Nice! That technique worked well for removing that black marker. I hate it when people write on games and consoles with a black permanent marker, It's usually a pain in the ass to remove. Sometimes i get lucky with hand sanitizing wipes.
still have my gamecube since it came out never had any problems what so ever and its been dropped but the casing is really well made, the gamecube in general was very very well made one of the best consoles. Played smash bros melee on it for years in high school I miss those days thanks nintendo.
Wow that pen is a god send. Really amazing job cleaning off that marker. That marker should definitely be in any collector and restorer's toolbox. Great vid as always.
Man it always feels great to watch you bring those machines back from the dead, great work! Hope everything's well over there in Japan :) Cheers from Portugal!
Oh, and to remove blackness from the tip of your markers, push it against something absorbent, like newspaper (works really well), or corrugated Kraft paper box / cardboard box, or some "Repairmen's Friend" also known as engine wipes (which absorbs things really well). I restored some Crayola branded markers (especially yellow ones) with acetone and RF trick. (Generally acetone is not required for restoration unless it's really dried)
Hi Luke: I know a very easy method to remove permanent marker stuff like in the video; its a very soft solvent used by graphic designers named P-300, you just put it on a q-tip or piece of cotton and it going to clean marker pen on plastics super fast, you just need to clean it with water after you use it because in some shiny plastics can kill the bright a little bit if you live it a minute on the plastic. Hope it works for you as have worked for me on my NES, SNES, N64, and Sega Genesis game cartridges. Greets, Raffoul.
My sister's old gamecube hasn't read disks for like 6 or 7 years, but I think it's probably somewhere at my parent's house. I might try some of these things to see if I can fix it. Thanks for the ideas.
Good to see the Gamecube is alive dude :)! About the Gamecube controllers, i had one that was a little bit loose and also the stick was in pretty bad shape. So what i did was buying some of those cheap Classic controllers for the Wii at wallmart and replace the the stick with one of those from the classic controller. It works fine now but the analog stick is still a little bit loose. no blisters now haha. Cheers dude :)
On a regular basis, I give my GameCube (and other consoles) a good blowing with decompressed air, but it's cool to see repairs on this underrated system. :)
Good video. I've fixed several PS2 fats by taking the laser itself apart and using pliers to flatten a q-tip and dab a bit of rubbing alochol on it and clean the bigger lens under the smaller one. They are all a little different and the last one I did I cleaned a mirror that was under the lens as well and it fixed it. Before I did this it would only read PS1 games so apparently a little dust getting inside the laser can cause it not to work. I just bought compressed air to try on gamecube laser.
Using a sharpie works to remove sharpie ink, you just have to wipe it off immediately before it dries and it pulls the old ink right off with it. Discovered this as a maintenance person for graffiti removal.
That's a serious mancave. I wish I'd kept all my old consoles instead of giving them away. Great bit of repairing. Amazing what a little elbow grease and techie know how can achieve. Nice white led mod. Good stuff.
Wow man, that dry erase marker cleaned that up really nicely. I have a few old snes games with some persistently stubborn ink on the backs of them that I might need to try that dry erase method out on. Nice work on saving another old school console from the grave yard as always too bro!
Nice one! There is also that laser power adjustment pot beneath the dvd assembly you can tweak for more power. I always wondered if the laser works better with the case on top as there is less stray light coming to the laser lense. Amazing how well the marker could be removed!
I have noticed when trying to troubleshoot the lenses on some of my units that Mortal Kombat: Deception is REALLY good in gauging how well the lens works. The game itself already has fairly long load times. But if there is any problems with the lens, the loading between matches will slow to a crawl. This is a good way to see if the unit you're running is bad, but not so much so that it won't boot the disc. Resident Evil 0 is another one that will show early signs if the lens is bad.
Dry erase markers are just pigments in an alcohol solution, and I've found using them often adds to the problem more than it helps. I just skip the marker and go straight for the isopropyl alcohol.
Lol most of the time the fix is just this simple! iv been handed 3 game cubes with just dirty lasers and got them fixed! can't have enough game cubes about the house :)
Hey Luke, love the repair videos, keep em coming! Those melamine sponges are effective, but I find them a little too abrasive, and they can smooth off profiled finishes (like SNES carts). Give WD40 a try, it dissolves most solvent based inks and paints with a bit of rubbing and won't damage your console at all.
