Did I kill my NES?

[Retrogamer0001]

So, after acquiring a bunch of NES games for cheap at a yard sale recently, I decided to fire up my old NES and test them all out. After carefully cleaning the carts with alcohol and Q-tips, only about half of the games worked. I figured one of two things were happening - either my NES needed cleaning, or the games were bad. After plugging into my Retron system, ALL the games worked fine, so obviously the issue was my NES. I took apart the system and cleaned the pin connectors (with copper cleaner and alcohol), then put everything back together. Now, I get a pink flashing screen on start up, and whenever I hit reset, a new colored screen will appear (purple, black, blue, red, you name it). Did I just not connect everything properly again, is my pin connector fried, or did I just flat out murder my NES?

[threetoed]

It's unlikely that you fried your connector, since it is a passive component. If you put it back wrong or shorted the pins, you could burn out other components. As I recall, the connector can only be installed one way, so it's unlikely that you put it back wrong. You should check if you shorted any of the pins.

The other issue is that the problem with the connectors isn't that it gets dirty, but that the pins have gotten bent. Did you bend them back when you have it out?

[Retrogamer0001]

Very possible. All the pins look like they should though - no noticeable bends at all. They all look pretty much the same. Is it possible the cleaner I used is to blame? It was a powder based cleaner that I had to mix with water and then use a cloth to scrub with.

[SnowKitty]

Very possible. All the pins look like they should though - no noticeable bends at all. They all look pretty much the same. Is it possible the cleaner I used is to blame? It was a powder based cleaner that I had to mix with water and then use a cloth to scrub with.

they don't need to be bent down very far to cause issues. try bending them up a little bit so that they grip the cartridge tighter.

[cookie monster]

Try slideing a game in the pins is it a tight fit if the game is loose on the pins or the power button is flashing you need to get new pins.

[Retrogamer0001]

Snowkitty, you called it. After carefully bending up the pins with a tack, the NES now works (albeit after some resetting). Thanks a lot guys!