CLASSIC GAMES REVISITED - How to Care for your Video Game Carts

[guitaristdude0]

anyone have any ideas how to get marker off a manual without messing it up... its on the cover

[SniperStorm7]

And now we move on to a more aggressive technique.... CHAINSAW!!!!

[MrRetroGamer96]

I'm freaking out. I'm 14 and an NES collector and as a child (when I started) I used mild blowing on the PIN connectors. I will remind myself to NEVER do that- that's just what a lot of people told me when I asked about getting them to work. Damn, I'm stupid. But I do use rubbing alcohol whenever I encounter problems (although that's rare- I usually buy my stuff in uncirculated condition). Do gamebits also work to help clean them?

[OGRMaster]

What a channel! I am glad i have found it.

[cluclap]

I blow my games, I enjoy it :P

[BackForwardPunch]

Very nice, the Dry erase and Magic Eraser trick is going to work well for me for a few things I have lying around. BTW I figured out how to open Famicom games, if you will ever need to, I can let you know.

[blackdragon9291]

What if, after cleaning a NES game cart 3 or 4 times, it still stops at the exact same spot in the game? Are the pins too corroded or damaged or what is wrong with it? It also happened to another one of my games, so would it be the console?

[dommiesan]

It's possible something in the console is damaged. The first thing I would try would be to replace the cartridge connector inside the console. If it still acts up, then check all the soldier points on the chips of the console's motherboard.

[SeijiMutoEX]

I use alcohol on my DVDs to clean them, works great! I could see it working here, it drys so fast, then you kind of just buff it out.

I thought for sure you were going to use the beer as a cleaning agent. Haha.

[kuntgames616]

I'm so glad i didn't learn anything from this video! That means I've been doing it right since childhood! :)

[lewisj82]

Doesn't alcohol leave a residue on the pins of NES games? I thought it was bad for the connectors. Windex is pretty bad too, from what I've read.

I usually spray a q-tip with contact cleaner (aerosol stuff, you can get at like, Radio Shack) and wipe the contacts clean. It evaporates quickly and it's meant for that type of thing.

I agree with Nintenoman on the can of dust remover. I spray my NES from time to time just to get any crud out that might be in there.

[dommiesan]

I wouldn't use Windex because it has a high water content. I've never had a problem with alcohol, and I've never experienced it leaving a residue.

Contact cleaner would be "healthier" for the games/system because it evaporates almost immediately, but it is expensive and the older game systems/carts are pretty rugged.

As for the dust remover: keep in mind that it's not dust or particles in the system/carts that causes the problem, but oxidation and corrosion.

[vintagevideogamegeek]

Hmm...never saw the dry erase method. I use rubbing alcohol on most marker and it comes off pretty well. If that doesn't work I use goo-gone.

[vintagevideogamegeek]

I totally blow on my games.

[dommiesan]

That's so bad for them. I wanna make t-shirts up that have a picture of a guy blowing on a Nintendo game with a big X through it.

[Vkmies]

Yeah totally. A friend of mine has blown on his carts for a long time. Then one day i came to him and said, "you know why most of your old carts wont work anymore? blowing on them makes them rust." Havent seen him doing it after that. XD

[hacksign21]

omg its all about the corona

[dommiesan]

Meh, I prefer Tecate for Mexican beer.

[blackdragon9291]

Thank you for the instructions, I was always wondering what to do to clean an NES cart.

Just out of curiousity, does this method work with Sega Genesis games, or is it a different method?

[dommiesan]

All cartridge based games can be cleaned this way. If the cart has a sticker on it (like Nintendo NES's do) that says "do not use alcohol, thinner, etc. to clean cart", just ignore it. That was put there so they could sell you special "cleaning solution", which was just rubbing alcohol anyway.

[SuperSuperZ]

thank for this video.

[TommyT53]

Thanks a bunch man! This is definitely going to come in handy in the near future.

[REDDOGandtheFAM]

awesome

[Daralantan]

Agh, that Mr. Clean magic eraser manages to squeak even through the camera and almost give me chills.

I was gonna make a joke saying: "Man dommie, you're going to spill that drink on your games." Then I see it's not open..... and you open it right over them :P Haha.