My 1st GameCube worked until last Saturday when the laser was not reading discs. Though while I was at school, my dad ran to my retro store and got a replacement GameCube.
Try body wash for marker, it works wonders and its how I cleaned almost ALL my snes thrift store finds. You can just dab it on, leave it be for 30 seconds, and its good. No scouring or scraping whatsoever.. It just stinks to high heaven and requires a soap wash in the spot after.
Have you ever tried using Lysol (the original variety)? I have used it on permanent marker and it seems to work just as good as the pen here. Apply the Lysol, let it set, and then wipe off. I have used it on many electronics/remote controls without any issues and it also disinfects the product.
No prob. I am just getting into repairing stuff on my end so I am soaking up all the repair vids. Especially on pinball repair vids lmao. The one I have is a very large paper weight right now but it is in a full blown restoration lol.
Believe it or not, but AXE Body Spray works wonders on getting rid of permanent maker. I use that method ALL the time on my cartridge based games with writing on them.
so what did you actually do to the laser? When you said you moved the corners about? I'm having the same problem with it reading discs, thinking of opening and spraying it with a can of air
Sweet, you turned a wreak to a almost new looking GC. Where did you buy that eraser pen? If you could tell me that it would be great! I have a few Famicom games that have marker on it and couldn't remove all of it. Great video as ever Luke!
Well, my GameCube has the same problem now, and since I'll have to sell my Wii and WiiU has no GC support I guess I'll try to work on my GC lens too following your instructions! :) Also, I really need to remove some sand from the eject button... XD
Love your videos luke they are really helpfull, I have a question, I have a Sega mega CD model 2 Pal version and it really makes a cracking kind of sound when it starts up, it still works but im concerned it will be broken soon, do you know what it is?
I don’t know if you still look at comments on old videos but I have a GC as well and it doesn’t work properly, specifically when the console is cold it doesn’t read discs but when it’s a suitable temperature internally it’ll read the discs no problem what do you think the problem might be?
I've been searching around random gamecube repairs because I'm gonna pick up one of my friend's old gamecube that isn't working. I'm interested in what is broken because he says it was dropped(from what? a skyscraper? lmao) But it'll be cool to save another gamecube from the grave :3
Okay..After watching a good 5-7 of your videos thus far..I have to ask you. Are you in Japan or something? Or do you just have alot of imported games/ parts/ accessories? I like what your doing in your videos, I'd like to be able to fix broken consoles, yet i don't have the parts or knowledge to know how. Soo, I'll leave it up to people like you to do it safe and efficient.
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!
i need help with the piece that tells when the lids closed; i just opened my gamecube to give it a thorough cleaning and when i reassembled it, it's not detecting the lid being closed
know i love repairing them never know what you will find inside , (free gamediscs), but there is a few i cant save ,sega saturn mk2, n64 ,psp, and a ps2 because there so hard to find parts for or to repair
You're awesome Luke ! I just discovered the marker method, man that's crazy. Is it a special marker ? Or a regular pen to draw on your favorite coloring book ?
For anodized aluminum surface and black permanent marker (light or new stain), WD-40 seems to be working a bit. Let it sit there for a bit, then wipe off with rubbing alcohol. I used it to take the crazy Spongebob Squarepants I drew on hairline aluminum back of PMP, and well, it smells like WD-40 a bit but it did its job. (The problem was that I forgot to cover the speakers.)
My first GameCube I had the disk drive spin motor I think broke or something, I wish I knew where it was though so I could try and fix it, but now I have a second one that works fine, I would rather play my GameCube games on a real GameCube, not a Wii since it kinda gives that feeling I guess.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 80 | คู่เอก "รักษ์ vs ยอดนำชัย"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ckLMRorsMeY/mqdefault.jpg)
Nice! That technique worked well for removing that black marker. I hate it when people write on games and consoles with a black permanent marker, It's usually a pain in the ass to remove. Sometimes i get lucky with hand sanitizing wipes.
