Ryancol
06 July 2007, 07:23 PM
Nintendo NES and Sega owners read on:
(and other similar systems)
If you have an old original Nintendo NES and you have to blow on your game cartridges to get them to work or you have the infamous blinking red light and the game doesn't boot (on/off/on/off). You can fix that by getting a new 72 pin connector. It is the silver metal that the cartridge pushes into to make the connection. They are relatively easy to install. Reputable sellers will have instructions with them, you need no more than a screwdriver and a little patience. You can get them on Ebay. They look like this:
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/4639/nes72pinwr8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shot at 2007-07-06
Alot of the problem with 72 pin connector was dents, dings and bends in the metal not just dirty. It was a ZIF (zero insertion force) connector design that didnt work out so well. It also can push the board back a little inside the cartridge.
The blinking red light (on/off/on/off) problem is related to dirty or dinged up 72 pin connector. Nintendo put in the cartridges what is called a 10NES Lockout Chip. If your ZIF connector is not in great to perfect shape it does not boot quick enough and the lockout chip comes into play leaving you staring at a blinking screen and blowing like mad or even licking your cartridge edge (Licking? Who does that? I've seen it.)
Also you can buy kits that help you clean the cartridges themselves. It gets the corrosion type gook off of the electrical connection. For Sega or Nintendo NES and probably others. It is probably some alcohol type cleaner junk but if you get a kit off Ebay they will send you the "key" (special inverted torx screwdriver) that opens the cartridges and you can get inside to really clean them. If the prongs in the end of your cartridges look brownish or anything but shiny then you need to clean them. Not just to get them to work but also to preserve them. The corrosion needs to come off or it gets worse and worse and worse.
The kits look like this:
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/5974/cleaningkitalllj5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shot at 2007-07-06
If you haven't seen the inside of a NES cartridge, get the kit and open one up, it's funny to see how small the chip and green board is relative to the size of the plastic case. The chips and green board setup is about 15-20% of it, the rest is just empty space. Also if you compare newer games to older games, such as Mario 1 compared to Mario 3 you'll see that Mario 3 does have more chips to cover the extra stuff and better graphics.
The circuits and chips certainly are HUGE !!!! compared to what we have now but the cases are extremly oversized. I assume it is so kids dont lose them or, when inserting, can push down really hard on them when their 72 pin connector goes bad (lol).
None of these things are expensive.
I got my stuff on Ebay from: gameliquidation (no, I am not gameliquidation)
Get yours from whomever, just get it.
Search Ebay:
72 pin
or
Nes kit
or
Nes tool
or
Nes cleaning kit
No more blowing in cartridges for me. Just more play time.
This may not be new news to some but it may help some people. Most of all it may help to keep some consoles or cartridges out of the trash heap.
(and other similar systems)
If you have an old original Nintendo NES and you have to blow on your game cartridges to get them to work or you have the infamous blinking red light and the game doesn't boot (on/off/on/off). You can fix that by getting a new 72 pin connector. It is the silver metal that the cartridge pushes into to make the connection. They are relatively easy to install. Reputable sellers will have instructions with them, you need no more than a screwdriver and a little patience. You can get them on Ebay. They look like this:
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/4639/nes72pinwr8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shot at 2007-07-06
Alot of the problem with 72 pin connector was dents, dings and bends in the metal not just dirty. It was a ZIF (zero insertion force) connector design that didnt work out so well. It also can push the board back a little inside the cartridge.
The blinking red light (on/off/on/off) problem is related to dirty or dinged up 72 pin connector. Nintendo put in the cartridges what is called a 10NES Lockout Chip. If your ZIF connector is not in great to perfect shape it does not boot quick enough and the lockout chip comes into play leaving you staring at a blinking screen and blowing like mad or even licking your cartridge edge (Licking? Who does that? I've seen it.)
Also you can buy kits that help you clean the cartridges themselves. It gets the corrosion type gook off of the electrical connection. For Sega or Nintendo NES and probably others. It is probably some alcohol type cleaner junk but if you get a kit off Ebay they will send you the "key" (special inverted torx screwdriver) that opens the cartridges and you can get inside to really clean them. If the prongs in the end of your cartridges look brownish or anything but shiny then you need to clean them. Not just to get them to work but also to preserve them. The corrosion needs to come off or it gets worse and worse and worse.
The kits look like this:
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/5974/cleaningkitalllj5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shot at 2007-07-06
If you haven't seen the inside of a NES cartridge, get the kit and open one up, it's funny to see how small the chip and green board is relative to the size of the plastic case. The chips and green board setup is about 15-20% of it, the rest is just empty space. Also if you compare newer games to older games, such as Mario 1 compared to Mario 3 you'll see that Mario 3 does have more chips to cover the extra stuff and better graphics.
The circuits and chips certainly are HUGE !!!! compared to what we have now but the cases are extremly oversized. I assume it is so kids dont lose them or, when inserting, can push down really hard on them when their 72 pin connector goes bad (lol).
None of these things are expensive.
I got my stuff on Ebay from: gameliquidation (no, I am not gameliquidation)
Get yours from whomever, just get it.
Search Ebay:
72 pin
or
Nes kit
or
Nes tool
or
Nes cleaning kit
No more blowing in cartridges for me. Just more play time.
This may not be new news to some but it may help some people. Most of all it may help to keep some consoles or cartridges out of the trash heap.