Also, another thing that could cause an issue even with a good 72 pin connector is the pins on the actual motherboard being dirty. I have on several occasions replaced the pin connector and still had problems getting a game to load until I cleaned the pins on the actual motherboard that the 72 pin connector connects to.
Thanks for the link! Luckily I have a good amount of old 72 original pins so I'll go ahead and boil them and see if I have any luck. I did clean the motherboard with brasso and 70 rubbing alcohol , but can't hurt to do it again.
If you already cleaned the pins on the motherboard no need to do it again, especially with Brasso. You don't want to overuse that stuff because its abrasive.
I appreciate all your advise as well. How long do you usually boil the pins for? I boiled them for about 5-10 mins and it worked! However, I still got a white screen from time to time and have to press the reset button a few times to get it working properly.
Does the cartridge slot feel loose when inserting and removing games? If so you may need to bend the pins up slightly to make for a more snug connection. There are lots of guides and videos online showing how. Also, probably obvious but make sure your games are clean too. I've found in my experience a clean 72 pin connector can be very sensitive to games that are even just a little dirty. As for boiling i actually don't bother going through the trouble. What i do is gently use 800 grit sand paper in and out about 10-20 times on the 72 pin to remove the built up dirt and oxidation, blow out any dust from sanding, then bend the pins back up with a small hand pick. After that i use a bit of electrical contact cleaner then 91% isopropyl alcohol to clean the connector. Also be sure to clean the connector on the motherboard. This method seems to have been working well enough for me. I used to use more abrasive cleaners like Brasso but wanted to find a less harsh way that works just as well.
Can't say how helpful you've been I really really appreciate it, I did the boil method for about 20-30 minutes, then bent the pins to make a firm connection. I got it to play super mario bros pretty consistently. However, it has to be just in the right spot or I get a white screen and sometimes you have to play with it for awhile to get it in the sweet spot. I am
not completely happy with it so I just bought a BLW, I am curious to see how it is anyway.
Yeah the refurbishing method takes some practice on several different connectors to get it right, and for a long time I would just buy refurbed OEM connectors from a guy on Ebay for $9 a pop. When I started trying to do it myself the first couple I did with this method were definitely an improvement and got it working again but I made the pins too tight and games would still not work 100% of the time. I've since gotten better at it though and have done about 15-20 refurbs and have the method down perfectly now. Squeaky clean and just the right amount of tension. But yeah, does take practice to get the feel for it.
But I can understand just wanting to get a working connector and be done with it. I still don't recommend 3rd party ones though. All original for me.
Comments
Get a refurbished OEM 72 pin connector from a reputable seller like this guy: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL...
Also, another thing that could cause an issue even with a good 72 pin connector is the pins on the actual motherboard being dirty. I have on several occasions replaced the pin connector and still had problems getting a game to load until I cleaned the pins on the actual motherboard that the 72 pin connector connects to.
Thanks for the link! Luckily I have a good amount of old 72 original pins so I'll go ahead and boil them and see if I have any luck. I did clean the motherboard with brasso and 70 rubbing alcohol , but can't hurt to do it again.
If you already cleaned the pins on the motherboard no need to do it again, especially with Brasso. You don't want to overuse that stuff because its abrasive.
I appreciate all your advise as well. How long do you usually boil the pins for? I boiled them for about 5-10 mins and it worked! However, I still got a white screen from time to time and have to press the reset button a few times to get it working properly.
Does the cartridge slot feel loose when inserting and removing games? If so you may need to bend the pins up slightly to make for a more snug connection. There are lots of guides and videos online showing how. Also, probably obvious but make sure your games are clean too. I've found in my experience a clean 72 pin connector can be very sensitive to games that are even just a little dirty. As for boiling i actually don't bother going through the trouble. What i do is gently use 800 grit sand paper in and out about 10-20 times on the 72 pin to remove the built up dirt and oxidation, blow out any dust from sanding, then bend the pins back up with a small hand pick. After that i use a bit of electrical contact cleaner then 91% isopropyl alcohol to clean the connector. Also be sure to clean the connector on the motherboard. This method seems to have been working well enough for me. I used to use more abrasive cleaners like Brasso but wanted to find a less harsh way that works just as well.
Can't say how helpful you've been I really really appreciate it, I did the boil method for about 20-30 minutes, then bent the pins to make a firm connection. I got it to play super mario bros pretty consistently. However, it has to be just in the right spot or I get a white screen and sometimes you have to play with it for awhile to get it in the sweet spot. I am
not completely happy with it so I just bought a BLW, I am curious to see how it is anyway.
Yeah the refurbishing method takes some practice on several different connectors to get it right, and for a long time I would just buy refurbed OEM connectors from a guy on Ebay for $9 a pop. When I started trying to do it myself the first couple I did with this method were definitely an improvement and got it working again but I made the pins too tight and games would still not work 100% of the time. I've since gotten better at it though and have done about 15-20 refurbs and have the method down perfectly now. Squeaky clean and just the right amount of tension. But yeah, does take practice to get the feel for it.
But I can understand just wanting to get a working connector and be done with it. I still don't recommend 3rd party ones though. All original for me.