How To:Clean Your Classic Cartridge Games

[Psy]

I ran across the video How To:Clean Your Classic Cartridge Games (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhSbm8mRRRI) showing how to clean your carts, I think cleaning carts twice a week is extreme, I mostly only clean a cart when it has problems.

[MN12BIRD]

I've always used alcohol I never thought to use Windex. I guess it's easier to find and most people already have it in the house.

[Zebbe]

Nice video. I use contact spray as liquid and also a rubber. It did wonders to my Shining in the Darkness and Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition cartridges.

[mick_aka]

Was there ever an official Genesis cleaning kit for carts?

I have an official one for the NES and a licenced one for the Game Gear.

[TmEE]

I use same method as Zebbe.... ;)

[Zebbe]

Was there ever an official Genesis cleaning kit for carts?

I have an official one for the NES and a licenced one for the Game Gear.

I have the cleaning kit, which I got with my Nomad. I've never used it. Hm, I think it is unofficial, but there are official as well IIRC.

[Scooter]

Was there ever an official Genesis cleaning kit for carts?

I have an official one for the NES and a licenced one for the Game Gear.

Yes, but it was a cart that contained basically dry pads, no cleaning solvent was required. The pads, however, were only supposed to be good for 3-4 uses and I don't recall the kit including any information on how to order new pads. The cleaner cart had one end that was used for cleaning cartridges and the other was used for cleaning the cart slot in the Genesis.

I never ever had a problem with a game so while I had such a kit I never actually used it. I have had to clean some games I've bought used but I always used non-acetone nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol. I've only ever had real problems with a few carts, the worst ones have been Game Gear carts. I've only ever run into one game cart which just wouldn't work no matter what I did. Other than that one, the only time I've ever had a problem with a cart the vast majority of the time the problem was something other than just dirty contacts. I always keep my games stored in their cases when not in use and as such I've never ever had trouble with a game I bought new or in good used condition.

[Rusty Venture]

Sandblasting is the only way to provide 100% cleaning.

[TmEE]

use a grinder on dirt, more efficient, but you need to be very accurate... its like nudering a fly, one wrong move and you kill that poor being.

[Mr Smith]

Nothing beats a good old fashioned blow (and I am referring to the cart as opposed to oral sex, although that's pretty good too).

[MN12BIRD]

Nice video. I use contact spray as liquid and also a rubber. It did wonders to my Shining in the Darkness and Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition cartridges.

yeah I have heard a pencil eraser works wonders but have never tried it. I should I have a copy of Sonic and Knuckles that still wont run after cleaning with alcohol the corrosion is REALLY stuck on the contacts.

[lilmul123]

The NES is a terrible example to use for that video. Cleaning the hell out of the cartridges won't make it work any better.

[MN12BIRD]

no you almost always need to replace the 72-pin connector inside. I have done a few and it brings em back to life!

[Murphy245]

no you almost always need to replace the 72-pin connector inside. I have done a few and it brings em back to life!

i dont believe that,none of my games worked when i first got a nes but after i cleaned all the cartridges and cleaned the 72 pin connector it was working like a dream,about 70% success rate when you put the cartridge in.

oh yeah and i also bent all the pins slightly so that that contact is better,but this is a little risky and also makes inserting and pulling out cartridges a bit of an effort.

[MN12BIRD]

yeah well for $5 why not just replace the connector? I thought of cleaning each pin with sand paper and then re bending them slightly... but then got lazy. I have done 2 NES systems with new connectors and they play games almost 1st try every time!

[Murphy245]

yeah well for $5 why not just replace the connector? I thought of cleaning each pin with sand paper and then re bending them slightly... but then got lazy. I have done 2 NES systems with new connectors and they play games almost 1st try every time!

i dont know where to buy them from,things like this arent easily available in the uk.

[playgen]

They are on uk ebay all the time, heres the cheapest one currently listed:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NINTENDO-NES-BRAND-NEW-72-PIN-CONNECTOR_W0QQitemZ330207424312QQihZ014QQcategoryZ 3605QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1 247QQcmdZViewItem

[MN12BIRD]

yep I got mine off EBAY too! Actually... no I didn't! I think I got them off www.nintendorepairshop.com along with a "gamebit" to open a filthy N64 I wanted to clean up.

[Nunzio]

The NES is a terrible example to use for that video. Cleaning the hell out of the cartridges won't make it work any better.

Sure it will if you are on a top loader or using a game Genie. In any case most people buy new 72 pin connectors when they could just disable the 10NES.

[MN12BIRD]

Game Genie, 72-pin connector, or 10NES (copy protection) you should still clean your game carts no matter what so none of this matters. ;)

[Rusty Venture]

The problem with the NES is that just looking at it makes the connector dirty and not work.

You must also have "The Touch" to make it work again.

[Nunzio]

I gave up using the touch years ago, now I have 2 NESs. One is modded and topless (calm down Rusty, it's just a console), the other is stock. The modded one is region modded, doesn't have the mechanism for pushing the game down and has the 72 pin connector turned around so the 'moving' side is in contact with the main board (and stationary) and the main board side is where the games plug in. The result? The pins don't move like normal and the connection is flawless. And then my other NES just has a Game Genie in it and it always works OK.

Works for me, but I clean my games too of course.