I just spent five minutes looking at someone use a red marker on a Game Cube. Can I please have my job back?
Thanks for the warning.
it is satisfying tho
Hey a repair guy with a personality! Most repair video creators are like robots that are super boring. I am glad to have found this channel! I
still have my gamecube since it came out never had any problems what so ever and its been dropped but the casing is really well made, the gamecube in general was very very well made one of the best consoles. Played smash bros melee on it for years in high school I miss those days thanks nintendo.
Wow that pen is a god send. Really amazing job cleaning off that marker. That marker should definitely be in any collector and restorer's toolbox. Great vid as always.
Man it always feels great to watch you bring those machines back from the dead, great work! Hope everything's well over there in Japan :) Cheers from Portugal!
You could use hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol to remove sharpie
Luke can repair nearly all stuff. You are the best.
gr8 work dude ... from seeing ur videos your videos about repairs you made me want to fix consoles
I just bought a Platinum Gamecube that was all sticky, and you just told me how to fix it.. Thanks!
Oh, and to remove blackness from the tip of your markers, push it against something absorbent, like newspaper (works really well), or corrugated Kraft paper box / cardboard box, or some "Repairmen's Friend" also known as engine wipes (which absorbs things really well).
I restored some Crayola branded markers (especially yellow ones) with acetone and RF trick. (Generally acetone is not required for restoration unless it's really dried)
Hi Luke: I know a very easy method to remove permanent marker stuff like in the video; its a very soft solvent used by graphic designers named P-300, you just put it on a q-tip or piece of cotton and it going to clean marker pen on plastics super fast, you just need to clean it with water after you use it because in some shiny plastics can kill the bright a little bit if you live it a minute on the plastic. Hope it works for you as have worked for me on my NES, SNES, N64, and Sega Genesis game cartridges. Greets, Raffoul.
That set up tho. It looks quite insane
I love how cluttered your work area is lol its just like mine hahah
Good work Luke, LOVE the white LED. Simple, yet awesome looking.
My sister's old gamecube hasn't read disks for like 6 or 7 years, but I think it's probably somewhere at my parent's house. I might try some of these things to see if I can fix it. Thanks for the ideas.
Good to see the Gamecube is alive dude :)!
About the Gamecube controllers, i had one that was a little bit loose and also the stick was in pretty bad shape.
So what i did was buying some of those cheap Classic controllers for the Wii at wallmart and replace the the stick with one of those from the classic controller.
It works fine now but the analog stick is still a little bit loose.
no blisters now haha.
Cheers dude :)
Isopropyl alcohol removes marker pen very easily
On a regular basis, I give my GameCube (and other consoles) a good blowing with decompressed air, but it's cool to see repairs on this underrated system. :)
Had my cube since day 1 and no problems here!
nice job Luke. Im gonna have to try this on my GameCube. It hasn't read disks in ages.
Good video. I've fixed several PS2 fats by taking the laser itself apart and using pliers to flatten a q-tip and dab a bit of rubbing alochol on it and clean the bigger lens under the smaller one. They are all a little different and the last one I did I cleaned a mirror that was under the lens as well and it fixed it. Before I did this it would only read PS1 games so apparently a little dust getting inside the laser can cause it not to work. I just bought compressed air to try on gamecube laser.
washable markers contain a special chemical ingredient which permanent markers do not have. This is what removes permanent markers marks. Usefull tip
Using a sharpie works to remove sharpie ink, you just have to wipe it off immediately before it dries and it pulls the old ink right off with it. Discovered this as a maintenance person for graffiti removal.
That's a serious mancave. I wish I'd kept all my old consoles instead of giving them away. Great bit of repairing. Amazing what a little elbow grease and techie know how can achieve. Nice white led mod. Good stuff.
Wow man, that dry erase marker cleaned that up really nicely. I have a few old snes games with some persistently stubborn ink on the backs of them that I might need to try that dry erase method out on. Nice work on saving another old school console from the grave yard as always too bro!
