How to clean cartridges, just a verification

[noiseredux]

wait, so using water is bad? (I'm not kidding)

and what's the best way to clean a console? Like if I didn't own a GB cleaning kit, how would i want to clean a GB?

[Hatta]

Using water isn't bad, if you take the time to dry it completely. That can take a long time in a humid environment. In real stubborn cases you can even put PCBs in the dishwasher (with no detergent) and air them out for a few days. That's more of a last resort though. Keep an eye on any capacitors if you do that though. An old capacitor that's likely to leak may be pushed over the edge by that treatment.

In the absence of a cleaning cart, you can do pretty much the same thing with a tshirt wrapped around some cardboard from a cereal box dipped in a bit of alcohol.

[Hobie-wan]

Using water isn't bad, if you take the time to dry it completely. That can take a long time in a humid environment. In real stubborn cases you can even put PCBs in the dishwasher (with no detergent) and air them out for a few days. That's more of a last resort though. Keep an eye on any capacitors if you do that though. An old capacitor that's likely to leak may be pushed over the edge by that treatment.

I wouldn't put any boards in a dishwasher for 2 reasons. Minerals and additives in the water will leave deposits and the heat won't be good for components. Granted there are a lot of minerals in the water here, but still. Putting a shell in there is fine as long as all the metal and circuit boards have been removed. Putting a keyboard in there as long as it is fully dried might be fine too, but keyboards are a dime a dozen.

[3GenGames]

Plus they might get melted.



Yeah, boards and water get along, just not when they're on, because water and electricity don't agree....I clean NES boards all the time under water, Get it out from under the chips and your fine.


Wieman.....wieman....wieman!

[ChuChu Flamingo]

I do 90% alcohol and then give it a try, weimanns is a last resort but never fails to work. You can't scrub with it though, and have some qtips + alch ready to clean it off.

Is this method safe for the later genesis carts with the white connectors and pins missing? Offhand the only game I can think of that uses this is Mortal Kombat.

What is good for cleaning the outside of cases? I usually start with a dry q-tip and move to q-tip + water if needed. I cleaned a few dreamcast controllers with alcohol and won't be making that mistake again. They work fine but you can still see streaks where they got cleaned.

Did you use a cloth to remove the residue of rubbing alcohol? Gotta be careful with rubbing alchohol on carts like legend of zelda or any painted one that isn't standard. Windex (with no ammonia) seems to do the job for me on the outside.Always a good idea to test a inconspicuous area.

Dish soap and a soft bristle tooth brush also works. Just make sure you are careful round the label. You don't want any water, or windex getting under the label. I just cleaned some games up I found that had massive dirt on them this way. The type of dirt that even rubbing alcohol wouldn't take off. Also had marker on the label, which I promptly got off with rubbing alcohol and q-tips.

The two games I found were Contra and Super Mario Bros. 2. I already have these games, but decided I'll keep extras because they are just that great. But I found some differences among my copies. For example Super Mario Bros 2, one has a Nintendo seal of quality and better color, and the other one does not have a seal of quality. Contra on the other hand is exactly the same on the outside, but my first one has a blue pcb with konami written on it while the second has a standard green pcb. Pretty cool. Only thing that sucks is both of them in the same spots have this yellowish tint in a certain spot that can't be cleaned. Maybe yellowing?

Plus they might get melted.



Yeah, boards and water get along, just not when they're on, because water and electricity don't agree....I clean NES boards all the time under water, Get it out from under the chips and your fine.


Wieman.....wieman....wieman!

I've read this before but if doing, I would recommend distilled water. You don't want any of the minerals and stuff drying out on it. I've heard good things and bad things about this but if the board doesn't work and you tested the capacitors etc, it can't hurt anything.

[3GenGames]

I do 90% alcohol and then give it a try, weimanns is a last resort but never fails to work. You can't scrub with it though, and have some qtips + alch ready to clean it off.

Is this method safe for the later genesis carts with the white connectors and pins missing? Offhand the only game I can think of that uses this is Mortal Kombat.

What is good for cleaning the outside of cases? I usually start with a dry q-tip and move to q-tip + water if needed. I cleaned a few dreamcast controllers with alcohol and won't be making that mistake again. They work fine but you can still see streaks where they got cleaned.

Did you use a cloth to remove the residue of rubbing alcohol? Gotta be careful with rubbing alchohol on carts like legend of zelda or any painted one that isn't standard. Windex (with no ammonia) seems to do the job for me on the outside.Always a good idea to test a inconspicuous area.

Dish soap and a soft bristle tooth brush also works. Just make sure you are careful round the label. You don't want any water, or windex getting under the label. I just cleaned some games up I found that had massive dirt on them this way. The type of dirt that even rubbing alcohol wouldn't take off. Also had marker on the label, which I promptly got off with rubbing alcohol and q-tips.

The two games I found were Contra and Super Mario Bros. 2. I already have these games, but decided I'll keep extras because they are just that great. But I found some differences among my copies. For example Super Mario Bros 2, one has a Nintendo seal of quality and better color, and the other one does not have a seal of quality. Contra on the other hand is exactly the same on the outside, but my first one has a blue pcb with konami written on it while the second has a standard green pcb. Pretty cool. Only thing that sucks is both of them in the same spots have this yellowish tint in a certain spot that can't be cleaned. Maybe yellowing?

Plus they might get melted.



Yeah, boards and water get along, just not when they're on, because water and electricity don't agree....I clean NES boards all the time under water, Get it out from under the chips and your fine.


Wieman.....wieman....wieman!

I've read this before but if doing, I would recommend distilled water. You don't want any of the minerals and stuff drying out on it. I've heard good things and bad things about this but if the board doesn't work and you tested the capacitors etc, it can't hurt anything.

Yes....If possible. Got some lime looking stuff on one of my home made NROM Development carts, but it came off a 2nd time with a better drying, so distilled would be better but not needed.

And nice picture of Bayou Billy. http://bootgod.dyndns.org:7777/profile.php?id=77

[CRTGAMER]

Water-Air-Metal
Combine the three and you just completed the cathode to anode corrosion circuit. Alcohol and an acid brush a smarter move, followed by low pressure air blow off say from an air can. Even then you don't want any fluid at all to get in the non watertight capacitors, a temporary surge battery. Even the rom chips are vulnerable at the pins, especially the ones that have a socket base.

If the PCB is just dusty, just a dry acid brush should be fine.

Try drying out fluid between these plates.

[Mendoza]

What about this set?

http://www.nintendorepairshop.com/produ ... ign=SNESGR

Ive also seen the official snes cleaning kit on amazon, would it be worth the 10 bucks it goes for?

[CRTGAMER]

For ten bucks not bad. Just be contacts are dry before powering back up.

[Mendoza]

For ten bucks not bad. Just be contacts are dry before powering back up.

Heres the one i saw.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... ition=used

I think i used to have a third party one of these. I know you cant open up the carts with it, but i figured official would at least be safe.