off each capacitor as you replace it. It saves in your browser.
Check first. A recap is not always the answer here, so look at the guides before you order parts.
Which board do I have?
Boards changed during production. These notes come from the linked sources, and many are only partly documented, so check the board in front of you.
- NUS-CPU-02 to NUS-CPU-04 (NTSC, 1996-1997) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Serial numbers start NS1; easiest to RGB mod. Capacitors: No per-revision cap list found; see note for the general SMD statement. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
- NUS-CPU-05 to NUS-CPU-07 (NTSC, 1997-1998) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Serial numbers start NS2; chip changes make RGB mods harder. Capacitors: No per-revision cap list found. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
- NUS-CPU-08 to NUS-CPU-09-1 (NTSC, 1999-2001) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Found in Funtastic series consoles with more aliased video. Capacitors: No per-revision cap list found. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
- NUS-CPU-P-01 (PAL, 1996) (Medium confidence). How to tell: Early black PAL consoles with S-Video on the multiout; board id is printed under the 1996 Nintendo text. Capacitors: A dreamcast.nu log lists 16 SMD caps for the NUS-CPU(P)-01: 68 uF 10V at C33, C73, C81, C130, C131, C134, C140, C141, C145; 33 uF 25V at C24, C28, C142; 10 uF 16V at C25, C26, C34, C128. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
- NUS-CPU-P-02 and P-03 (PAL, 1999-2000) (Low confidence). How to tell: P-02 is in most Color Edition consoles and P-03 in Clear Blue and most Pikachu consoles. Capacitors: No cap list found; dreamcast.nu says other NUS-CPU boards differ and points to the Console5 wiki. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
- NUS-CPU-R-01 (French PAL, 1997) (Low confidence). How to tell: Marked FRA and easy to RGB mod. Capacitors: No cap information found. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
Where to start
Clues from write-ups and forum threads, not a diagnosis. Low confidence means one thread or one repair; high means several write-ups agree.
- Not prone to plague (Medium confidence). One recap guide says the N64 is not prone to the plague, and points to an interactive board map for NUS-CPU-01 with all cap sizes and locations. Source
- PAL power supply (Medium confidence). ConsoleMods covers PAL PSU variants, says to test the electrolytics and replace only if needed, and advises 105C parts. Source
- PAL board list (Medium confidence). One write-up lists 16 caps, with voltage and uF, for a NUS-CPU(P)-01 PAL board. Source
Tips, tales and maybes
Found in write-ups and forum threads. These are other people's reports, not tested by us. Check part references and values against your own board.
- Tip: Leak-proof choice, early PAL board (Medium confidence). A restoration write-up on an early PAL NUS-CPU(P)-01 replaced all 16 SMD electrolytics (three 33uF 25V, four 10uF 16V, nine 68uF 10V) with tantalums so they cannot leak. The author says N64s had not really suffered failing electrolytics at the time of writing, that no ready-made pack existed for that variant, and that other variants use different values and positions. Source
- Story: No audio, late NUS-CPU-09-1 board (Low confidence). A poster with a late-model N64 had no audio even after replacing the AMP-NUS chip and nearby caps, and blamed capacitor C28 (25V Panasonic HA series), guessing late RoHS-era caps are the weak ones. They also used a risky temporary trick of shorting AMP-NUS pins 1 and 2 as a diagnostic, so both the theory and the workaround are the poster's own. Source
- Watch out: Flicker bars on an upscaler are not caps (Low confidence). A Shmups thread on horizontal flicker bars over solid colours (visible through an OSSC, not a CRT) found the fix was a separate 3.3V regulator board on the RGB mod, not capacitors, and one user's homemade OSSC was the real culprit. The only cap touched was removing 220uF caps at the SCART end of the cable. Source
- Maybe: Crackling audio with a wireless controller dongle (Low confidence). On r/n64 (seen on the reddit.birdcat.cafe mirror) an RGB-modded N64 crackled in time with a wireless controller receiver. Replies guessed 30-year-old caps could no longer cope with the added load and suggested a recap kit if any look bad, which is speculation. Source
- Watch out: No picture and sound is not always caps (Low confidence). On iFixit an owner of three N64s that powered on with no AV got advice to recap as prevention but also to test the Jumper Pak, clean the cart slot and swap to a donor board to find a bad chip. This is the counterpoint to the 'just recap it' replies seen on other forums. Source
- Tip: Dead power supply: fuses and resistors first (Medium confidence). ConsoleMods' N64 PSU page says a Matsushita-type supply often fails at fuse F101 from a shorted rectifier or MOSFET, and that two small secondary resistors under gunk by the 3.3V rectifier can fail open. It advises inspecting cold joints and cracks before swapping caps, and never to repair a supply while plugged in. Source
- Tip: Method that keeps you organised (Low confidence). The Silvestron recap guide advises replacing one cap at a time and marking finished positions with a coloured marker, using 63/37 solder and flux (it discourages lead-free), and not taking the mainboard out of the case because it is fiddly to refit. It also warns that screws differ between the heat spreader and the shield, so track them. Source
- Watch out: Video issue on PAL was the AV cable (Low confidence). A dreamcast.nu N64 recap guide says one PAL video problem was a third-party AV cable and the console, not hardware failure. It adds to leave leg length for angled caps so they clear the heatsink, to use only alcohol on the electronics, and to check cap values for your board on Console5 first. Source
Before you start
- Boards changed during production. Check your board number against the guides before you order parts.
- A mains power supply can hold a dangerous charge. If you are not trained to work on one, have a professional do it.
Guides we used
This page and the interactive bench are built from these. They have the photos and the full detail, so please read them and support their authors.
- Nintendo 64 recap guide (Step-by-step) by Nick (silvestron.com). Clear walkthrough; points to an interactive board map for NUS-CPU-01 with all cap sizes and locations
- Nintendo 64 (N64) disassembly and recap (List) by Dreamcast.nu. Has a capacitor list. Lists 16 caps for a NUS-CPU(P)-01 PAL board with voltage and uF. Site copyright reserved, link only
- N64: Power Supply Repair (Step-by-step) by ConsoleMods Wiki, CC BY. Covers PAL PSU variants; say to test electrolytics and replace only if needed, use 105C parts
- N64 Mods Wiki (hub) (Write-up) by ConsoleMods Wiki, CC BY. Links Replacing Capacitors, PSU repair and video pages
- Console5 wiki: N64 (Wiki) by Console5. A community wiki page for this machine, often with board photos and capacitor lists.
The capacitor list
We have not checked a capacitor list for this machine yet, so none is shown. Follow the guide above for your board, then add the capacitors in the interactive checklist and it builds a shopping list for you.
Skip the sourcing
While you are in there
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Steps, tools and safety
The steps, the tools in top, middle and budget picks, and the safety list are the same for every machine, so they live on one page: How to recap, step by step.
Values are shown as published in the guides above, and boards changed during production. Check the board in front of you. A recap involves hot tools and, on some machines, dangerous voltages. You do it at your own risk.