Nice one! There is also that laser power adjustment pot beneath the dvd assembly you can tweak for more power. I always wondered if the laser works better with the case on top as there is less stray light coming to the laser lense. Amazing how well the marker could be removed!
happy to know theres people like you out there keepin these things goin. nice job
I did the same led change for my white/pearl GC, Same color and it looks awesome
I have noticed when trying to troubleshoot the lenses on some of my units that Mortal Kombat: Deception is REALLY good in gauging how well the lens works. The game itself already has fairly long load times. But if there is any problems with the lens, the loading between matches will slow to a crawl. This is a good way to see if the unit you're running is bad, but not so much so that it won't boot the disc.
Resident Evil 0 is another one that will show early signs if the lens is bad.
Another system saved. Excellent work, Luke!
very nice man most of the gamecubes I come across that are "bad" usually just has a dirty lens
Great work on that cube, Luke! That pen is really magical!
And the white LED it's cool! :)
Nice save, Luke! Great job keeping classic consoles alive!
Dry erase markers are just pigments in an alcohol solution, and I've found using them often adds to the problem more than it helps. I just skip the marker and go straight for the isopropyl alcohol.
Great vid, love seeing how you bring these consoles back to life.
I never would have thought to use dry erase marker to remove permanent marker :) thanks
That marker method is so cool
Nice bit of TLC there Luke, I was really surprised when the marker came off as easy as it did.
we need more people like you
This shows when you do have patience and effort you will be greatly rewarded, great work there Luke. = )
Lol most of the time the fix is just this simple! iv been handed 3 game cubes with just dirty lasers and got them fixed! can't have enough game cubes about the house :)
I honestly thought the ink on top would be impenetrable, but another amazing fix brother!
The Gamecube was one sexy piece of hardware imo!
A carefully measured pot tweak and rubbing alcohol can make a big difference for the disk reader.
Hey Luke, love the repair videos, keep em coming! Those melamine sponges are effective, but I find them a little too abrasive, and they can smooth off profiled finishes (like SNES carts). Give WD40 a try, it dissolves most solvent based inks and paints with a bit of rubbing and won't damage your console at all.
Wow, that marker mess really came off well! It's like you have a retro console rehabilitation clinic. =D
Good Game cube! Nice work!
This is what I've been waiting for since the orange junk find video!
My 1st GameCube worked until last Saturday when the laser was not reading discs. Though while I was at school, my dad ran to my retro store and got a replacement GameCube.
Try body wash for marker, it works wonders and its how I cleaned almost ALL my snes thrift store finds. You can just dab it on, leave it be for 30 seconds, and its good. No scouring or scraping whatsoever.. It just stinks to high heaven and requires a soap wash in the spot after.
I usually use plain hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol, fingernail polish remover works but kind of bleaches the plastic
Have you ever tried using Lysol (the original variety)? I have used it on permanent marker and it seems to work just as good as the pen here. Apply the Lysol, let it set, and then wipe off. I have used it on many electronics/remote controls without any issues and it also disinfects the product.
Good job Luke, I'm glad the laser was relativly easy to fix :o)
Me too; I just never knew you could read Japanese!
Wow that marker thing was impressive
Nice video as always and informative Thanks Luke.
Was hoping might hear hint of possible solution to fixing a freezing GC. But good info none the less.
great job luke!! you're videos are great and very informative! please continue to do what you are doing!!
So awesome! It made me really happy that you got it working again!!
No prob.
I am just getting into repairing stuff on my end so I am soaking up all the repair vids.
Especially on pinball repair vids lmao.
The one I have is a very large paper weight right now but it is in a full blown restoration lol.
Whoa an dry erase marker.. had no clue :)
Just noticed your uploading in 1080p now
Cool
Believe it or not, but AXE Body Spray works wonders on getting rid of permanent maker. I use that method ALL the time on my cartridge based games with writing on them.
I think the ink is just being removed by the alcohol that is in the inkt remover. Could just use over the counter alcohol and water mixture
so what did you actually do to the laser? When you said you moved the corners about? I'm having the same problem with it reading discs, thinking of opening and spraying it with a can of air
meaby need to be recalibrated if your laser lend is descalibrated , spraying or cleaning will not work mm just ned ajust the laser
@@alubaldini but the two bottoms that ajust the laser and sent the signal door is closed dont work I think I messed up something helppp
Sweet, you turned a wreak to a almost new looking GC. Where did you buy that eraser pen? If you could tell me that it would be great! I have a few Famicom games that have marker on it and couldn't remove all of it. Great video as ever Luke!
