Accidentally Ordering a Broken Game Online

VG_Addict · #1

This happened to me last night when I got a game in the mail, which had been stopped until my family got back from vacation, and I popped it in my NES, and it didn't even work! I tried blowing on it for 20 minutes, and I couldn't even get to the start screen!

Ace Mercury · #2

VG_Addict wrote:I tried blowing on it for 20 minutes, and I couldn't even get to the start screen!

That's what she said.

Also, don't blow on cartridges. If it's dusty, take a duster and dust it. If it's dirty, get some cleaner and clean it. Blowing just throws condensation onto it.

glux · #3

Ace Mercury wrote:Also, don't blow on cartridges. If it's dusty, take a duster and dust it. If it's dirty, get some cleaner and clean it. Blowing just throws condensation onto it.

Blowing games always works, what are you talking about?

Rainbow Dash · #4

did you seriously expect a used NES game to work still

Deepfake · #5

VG_Addict wrote:This happened to me last night when I got a game in the mail, which had been stopped until my family got back from vacation, and I popped it in my NES, and it didn't even work! I tried blowing on it for 20 minutes, and I couldn't even get to the start screen!

Never blow in your games. Your saliva will corrode the connectors. In those times that it helps, it's likely because the moisture helps the cartridge make an electrical connection. NES game connectors are especially sensitive.

Here's an easy and safe way to clean your games that I use very frequently:

Get a clean wash cloth, one that isn't intensely rough like a burlap sack or something, and a butter knife.

Wrap the wash cloth loosely once or twice around the thin end of the butter knife, leaving about half of the cloth in excess over the top, and fold the excess cloth over the top so the fold covers the tip of the knife. You don't want it to thick, it has to fit between the plastic wall of the card and the connector bridge.

Dampen the folded end of the cloth with water from the faucet. Don't soak it, you only need it damp, not sopping. Both sides.

Got your game cart? Now, provided you haven't flooded the cloth with far too much water, and you've wrapped it appropriately, slot the covered tip of the butter knife into the cartridge, between the grey plastic and connectors, and scrub it a bit. Not too furiously. Repeat the process for the opposite side. If the cloth gets too dirty halfway through, you're going to want to refold and dampen the cloth so a new part is covering the tip - so you're not just spreading the dirt around.

So once you're done, give it a liiiittle time to dry off, and pop the game in. If you haven't wrecked your NES by sticking a flithy used game into it, and you don't use a Game Genie, you should be set. Might have to fiddle with it a little, tweaking the cart back and forth to get the connectors lined up, but that's what the reset button is really for.

If you DO use a Game Genie, you've probably already wrecked your system's connector pins by bending them too far, and should likely have to always use it to make the connection. The Game Genie is a system killer, DON'T USE IT IF YOU CAN HELP IT. People think it makes their games connect better, and it does until the system's pins are so bent that the damn thing doesn't connect at all.

And while I'm busy telling you what NOT to do, I cannot emphasize this enough: NEVER PUT AN UNCLEANED, USED GAME CARTRIDGE YOU JUST BOUGHT INTO YOUR SYSTEM. I've seen melted lollipops on connector pins. You DO NOT want that crap in your system connectors. In fact, while you're at it, you should probably clean every game you own, before you use them again and get system filth all over them.

And don't ever use alcohol or cleaning products to clean your NES. Pure rubbing alcohol corrodes the connectors, and other household chemicals can do the same or leave a residue. Water and a bit of rubbing works fine.

Lurch1982 · #6

Also, get a top-loading NES.

Metal Man · #7

I dunno. Weird, caustic foam cleaners saved my Zelda 2 cart from being useless.

...

Then again, I don't even know WHAT foam cleaner that crazy Funcoland guy used on it...

VG_Addict · #8

FALCON PAUNCH wrote: I've seen melted lollipops on connector pins.

Really? I've never had that problem. All of the games I've bought online were in pretty good/decent condition.

Also, here's where I learned that you're not supposed to blow on your NES cartridges:

NESPlayer wrote: 02. Nintendo.com recently announced this caution that could've been helpful say, I don't know, sixteen years ago:

By blowing directly into the bottom of NES cartridges you are in fact slowly damaging them. Moisture from your breath may actually lead to the corrison of the connectors on your game and NES system in the long run.

