Terbografx
Offline
Long Beach, CA

I installed brand new 72-pin connectors into an NES given to by a friend. I also fixed the latch mechanism that holds the game down in place.

The first couple of tries, I got games to work perfectly after cleaning each one thoroughly with alcohol and an air duster to blow out any remnants of dust before popping it into the system.

After a couple days, I noticed some games just wouldn't work. I eventually resorted to blowing into the cartridge and alas, the cartridges worked instantly.

Does blowing into the carts do something OTHER than blow out dust? Does the moisture or heat in your breath help bridge the connectors? Why is this sometimes the only solution that works?

e.s.c.
Offline
IL, US

the moisture temporarily improves connection, but leads to corrosion, so dont do it
either invest in contact cleaner, or look up the info to disable the region lockout chip for a better solution

Terbografx
Offline
Long Beach, CA
e.s.c. wrote:

the moisture temporarily improves connection, but leads to corrosion, so dont do it
either invest in contact cleaner, or look up the info to disable the region lockout chip for a better solution

Well the games themselves have held up for 20+ years and when the connectors get grimy enough I can simply clean them/replace them.

I think I'll do the lockout chip fix once I get a hold of a Powerpak or any flash cart. I'm NOT blowing into those haha.

e.s.c.
Offline
IL, US

seriously, contact cleaner is only a few bucks

kitsch
Offline
matt's mind

if you install a new NES edge connector, then proceed to stick dirty games into it, you'll have a dirty edge connector once more. 

so, if you have a new one of those, without cleaning the contacts of your games the grime will soon build up on the edge connector, and you'll end up with similar problems as before. 

the universal law re: the transference of dirt wink

Shiru
Offline
Russia, Moscow

There is alternative to blowing - sucking.

I've used a rubber eraser to clean edge connectors, it works nice, but you need to disassemble cartridge to do this.

alex_mauer
Offline
philly

if you use the eraser trick... make sure its a good eraser... one that doesnt create much residue

Trash80
Offline
Los Angeles
Terbografx wrote:

The first couple of tries, I got games to work perfectly after cleaning each one thoroughly with alcohol and an air duster to blow out any remnants of dust before popping it into the system.

What kind of alcohol? You need to use 99% isopropyl alcohol. Others might leave a residue or dry tacky, making the situation worse. You can get some locally at Fry's electronics or possibly radio shack.

arfink
Offline
Minneapolis

You broke the #1 rule of new 72 pin connectors. If you hadn't cleaned your cartridges before using them in your brand new 72 pin connector you may have already gummed up your shiny new connector badly enough that it will need to be cleaned or replaced already. Get some 99% rubbing alcohol or a can of contact cleaner and clean clean clean.

Terbografx
Offline
Long Beach, CA

Thx for (what I think was) a power button thrown in with my connector last week.

no prob wink  i've got a bunch of unmatched bits and pieces from the last button run, so i'm just giving away bits with orders for a little while, when peoples orders seem relevant enough they'd have a gameboy to fit the bits wink

Terbografx
Offline
Long Beach, CA
arfink wrote:

You broke the #1 rule of new 72 pin connectors. If you hadn't cleaned your cartridges before using them in your brand new 72 pin connector you may have already gummed up your shiny new connector badly enough that it will need to be cleaned or replaced already. Get some 99% rubbing alcohol or a can of contact cleaner and clean clean clean.

In my original post, I mentioned cleaning every game I put in thoroughly with alcohol.

arfink
Offline
Minneapolis

Yeah,guess I missed that, sorry. hmm It sounds like a typical failure caused by things not being clean enough though. It's the curse of the original NES, they need to be cleaned almost constantly. Also, alcohol works kinda for cleaning, but ideally you might want to get some contact cleaner. The q-tip + alcohol cleaning isn't always clean enough. I dunno what else to say. hmm

Just as an aside, when I'm doing alot of work with my NES I can wind up having to clean the contacts on the 72 pin connector almost once a month just from normal accumulations of dust and stuff, as my workbench isn't the cleanest working environment in the world, and I tend to leave the cover off my NES as well.

node
Offline
thieveland ohio

open up the carts and clean the contacts with brasso then wipw off with 99% alcohol and you should be golden

kitsch
Offline
matt's mind

Thx for (what I think was) a power button thrown in with my connector last week.

no prob wink  i've got a bunch of unmatched bits and pieces from the last button run, so i'm just giving away bits with orders for a little while, when peoples orders seem relevant enough they'd have a gameboy to fit the bits wink

nickmaynard
Offline
rochester, ny

i always assumed it was less about dusty contacts and more about the position of the contacts. like, it's more about taking the cartridge out and putting it back in, in a slightly different spot, and not about the blowing.

since i did the lockout chip mod, every cart works perfectly the first time for me.

Terbografx
Offline
Long Beach, CA
nickmaynard wrote:

i always assumed it was less about dusty contacts and more about the position of the contacts. like, it's more about taking the cartridge out and putting it back in, in a slightly different spot, and not about the blowing.

since i did the lockout chip mod, every cart works perfectly the first time for me.

I did the lockout chip mod and it works perfectly! Although, sometimes games need a little 1cm of repositioning after being turned on. Is this typical?

Games like Star Tropic work without any repositioning.