Just installed nes 72 pin connector....

[Malon_Forever]

I just installed it, and for the first two days, it seemed to be working great. Then about 2 days after that, I go to try to play a game, and just a solid grey screen comes up. I tried taking it apart and cleaning the connector (don't know why it would need cleaning) and still just a solid grey screen. My games I put in it were cleaned before, so thats not the problem.... Is my NES just busted?

[wingzrow]

Possibly, did anything happen in those two days we should know?

I've replaced the 72 pin connector on my systems twice and neevr ran into that. Maybe try and use some alcohol to clean the connector, the spot on the nes where it connects, and the games your playing. If none of that works then it's another problem all together.

As a last ditch effort you could cut the #4 pin on the nes's lockout chip, it's been known to cause some games start up issues.

[Malon_Forever]

It just sat infront of my tv. I'm pretty sure nothing happened. I didn't think to clean the part on the circuit board that you put the 72 pin connector on. I'm about to do that...


Edit: Well, I just did that, and still no luck.... Any other suggestions? I'm going to try to put the connector in another NES to see if it works...

[aclbandit]

I bought a new 72-pin-connector once and it did the same thing. Upon popping the OLD one back in, all of my games worked fine again. Try your old one and see what happens.

Also, on either your old one or your new one, you could try to bend up the pins as described in this article.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I know you mentioned you cleaned the games, but I would do it again. Copper polish is 10 times better than using alcohol. I simply get a q-tip, dip it in the polish, clean the connectors, then use a dry q-tip to dry off the connectors. Copper tarnishes over time and I don't think alcohol helps in that regard.

[theChad]

I've used Windex to clean my games inside and out since forever and they always fire right up. Anyway, about the gray screen - does it blink or just stay continuously gray? If it blinks, that's usually a problem with a dirty game/connector or whatever, but if it stays gray I'm pretty sure that's a different issue altogether.


EDIT: Amazingly, this same issue just happened with one of my NESes that I installed new pins in over a year ago with no problem until now. The game was Hogan's Alley (not that it matters I guess) and when I turned on the NES, just a gray screen. I backed the cartridge out slightly and hit reset and the game came right up. So I guess try not pushing the games all the way in.

[Malon_Forever]

Thanks for your help guys, but I found out the place on the circuit board where you put the connector on was very dirty, and cleaned it. It still didn't work, but then I cleaned the part on the pin connector that goes on the circuit board, and worked like new!