New NES 72-pin connector and controller port not working!

[mr.retro92]

I just went to a retro game machine repairman this afternoon to replace my old 72-pin connector with a new one, clean out my system, and all for $65. I brought it home after he did his thing and not only did the games blink and glitch out as they did before, and worse than that, my NES won't detect my controller. Other than the easy to solve blinking, my NES played fine before I sent it in. He's gonna take a look at it tomorrow. Do you think he's trying to screw me over? What should I do?

[Duke.Togo]

It sounds like he didn't really test it properly, I can tell you what the issue is. The cord that goes from the port to the board most likely didn't get reconnected, which he probably forgot when re-assembling. He should have disabled the lock-out chip while he was in there to prevent blinking.

$65? That seems like the real rip-off. I'd sell you one I personally refurbed and tested for only $35 plus shipping.

[mr.retro92]

If I can get him to fix this for free, I'll do it. But if all else fails, I'll take you up on that offer. I'll let you know tomorrow night. Cheers.

[Duke.Togo]

Good luck, I really hope this works out well for you. For what he charged, he should really take care of this for nothing. It's not terribly difficult work, and he should know to test before returning it to a customer.

[KDub]

Are you pushing the game down? A lot of the new pin connectors will not work if you push the game down.

$65 for what is essentially an hours work with maybe $10 in parts tops is a big rip off btw.

[mr.retro92]

The games wont work unless I push the carts down. This guy works out of his retro game store, a store which charges 69.99 for a copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 and 59.99 for Super Mario World. A world class ripoff in my opinion, and I deserved what I got for not researching prior to giving him my NES. If he tries to charge me for fixing his mistakes I'll be livid and if he wont replace my NES (he has several refurbed NES's in the store) I'll be furious. The invoice he gave me after he worked on the pin job said that he tested the system and it worked fine. Strange, considering the blinking is worse than before, and the controller ports broken.

[AppleQueso]

cleaning your games is arguably more important than replacing the connector.

Either way you were ripped off. $65 for a pin replacement is nuts.

[mr.retro92]

What should I use to clean the games with anyways? I've heard arguements for and against the rubbing alcohol/q-tip combo. Any suggestions?

[AppleQueso]

What should I use to clean the games with anyways? I've heard arguements for and against the rubbing alcohol/q-tip combo. Any suggestions?

rubbing alcohol/q-tip combo is fine.

Game carts say not to use alcohol, but that's pretty much just so Nintendo could sell more cleaning kits.

[Duke.Togo]

We talk about cleaning a lot in the latest podcast we did. Check the link in my sig.