How to clean cartridges, just a verification

[CRTGAMER]

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.

Actually opening a game cart is no big deal for a more thorough clean. The specialized cleaning cart for the console contacts is handy. Someone mentioned (was it Hobie ?) using a cardboard dampened with alcohol followed by a dry side inserted into the console connecter a few times.

[RCBH928]

yea
we always clean the cartridge but never the pins IN the console itself
should we?
and how should we do it?

all i remember is blowing in it

[ChuChu Flamingo]

I do it to all my systems, although only just once though. I mean I don't want my carts to get dirty after spending the time cleaning them.

Method I use is to first get a toothbrush, get it wet with rubbing alcohol and scrub the contacts on the system.

Then I wrap a old credit card or card in a white thin t-shirt, get it wet with rubbing alcohol, and stick repeatedly into the cartridge slot. Then place the card on a dry side and do the same. Repeat until it comes out clean.

[Anapan]

I use 90% alcohol as well, or if I'm feeling ambitious, I dig out a tape-head-cleaner for it's little black bottle of Xylene. In extreme cases I'll lightly scour the contacts with a scotch-brite pad before swabbing the contacts.
This topic reminded me of a picture I found on EAGB.
http://www3.telus.net/anapan8/EAGB_GBCart.jpg
Reportedly ketchup will clean the contacts with a short immersion.

[Jamisonia]

I find one should use a metal polish on carts unless they're immaculate. I always open the cart and do a regimen of brasso, polish, alcohol, polish. I polish with shop towels because they don't seem to leave lint, and are thick and soft enough to get the job done. I finish with a puff of air from a can to clean off any unseen lint. It seems that even the cleanest looking carts has this faintest residue of black corrosion and this removes it. And some carts have very heavy corrosion, on the edge of rust, that this also removes.

For systems I use Radio Shack electric contact cleaner and a toothbrush.

[bozskaggs]

Ditto on the brasso, only if I need to(very nasty contacts)using q-tips, just make sure you rinse it off the contacts good, I use denatured alcohol, it has no water in it, and evaporates quickly.

I do one final step and rub the contacts with mineral oil, then wipe it off good so there is a really thin layer of oil left, this prevents moisture from building up on the contacts.

I do this to all my carts and they work perfectly, although I realize just cleaning them once with alcohol would probably get them working just fine, but I enjoy restoring old stuff as best I can.

[ChuChu Flamingo]

Keep in mind brasso or any other metal polish is an abrasive and is actually removing a layer of gold. Only use on carts that won't play or have graphical glitches after using contact cleaner.

[Jamisonia]

Keep in mind brasso or any other metal polish is an abrasive and is actually removing a layer of gold. Only use on carts that won't play or have graphical glitches after using contact cleaner.

The amount of gold its removing is negligible. It would take decades of constant polishing to remove enough metal to risk contact issues. You should use it on any cartridge that has any corrosion on it. Otherwise your inserting a corroded cartridge into a presumably clean (corrosion free) system under heat which is recipe for corroding the console contacts. Every game I have boots on the first time. There's no games that sometimes boots and sometimes don't, no games that have glitches. Every game I've used this method on plays like its brand new.

[ChuChu Flamingo]

And so do mine. There is only like 1 or 2 carts that I personally feel could use a good polish. I've looked at some of my atari carts and they have tarnish on them, but play just fine. That tarnish is the layer underneath them, not the gold.

I still want to know what happened to this gyromite cart I have. The contacts are complete nickel and the graphics are all scrambled. Maybe someone used Windex on them, ammonia loves to eat gold.

But alas, corrosion and rust do not spread by contact.

[Hobie-wan]

But alas, corrosion and rust do not spread by contact.

But particles of that corrosion do as well as the contaminants that caused the corrosion in the first place.