Best NES cleaning tutorials
So, I just got my first top-loader (YAY!). And I'm in the process of going through all of my collection and cleaning the games. I've watched and read about 20 tutorials. It's confusing, most people swear by rubbing alcohol, some people swear by brass cleaner, some people use emery boards, some people use Q Tips, some people use pencil erasers, some use old t-shirts.
It gets confusing and that's just for the games. I'm looking for the best way to clean up games, toasters and a top loader. If there's a particular tutorial you've used I'd appreciate you sharing it. My guess is most people have their own methods that they've taken something from here, there, and everywhere.
Is it more of an art than a science? Are 72-pins worth bending back or should they always be replaced?
Note: The games and the toasters, I have duplicates enough where I can use trial and error. The top loader is the one that makes me nervous.
It gets confusing and that's just for the games. I'm looking for the best way to clean up games, toasters and a top loader. If there's a particular tutorial you've used I'd appreciate you sharing it. My guess is most people have their own methods that they've taken something from here, there, and everywhere.
Is it more of an art than a science? Are 72-pins worth bending back or should they always be replaced?
Note: The games and the toasters, I have duplicates enough where I can use trial and error. The top loader is the one that makes me nervous.
Comments
Cleaning the contacts with something like alcohol is, as far as I can tell, harmless, as long as you don't get too much moisture inside the game. If that doesn't work, get a little bit of Weiman's stove top cleaner from your local wal mart, target, etc. It should be in the cleaning supplies aisle. It's a white paste cleaning liquid that is a bit abrasive, but works well. Just don't use too much of it. If you are pretty rough with it, you can keep using Q-tip after Q-tip, each one getting black stuff off of the pins. But that black stuff is just the gold plating you're rubbing off So, in that sense, it's more of an art than a science. If you just use a bit of it, though, you should be fine. Most people use some Weimans followed by 90% alcohol. Pencil erasers are probably too abrasive for cleaning carts; t-shirts and other cloths should be relatively harmless.
About 72 pins, I'm not sure. I always hate buying them since they can be so expensive, and pretty rough on games. I don't like a death grip on my carts' contacts. I haven't heard much about 72 pin connector cleaning, but I'd experiment with it. I've heard of people boiling them and soaking them in alcohol and letting them dry for a few weeks to remove dirt, then bending the pins back. I've done this once--it worked better than it did before, but bending the pins back was tediously difficult.
I have cleaned a few toasters though. One thing I'd recommend is to get a magnetic phillips head screwdriver so you don't lose any screws. Take all the electronics out and throw the plastic bits in the dishwasher. I did that to mine, stickers and all, gave it a cold wash and it came out just fine. Avoid chemicals and such on the door, they'll wipe the red "Nintendo" logo right off. The dishwasher is also nice for NES game sleeves; sometimes they get pretty dusty inside. They'll take a while to dry though.
The only time I've used steel wool/car polish since has been for a stubborn Back to the Future cart that just refused to work, even after about 20 minutes of scrubbing with weimans/alcohol. It's a really common cart, so I didn't care about ruining it in the long term. Just be sure you let buyers know you've done this if you ever do it to your games, it's common courtesy Some people don't care, others probably would.
There are some other weird tricks to cleaning game stuff, like dunking boxes in water and making them dry for weeks with pressure on them to repair rips and restore structure. This thread might help you, but don't bother posting in it since it's so old
http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=8&threadid=37903
EDIT: Oh, also, get your hands on a dry erase marker or two. If you ever have some nasty permanent marker on a label or box, dry erase markers will take it right off. Of course it doesn't work if the marker is on the rough part of a box or a label missing the plastic covering. But take a look (if you can) at this nice CIB Pokemon Crystal game I got for $2 a while ago:
https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/241521_1720781016155_3149484_o.jpg
It used to be covered in permanent marker. I just wrote over it with dry erase marker and wiped it off with a sock. 2 minutes later it looks like new.
Also, for stickers on carts, use Goo Gone. Good stuff, but oily. I'd be careful with it around label or paper. I bought some of this "Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0" stuff, to remove "fine scratches and blemishes," it worked pretty well. Made my Game Gear screen look nicer, and also cleaned up a few of my other Sega consoles.
EDIT: Just tried the trick with the dry-eraser, here's what two minutes of effort got me, thanks!
EDIT2: Please ignore my sock lol
Similar to the method above except with just clean brown cardboard.
Originally posted by: JKeefe56
Wow, thank you so much. I realize that must have taken a lot of time to write out, and I really do appreciate it. Now, all I have to do is search out a way to clean the top loader that's credible. It's not in dire need of it, just wouldn't hurt. I've added that older thread to favorites, I'm sure I'll be using it often!
EDIT: Just tried the trick with the dry-eraser, here's what two minutes of effort got me, thanks!
EDIT2: Please ignore my sock lol
Great! Glad that worked so well. I completely forgot about the index card thing for cleaning pins.