Nice work!
thats neat japan always has great ideas
Well, my GameCube has the same problem now, and since I'll have to sell my Wii and WiiU has no GC support I guess I'll try to work on my GC lens too following your instructions! :)
Also, I really need to remove some sand from the eject button... XD
I was about to ask the very same thing. Even that GCN was tagged with katakana.
Love your videos luke they are really helpfull, I have a question, I have a Sega mega CD model 2 Pal version and it really makes a cracking kind of sound when it starts up, it still works but im concerned it will be broken soon, do you know what it is?
Fuck yeah i always wanted to see how you fix gamecubes, thanks for uploading this
I don’t know if you still look at comments on old videos but I have a GC as well and it doesn’t work properly, specifically when the console is cold it doesn’t read discs but when it’s a suitable temperature internally it’ll read the discs no problem what do you think the problem might be?
When I travel to Japan in the end of the year I would make you a visit just to help you organize this mess haha
Thank you, as I need to clean mine sometime soon.
I've heard some nitric acid can remove sharpie EXCELLENT (but you have to be fast and careful)
I've been searching around random gamecube repairs because I'm gonna pick up one of my friend's old gamecube that isn't working. I'm interested in what is broken because he says it was dropped(from what? a skyscraper? lmao)
But it'll be cool to save another gamecube from the grave :3
thx man u made my gamecube come back to life u got a subscriber :DDD
How exactly did you adjust the laser? didn't get the clue here.
Okay..After watching a good 5-7 of your videos thus far..I have to ask you. Are you in Japan or something? Or do you just have alot of imported games/ parts/ accessories? I like what your doing in your videos, I'd like to be able to fix broken consoles, yet i don't have the parts or knowledge to know how. Soo, I'll leave it up to people like you to do it safe and efficient.
you can also use a white board marker
Your videos are awesome!
Alot of help dude thanks
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!
Check the motor that spins the disk, it may be borked, you might be able to find a replacement motor at a radio shack, or your countries equivalent.
Awesome fix as always Luke ;)
just go over the sharpie once with the dry erase marker then use rubbing alcohol on a cloth and it will come off a lot better
What would be fun and interesting.. take a part the GC Gameboy Player and figure out how to make a 2.5" HDD work with the GC. ;)
Didn't get how you repair it:/ please just tell me more clearly what to do u.u
Sebasstian Aragón
Or show us.
Did you have to drill out rivets to get the top off?
ps why is everything in a different language?
i need help with the piece that tells when the lids closed; i just opened my gamecube to give it a thorough cleaning and when i reassembled it, it's not detecting the lid being closed
When you used the rubbing alcohol did you rub it off with a dry q-tip after?
know i love repairing them never know what you will find inside , (free gamediscs), but there is a few i cant save ,sega saturn mk2, n64 ,psp, and a ps2 because there so hard to find parts for or to repair
You're awesome Luke ! I just discovered the marker method, man that's crazy. Is it a special marker ? Or a regular pen to draw on your favorite coloring book ?
great work as always hehe
Luke, get a camera that you can put on your head. It would help you with those two hand parts of the video.
For anodized aluminum surface and black permanent marker (light or new stain), WD-40 seems to be working a bit. Let it sit there for a bit, then wipe off with rubbing alcohol.
I used it to take the crazy Spongebob Squarepants I drew on hairline aluminum back of PMP, and well, it smells like WD-40 a bit but it did its job. (The problem was that I forgot to cover the speakers.)
I'm trying to use my gamecube but no matter how much i push the tabs back the system thinks the cover is open. Anyone know what's going on?
My first GameCube I had the disk drive spin motor I think broke or something, I wish I knew where it was though so I could try and fix it, but now I have a second one that works fine, I would rather play my GameCube games on a real GameCube, not a Wii since it kinda gives that feeling I guess.
Can you just say how you fixed it in the description. I don't have time to watch a 30 min video of you figuring it out.