How to get old NES working

[hometheaterman]

I got the urge to hook up my old NES. I have 2 of them. I remember I had one that had gotten hard to get games to play as I had to blow and blow on them well my uncle gave me his which you barely had to blow on with but still sometimes you did. Well I tried hooking both up and can't get either to work. I haven't used them in probably 7-10 years. I hooked the first one up and it would act like it was turning on as the screen would go black for a second and then go back like it wasn't on and be blue which it normally is if it's off and back to black and just flash. The power light flashed with it. I hooked the second one up and it did the same thing. I tired blowing on the games and never could get the second one to act normal but the first one started to where if you put the game in after blowing on it the screen would go black like it was going to work and stay black but nothing would ever come up. Do you guys have any tips to get this thing going? I really want to play some of my old games.

 

[damaged]

They used to sell cleaners for that, I doubt you would find those now, but, you can take some real fine/thin sandpaper, fold it over a credit card (or some stiff thin material that can fit into the NES cart slot (where the female contacts are) cut to size of needed) and then inserted and removed into the slot in the center of where the cart slot goes a few times, not too much though, then, if you want, you can open all the game cases, and use a pencil eraser on the gold contacts until they shine.

Hope that helps.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Get some Alchohal and a Q Tip and clean the contacts on the game. Leave the contacts wet as you slide it in the system, which will help make a better connection.

You can also get new connectors and cleaning kits on ebay for around $20...
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-NES-NINTEND...046QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110055739132

 

[Claude Greiner]

http://cgi.ebay.com/NES-NINTENDO-SY...315QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item140052978320

 

[Neutron]

Don't blow into the cartridges or the NES, as the condensation from your breath can actually corrode the contacts.

 

[jgantert]

I used a Q-Tip and rubbing alcohol. Use it on the slot, and both sides of the cartridge contact board.

Worked fine for my old system a year or so ago!

Good luck!
-John

 

[damaged]

I used a Q-Tip and rubbing alcohol. Use it on the slot, and both sides of the cartridge contact board.

Worked fine for my old system a year or so ago!

Good luck!
-John

Rubbing alcohol leaves a thin layer of residue, it is not recommended, if a chemical is used, alot of NES refurbishers seem to prefer brake fluid, yup brake fluid, the problem with that, is that it eats plastics pretty quick, so I suggested the eraser since it has none of those ill effects.

And using a q-tip on the female cart insert is NOT fun, the stick the tip is on is thicker than the distance between the gold teeth, so, it gets caught and can bend the contacts if the caught q-tip it is snagged and pulled on when you try and get it uncaught.

 

[JamesJ]

you can buy new 72 point connectors on ebay, pretty easy to switch out, I had mine done and it is working like a champ, no blowing on it for me!

 

[gaarcham]

if you are careful, you can also use a small screw driver and bend all the little teeth on the system out. This will make a very tight fit. You can usually play the game without pushing it down.
I use to sell tons of games on ebay, and this is how I sold my systems when I was out of the connectors. It's easy to take the connectors off the mother board once you open it up and see how it works.

 

[GeorgeLV]

Instead of going through all the hassle, you could just get a top-loading NES 2.

 

[mastermesh]

I don't advocate piracy, but will say there are some emulators out there... some hardware ones and some software ones.