Some NES Repair Questions...

[KDub]

It will never work like new again because its so old and your carts are worn too. But it will help you not see the flashing screen as much. It is easy to do, just remove a whole mess of screws, pull the old connector off and put the new one on and then screw it all back together.

The reason the new connectors work better when not depressed is because they are not the same connector set up as the original. They are made like the ones used in the NES 2 Top Loader. The original connectors were spaced more so they would function when you pressed the game down and in contrast actually made a better contact when bent down. The new ones are set up to make that contact as soon as the game is slipped in so when you press the game down you are actually bending the contacts away from the cart.

[Hatta]

I try not to depress the game anymore. It happens out of habit more than anything else. I should really open mine up again and see if I can rig it so it can't depress.

I have to second the recommendation to disable the lockout chip. All you have to do is cut one pin on one chip.

Make sure you clean all your carts before you use them on your refurbished system. Corrosion is a chemical reaction that feeds on itself, much like fire. It does spread.

[ReddMcKnight]

I try not to depress the game anymore. It happens out of habit more than anything else. I should really open mine up again and see if I can rig it so it can't depress.

I have to second the recommendation to disable the lockout chip. All you have to do is cut one pin on one chip.

Make sure you clean all your carts before you use them on your refurbished system. Corrosion is a chemical reaction that feeds on itself, much like fire. It does spread.

Is disabling the chip REALLY a wise idea? That sounds like something I could mess up real easy. Besides, what's the point? Will the chip prevent reproductions from working?

[Opa Opa]

Is disabling the chip REALLY a wise idea? That sounds like something I could mess up real easy. Besides, what's the point? Will the chip prevent reproductions from working?

While you could mess it up real easily, you won't if you follow a guide. If I remember correctly you cut one connecting joint on a chip. Don't be afraid of breaking anything. These consoles made it this far and poking and prodding on the insides isn't going to do anything. (Although, I don't recommend you literally poke and prod at the internal parts. )

Disabling the chip allows you to play unlicensed games (I think... Not that you'd want to play them anyway) and reduces the blinking light problem. I don't know about repros. Probably won't affect them.

[alexis524]

don't be scared to cut the pin on the chip. Altho different, i cut a pin inside a PSP battery to pandorize it. Not too hard and no issues. can't imagine that the NES would any harder...

[Hobie-wan]

Cutting the chip eliminates the blinking problem. If your carts or connector are dirty you will still get a solid or scrambled screen, but it will not blink. The whole point of the lockout chip is that the one in the console checks for one in the cart. If it doesn't hear back from the handshake it puts the console in a reset loop, thus the blinking.

The whole point was to keep unlicensed carts without the chip in them from working but as a side effect if your stuff is dirty and one of the pins the lockout talks on isn't making good contact is that your legit carts will end up blinking too.

[ReddMcKnight]

Operation results:

Clean connector: Failure
Disable chip: Failure

Yeah, I'd say this all went reallll well. >:(

[Opa Opa]

Well what went wrong?

[ReddMcKnight]

Well what went wrong?

I couldn't get that part on the chip cut, no matter what I did or how hard I tried, and no matter how much I cleaned the connector OR my games, it would not work right.

[Opa Opa]

Did the system power up?