NES cartridge cleaning

EllipsisEllipsis
in Help Wanted!
I was recently given three NES cartridges that came from different sellers that won't work. Two give the flashing red light, one gives a solid red light and a blank screen. I have opened and cleaned them with Q-tips and 91% rubbing alcohol (same method the FAQ recommends) and no change. All my other games work first try; the NES is not the problem.



I should note that one of the games looks very clean. More clean than my working games. I don't understand that.



Could I be cleaning them wrong? Is there some other method I should try?

Comments

  • NintendoAge ModeratorNintendoAge Moderator
    You might consider posting board pics then, assuming you have the bit. You might have bad traces.
  • EllipsisEllipsis
    Here's the board of the best-looking one. I'll update with the others soon. Can you see what you need to?



    http://imgur.com/UNc9wK7,Ff3mtzz



    Edit: the other two boards:



    http://imgur.com/8fmje1Q,AJW2kuq#0 



    http://imgur.com/hzHVBvw,kIqlt9M#0



    Is it possible that the last board somehow has worn-out (not dirty) connectors? In all my research I've never seen much talk of such a thing, but it seemed like a good question to ask.
  • Nes FreakNes Freak
    hmmm.. it looks fine to me. weird. did you check all the solder joints ive had one game that didnt have solder on the pins. do you have anather console to check these on?
  • EllipsisEllipsis
    I don't have another console to try, but the results are consistent and my other games work perfectly. I'll check the solder, but these games came from different locations and I highly doubt they all failed independently, so I guess I have to clean them better? Somehow?



    Are there any safe cleaning methods that could get a better result? I've seen a lot of suggestions online, but there's a lot of conflicting advice and I didn't want to risk any of it.
  • Nes FreakNes Freak
    might be a bad lock out chip. try disabling them
  • EllipsisEllipsis
    Would a bad lockout chip cause some games to be affected and not others? If so, I'll definitely try that.



    Also: a game that was working consistently yesterday now always gives the flashing red light. Cause unknown, other games not affected. Could a lockout chip theoretically cause that too?
  • MrWunderfulMrWunderful
    Are you using a front loader, or a top loader?
  • EllipsisEllipsis
    Front loader with a very good 72 pin connector.
  • Nes FreakNes Freak
    its either that or your pin is faulty. 
  • EllipsisEllipsis
    Can I take that as confirmation that the lockout chip (or faulty pin) can consistently cause problems in one game but not another? Even if the one game appears totally clean? I just want this to make sense before I start disassembling things.
  • Nes FreakNes Freak

    Originally posted by: Ellipsis



    Can I take that as confirmation that the lockout chip (or faulty pin) can consistently cause problems in one game but not another? Even if the one game appears totally clean? I just want this to make sense before I start disassembling things.



    ive has a few pins in the past that were bad and they were brand new


  • EllipsisEllipsis
    Final update: Since you told me that the games look fine and it's probably the NES, I went out of my way for a chance to test them on a toploader. They work.



    Verdict: Frontloaders suck. The diagnosis of either a bad pin or lockout chip is probably correct. I'm still unclear on how it was rejecting some games and not others, but I don't really care now that I've seen how much less hassle toploaders are. Getting one of those.



    Thanks for the help. I'm glad there are people who know a lot more about these systems than I do.
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