SNES graphical glitching: need help fixing

[toredauei]

today I found a snes at a thrift store for 15 dollars and, like everything else I ever buy from thrift stores, the price was too good to be true. the system turns on and everything seems to function correctly other than the fact that the picture the system outputs is all glitchy :/ Nothing wrong with the sound or anything, just the picture. Cleaning the contacts proved futile so I opened the SNES up and took a look inside. The only thing I could find that seemed out of place was one of the smaller chips in the top right corner had some corrosion on its legs which I cleaned off. No improvement. If im not mistaken that particular chip isnt one of the graphical chips anyway ( the two that are on top of one another directly to the smaller chip's left are)

Anyway, Ive provided pictures of what the glitched out snes looks like along with what the screen should look like and have also provided pics of the pcb. If anyone can give some insight as to what my problem may be and how to fix it that would be awesome

The main PCB


The chip that had some corrosion on it


Konami screen glitched


Konami screen normal


Contra opening glitched


Contra opening normal

[Hobie-wan]

I have a SNES that basically does the same thing. Games 'work' so to speak, sound is fine, but everything is scrambled like a dirty NES cart. I've cleaned contacts, scoured the board looking for anything that looked roasted or a bad solder joint and not had any luck either. So if anyone has any ideas I'd be grateful.

I might pop in my Contra 3 later just out of curiousity to see if it looks exactly the same or not. I was using a really ugly copy of Final Fight I didn't mind losing for testing when I got that batch of systems to work on.

[toredauei]

well I can confirm that playing the game in the broken snes wont actually hurt the game. Id be very interested to see if your copy of contra gave the same output or same type of output. Might be a little bit different as I used a super famicom version.

[Ziggy]

How did you clean the cartridge slot? Maybe you just need to clean it better. If all else fails, you can buy a replacement cartridge connector (like the ones you can buy for an NES) but they're a little harder to find. You can usually find them on eBay though.

I would put my money on a dirty/damaged cartridge connector. If that corrosion was the only thing that looked bad on the board, maybe you can go a step further than cleaning it. You could desolder each leg of that chip, clean it some more, then resolder it. But I would focus on the cartridge connector.

edit: Here's one...

http://www.nesrepairshop.com/online_sho ... SSID=7445a

But be aware, there are a few different model SNES's. And that link states that, apparently, there is a 'plug-n-play' connector and one that has to be soldered on.

[toredauei]

Thanks for the input and the link ziggy. I went ahead and cleaned the contacts again (credit card with one of those cloths you use to clean glasses lens and such) and even bent the contacts down with a small screwdriver. Since doing that I no longer get any picture at all, just full screens of random colors, usually a dark green or dark red. After all that I figure that it is most likely a bad cartridge connector and will probably buy a new one.

[Hobie-wan]

Thanks for the input and the link ziggy. I went ahead and cleaned the contacts again (credit card with one of those cloths you use to clean glasses lens and such) and even bent the contacts down with a small screwdriver. Since doing that I no longer get any picture at all, just full screens of random colors, usually a dark green or dark red. After all that I figure that it is most likely a bad cartridge connector and will probably buy a new one.

Well maybe not. Did you bend them so much that they touch? Remember that only a few games use the four pairs of pins at either end and don't even have a board that slides inbetween them. So of those end pins are too close together and touching, no telling what would happen.

[Ziggy]

Did you use any solution when cleaning it, or just a dry cloth? You might wanna try a 50/50 mix of a high percent rubbing alcohol and distilled water. This will remove a lot more grim then an otherwise dry cleaning. If you try this, go through the pins again with a dry cloths to dry it and possibly pull off more grim.

The only other thing that comes to mind is that a credit card might be a little too thin. You don't want to use something too thick that it'll push the pins out too far, but something thick enough to give the pins a good scrub. Maybe try two credit cards.

And you're right, Hobie, there's no way of telling what could happen if some pins touch and the system is powered on. It could possibly damage the system.

[toredauei]

Well maybe not. Did you bend them so much that they touch? Remember that only a few games use the four pairs of pins at either end and don't even have a board that slides inbetween them. So of those end pins are too close together and touching, no telling what would happen.

Hmm hadnt thought about that. When I went back and looked I had in fact bent some of the outside pins so that they were touching and that seems to have been the cause of the full screen one color deal. Im now back to just glitched out graphics

Ziggy, yea I just used a dry cloth the first time around Ill go back and use a wet cloth and see if that has any effect.

[Hobie-wan]

I pulled out my busted SNES and tried cleaning the pins again. No change. So I don't think the problem is in the pins connecting to the cart. It could be a broken solder joint between the plug and the board though. I didn't see any when I looked at this before, but perhaps I'll try redoing the points on it at another time when I'm not busy with other stuff.

[Ziggy]

You could just use straight rubbing alcohol, you really don't have to dilute it. But if you want to water it down, don't use anything other then distilled water. I don't trust the impurities in tap water and probably most bottled waters as well.