Blinking Light on NES

NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii
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racketboy
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Blinking Light on NES

Post by racketboy »

Recently got my NES off eBay and cleaned it up good. But I have the red power light blinking on me when booting most games.
I did get Duck Tales to boot fine, but haven't had luck with others.
I'm guessing I'll need a new 72-pin connector, but if you have any other suggestions, lemme know.
visual_death
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Post by visual_death »

I had a blinking light too and couldn't get any games to work.
I opened mine up and cleaned it all up and it works great!

So if you did that too, you might just need a new pin? Did you try the method of just moving the pins?
These is really useful/helpful with modifying and cleaning your nes:

http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/nes ... mod_en.php

Other than that, I also found this on youtube that -might- work, but I haven't tried it since my games work fine after I cleaned it (and I found the video after taking it all apart XD) ... oh.. I can't find the video anymore..

anyways, basically you put the game into the system and push it down to lock in place. then you put your finger where that indent is in the game and you move your finger left & right a few times to jiggle it and it should work. (apparently.. it seems to work half and half for different people...)

Not sure if any of this help, but hopefully!
pompeyparsons
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Post by pompeyparsons »

I've fixed about 4 Nintendo's in the last week, you can try just moving the pins around but that's only a temporary solution it may work for awhile but it's going to need a new 72-pin eventually anyways.

I'd suggest purchasing some, I got 5 for $30 shipping off eBay which seems high but I wanted them from a reliable seller. Best of luck that blinking red light gets annoying real fast.
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D.D.D.
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xraydash
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Post by xraydash »

I suggest you get a game genie instead of a new pin connector. You should be able to get one on ebay for around ten dollars. Just leave it in and load your games through it. You can bypass the code screen and play games without any cheats. (Of course it's fun to have options!) My experience has been that they work with sketchy connectors without having to further clean or bend the pins. As long as you can get at least one game to load, I'd be surprised if a genie didn't work on first try. Somehow they make a nice tight connection with loose pins. And then, like I said, just leave it in there and you'll never have that problem again. That's what I did for my system and a friend's anyway...

Edit- The game genie connector that you plug the games into is far superior to the 72 pin version. It's more like the SNES connector in that nothing bends at all. In other words, it won't wear out over time.
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Post by nateup2 »

visual_death wrote:
anyways, basically you put the game into the system and push it down to lock in place. then you put your finger where that indent is in the game and you move your finger left & right a few times to jiggle it and it should work. (apparently.. it seems to work half and half for different people...)

Not sure if any of this help, but hopefully!
That trick brings back memories from my childhood!
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xraydash
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Post by xraydash »

Oh, and you cleaned the games, right? Even the slightest bit of grunge will make your carts unreadable if your pin connector is iffy. Q-tips and rubbing alcohol does the trick. I've got the little 3.8 mm tool to make things easier but you should be able to get in there okay with some effort.
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racketboy
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Post by racketboy »

xraydash wrote:Oh, and you cleaned the games, right? Even the slightest bit of grunge will make your carts unreadable if your pin connector is iffy. Q-tips and rubbing alcohol does the trick. I've got the little 3.8 mm tool to make things easier but you should be able to get in there okay with some effort.
Nah, I haven't cleaned all the games. Would that cause the blinking?
Thanks for all the tips!
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xraydash
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Post by xraydash »

racketboy wrote:
xraydash wrote:Oh, and you cleaned the games, right? Even the slightest bit of grunge will make your carts unreadable if your pin connector is iffy. Q-tips and rubbing alcohol does the trick. I've got the little 3.8 mm tool to make things easier but you should be able to get in there okay with some effort.
Nah, I haven't cleaned all the games. Would that cause the blinking?
Most definitely. That's your first step in troubleshooting right there. Then look at ebay auctions for game genies! :wink:
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marurun
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Post by marurun »

You could try installing a new connector. You could also cut the region protection pins and ground them. I found a site recently that sells cheap connectors. When I get back home after the holiday I'll check and post it here.
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