Best Way to Clean SNES Contacts?

[Kemiroch]

I have been commissioned to repair one of my friends' Super Nintendos. He says it will only play games sometimes and then only by wiggling the game while it is on. I figure this is most likely caused by dirt and grime buildup, but I've never cleaned the inside of an SNES before and need some tips. Is alcohol ok to use? Also, what would I apply it with? A q-tip seems too large to get in to the very narrow slot.

[emwearz]

If you dont want to open your console then, I would cut a piece of cardboard and put alcohol on one side of it, insert it in the cart slot, then flip it over and use the dry end. Leave it to try, should have worked a treat.

Also clean your carts, you can qtip with alcohol to clean them if you cant open your carts, or if you can use a clean eraser on the connectors.

[HellHammer]

I used to have a cleaning kit, but it's been used up long ago.

Since then, I've gone the poor man's route and cut two smaller pieces of flat plastic (I used the lid of a rubbermaid-style bin) to fit the shape of the contact area. Then, use some thin cloth material like an old sheet or T-shirt, and wrap the cloth tightly around the pieces of plastic. I use rubbing alcohol on one and use the other to dry the pins off.

I'd just say to make sure you wait after each cleaning for the contacts to completely dry before inserting a cart.

[Hobie-wan]

The method I use:

Take some cardboard from a food box, like say a cereal box. Make sure it is clean and double or triple it over, brown raw side out. Slide it in the slot. Electrical contact cleaner works best, but alcohol will work. Dampen the cardboard down by the slot. Assuming you also don't have a syringe, you could use a straw and put your finger on the end and carefully dribble down the sides by the slot. Then move the cardboard up and down for a bit carefully. You might repeat this a few times if there's really obvious dirt coming off. Let the system dry for at least 30 minutes with the slot held open before you hook it up and test it. If you don't have bits to open up the carts, then yes, q-tips with alcohol are your best bet.

[lwcook]

What I do is start with some electrical contact cleaner (I use full strength deoxit.) First take a game and using a q-tip, clean the game with the cleaner.

Now, thinly coat both sides of the game cart pins and insert it into the system. The "method" here is pretty much just like how the old official cleaning kits worked...insert game, pull game out, insert game, pull game out, etc.

Then, every 10 times or so, clean the cart with a q-tip (you'll see all the dirt and corrosion that's come out the system's pins.) Repeat with the cleaner and the in/out process until the game cart comes out clean.

I've done this on all my systems and they now play games without any trouble as long as the carts are clean. Most amazing...my Saturn cart slot gives me no more trouble after doing this. Hurray!