Lurch1982 · #9

FALCON PAUNCH wrote: And don't ever use alcohol or cleaning products to clean your NES. Pure rubbing alcohol corrodes the connectors, and other household chemicals can do the same or leave a residue. Water and a bit of rubbing works fine.

Are you sure? The original cleaning kits from the 80s used rubbing alcohol, and people pretty much use the high percentage stuff (91%+) to clean connectors and more delicate circuitry. I mean yeah you shouldn't use the 70% stuff to do this, but 91% (or if you can find it, the 99% stuff) should be fine for cleaning because it evaporates extremely fast.

Ace Mercury · #10

Dishwasher, then drop them into the tumble dryer. Put a towel in with it so that it will tumble well.

YouTube · #11

I typically find that hydrofluoric acid gets rid of any crud on my games.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

Ace Mercury · #12

Have you tried chlorine trifluoride? Chlorine trifluoride is better. There's nothing better than something that can spontaneously ignite sand and asbestos tile.

Metal Man · #13

Lurch1982 wrote:Are you sure? The original cleaning kits from the 80s used rubbing alcohol, and people pretty much use the high percentage stuff (91%+) to clean connectors and more delicate circuitry. I mean yeah you shouldn't use the 70% stuff to do this, but 91% (or if you can find it, the 99% stuff) should be fine for cleaning because it evaporates extremely fast.

It's good enough to use directly on a CPU's heat spreader (and on the motherboard itself) at 90%, so it's more than good enough for the pins of a NES cartridge.

Nintendo says not to use rubbing alcohol so as to sell their own kits... even though those kits just have rubbing alcohol inside them, cleverly disguised by shiny cleaning devices.

DarkZero · #14

I'm pretty sure there's no way of getting your game to work without somehow damaging it in some way. Discs are much easier in this area, only having to be cleaned occasionally. That being said, I still don't like discs. Not really sure why.

Generally, I've always blown hot air into my games. Much less moisture, and it seems to work more often. Of course, I'm probably doing something that will prove hazardous in the long run, but when I crave Paper Mario, I'll light the ****ing thing on fire if I have to. Alternately, never remove your game from the slot. If you have more than one good game, however, you're screwed.

What about cotton swabs? Would they work to clean a game?

Ace Mercury · #15

BTW: I am also a witch.

Cotton swabs: probably? They're fine for removing obvious dirt and stuff. Water is good for removing dirt, alcohol for oils and everything that doesn't dissolve in water.

Blowing hot air (like, from a hair dryer or something) might be a bad thing depending on the temperature. Hot air can start warping plastics and, if you get really crazy (+100C temperatures), melt off soldered components.

Blowing doesn't really do anything to fix carts though; there's no magic in moving air that causes built up tachyon particles to reverse polarity or something like that. Also, those copper connectors are huge. Look at them. One mote of dust isn't going to stop electricity from flowing.

Anyways, AI knows what he's talking about. It's usually that the NES connector is dirty or just... broken. If you want to fix it, GIYF: nes connector - Google Search

Deepfake · #16

Metal Man wrote:Nintendo says not to use rubbing alcohol so as to sell their own kits... even though those kits just have rubbing alcohol inside them, cleverly disguised by shiny cleaning devices.

Fair enough, I just have a good memory of the warnings. I've heard others say that you should actually use a solution that is half-and-half alcohol/water. Straight water and a bit of rubbing should usually do the trick. If you could actually reference a source, I'd appreciate it, because you and I know mine is Nintendo, and I don't remember ever hearing that it was just a cash-grab. If you want to play it safe, you're probably better off using a pre-made, fast-evaporating window cleaner. They will not leave a residue and they are not potentially corrosive. If you must use rubbing alcohol, make sure you're using isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol) and not ethyl alcohol (ethanol). I would definitely recommend mixing it half and half with water, for caution's sake.

Q-tips are okay for just applying some manner of solution like the alcohol/water one, if you're trying to remove oils and the like, but I can't really recommend them for any sort of scrubbing, as they are likely to leave fibers on the connector pins. Nintendo marketed their kits in part because they used fiberless cleaning pads suitable for scrubbing the connectors.