Mod_Man_Extreme wrote:I've personally found that instead of replacing the 72-pin, cleaning the original OEM Nintendo one with electrical contact cleaner and a toothbrush coupled with disabling the NES-10 chip is a far, far better solution.
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A through cleaning of the original 72-pin connector should resolve almost all contact issues.
I've personally replaced three connectors with third party connectors. One of them just plain didn't work. The second one worked at first, but after about four cart insertions, one of the pins actually bent and broke off due to it being so tight. The third one worked, at least while I had it in my care.
Since these connectors appear to be junk and are clearly far too tight for their own good, I decided to try to fix the existing connector from then on. I now boil the connectors in water. It works every time.
You can't understand true "zero insertion force" until you've tried a freshly boiled connector. The cart virtually slides into place just with gravity. You could insert it with your pinky finger.
Explain the boiling thing to me people. You toss the whole connector in boiling water? Does this make the pins easier to bend back into place? I used a flathead eyeglasses screwdriver.
There is no physical bending required. Assuming the principal works the same as with plastic (of which boiling is a common practice), the heat relaxes the metal and allows it to more closely assume its original shape. I'd also assume it removes any oil or other residue and debris.
I suggest using either filtered or distiller water, otherwise you can get residue from the water when it dries.
Boil water. Place connector in water for 5 minutes. I suggest placing it plastic side down, as I have found the metal to discolour if it touches the pot, although it doesn't seem to harm anything. Don't worry, the plastic will not melt. Take out of pot, and shake the water out. I do this by wrapping it in a towel and spinning the towel around. Then I use a hair dryer to dry it completely. If you are boiling a lot of connectors, you can literally bake them dry in the oven (275 degrees).
Zing wrote:Boil water. Place connector in water for 5 minutes. I suggest placing it plastic side down, as I have found the metal to discolour if it touches the pot, although it doesn't seem to harm anything. Don't worry, the plastic will not melt. Take out of pot, and shake the water out. I do this by wrapping it in a towel and spinning the towel around. Then I use a hair dryer to dry it completely. If you are boiling a lot of connectors, you can literally bake them dry in the oven (275 degrees).
Allow the connector to cool then enjoy the games.
I called BS on this and then did the fun science thing and tried it myself. Holy snap, I can't believe it works but it does. Bravo sir.
I also tried the boiling trick after reading this and it works really well! I also sanded the pins a little with 600 grit sand paper. The only trick was getting all of the water out of the connector and letting it dry completely.
I should note that I boiled the water, then took the pot off of the burner and put the connector (or in my case five of them) in the pot for five minutes. I was worried about the plastic melting from touching the bottom of the pot.
Also, it would probably be best if the pot used was a project only pot, and not something that food is put into. That may just be paranoia, but plastic in a microwave is carcinogenic, so I think it's best to be safe.
Thanks a lot for that idea, Zing!
Retro Games and Fighting Games http://www.dromstruction.com Playing: Lunar 2 (Sega CD). After? Dark Wizard or SNES games!
make sure you clean the connections on the pcb; they are copper and oxidize over time also disabling the lock out chip can help time to time. What i've done in the past is i prefer to keep the original connectors. 1) To do this and make it worth your while get a bottle of goo be gone or lemon juice(soak the connectors in it lemon juice will take around 5-6 hours goo be gone will take 2-3 mins)
2) then take the connector wash it off with a mixture of water and baking soda(this will neutralize the acids ) then wash off with water, let this sit for a while while it drys.
3) Next use a vinyl eraser to clean the pcb where the connector will plug in .
4)next you can put it back together or if your amazing at soldering then hit the pins with a bit or solder and wick or suck it off so its still a nice smooth surface this will keep from further oxidization. Or you could gold plate these connections that would work even better.
If you have it open and have a soldering iron replace all the caps while you have it open.