[Croooow111]

Great tips on how to remove the marker. Much better then the way I was attempting to do it. I could usually use Goof Off, but I always had to be careful because I could easily destroy the plastic if I used too much.

[sinistermoon]

Some old but useful information.

[edge0087]

Do you have any ideas on how to get magic marker off the label of a game with out destroying it.

[dommiesan]

There really isn't a good way to do that. Whatever you use that'll take the marker off the label will also take the ink off the label.

[awesomepivots]

if you use water it wont usually take off the ink, especially n64 carts

[StickPeopleAndPuff]

every time at the end i think your gonna say "im dommie from classic games revisited here for you"

[tvandlust]

Great tips! I've been thinking about doing a video along these lines myself. A lot of people are plain clueless about this stuff, unfortunately.

[VargasXX78]

Nice tips... I usally use Windex... but I´ll have to get me that magic eraser... and some beer too

Cheers!!!!

[ScrewAttackEurope]

Also, the marker, is that a permanent one or a white board marker?

[dommiesan]

I was using a white board marker ("dry erase" in the US) in the video to remove permanent marker ("magic marker" in the US) from the cart. Don't use a permanent marker to try and remove permanent marker. The results will be disastrous.

[ScrewAttackEurope]

Ah thanks for letting me know!

Funny how there's different names for the same product.

[dommiesan]

I know. I've been to England several times and I always forget WTF "rocket" is when I see it on the menu.

[ScrewAttackEurope]

Oh, it's a type of Chinese lettuce.

[dommiesan]

Yeah, I know. We call it arugula. I always forget though when I'm in the UK and inevitably it's on the menu and I always have to look it up again.

[ScrewAttackEurope]

I bought a used copy of Punch-Out!! once and the pins were so bad that they were covered in Verdigris. So it was practically useless.

[dommiesan]

When that happens, here's what I do:

*Open up cart housing and remove the PCB.

*Take a piece of abrasive cloth or light grit sandpaper and GENTLY scrub the pins. Scrub in the same direction as the pins are facing, not against like with Q-tips.

*Take a cloth and carefully wipe away the powder residue left behind.

*Put back together and play.

That technique hasn't failed me yet when the corrosion gets to that stage.

[ScrewAttackEurope]

Ah thanks for the info. The only other suggestion I've ever had when contacts get that bad is to re-tin them with solder.

But powdered verdigris is lethal, it's actually arsenic.

[dommiesan]

You'd still have to clean all the green off of the pins before you re-tin them. But usually the verdigris is only on a thin layer on the outside of the pin surface. I would only suggest re-tinning if the cart didn't work after cleaning it completely and sanding it. Re-tinning 72 pins doesn't sound like fun.

Are you sure it's arsenic? I was under the impression it was chlorine or a chlorine compound. Either way, you'll want to avoid prolonged skin contact or inhaling/eating the stuff.

[dommiesan]

Just did a little research, it's not arsenic. It's either CuCO3 or CuCl, depending on environmental conditions when it forms. So I was half right about the chlorine.

[ChurroEmiliano]

I use the rubbing alcohol/q-tip technique as well.

I would have never tried writing more on the cartridge to get rid of those annoying markings, My copy of Megaman 2 has "Malek's Don't Touch" and I tried using rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls, but they didn't do much, so I'm definitely getting a dry-erase marker or a Mr. Clean Magic Erase =) thanks

[dommiesan]

LOL. I would leave "Malek's Don't Touch" on there for posterity. That's f*cking awesome that Malek loved Megaman 2 so much that he didn't wanna share it!

[ChurroEmiliano]

I might as well, it's not like I have a Top loader lol

[smashmaster13]

are you ever selling the n64s

[dommiesan]

Yes.

[smashmaster13]

some how contact me when you do pm me make a video something

[smashmaster13]

when you sell the n64s

[pocketmego]

Good video, Dommie.

Not nearly enough people know how to do this.

[dommiesan]

Once in a while I'll get a few strands of cotton stuck to the pins. I just use tweezers tho get them out.

[vinnieblacklodge]

ok i was gonna ask if 91% is better since it would evaporate faster. idk if the 21% less would be too much water based or would that even matter?

[dommiesan]

I don't think that the higher water content of the 70% is that big of an issue. The cart pins are made out of gold, which is pretty durable. But in theory, yes, that's why most people recommend 90%.