help with NES

[EricRyan34]

Wow this topic is def. going to help me get my NES working like new again, thanks everyone!

[Duncan]

Nice thing is that, if nothing else, the NES and its various quirks have produced quite a fine knowledge base for repair purposes.

Which reminds me, I've got to try refurbishing my 72-pin connector this weekend. Guess I'll set aside two or three hours...

[Jibbajaba]

Nice thing is that, if nothing else, the NES and its various quirks have produced quite a fine knowledge base for repair purposes.

Which reminds me, I've got to try refurbishing my 72-pin connector this weekend. Guess I'll set aside two or three hours...

It really doesnt take that long. Just get the 180 and 320 grit sandpaper, some cardboard from the back of a legal pad or something, a can of air, and a phillips head screwdriver, and you can do the whole thing in like 30 to 45 minutes.

Chris

[The Manimal]

I opened up both of my toaster NES's (one of which is filthy and I need to go and buy some canned air )...


First, do you have to pull really hard to get the connector off the board? I tried tugging a little but felt I'd rip somethintg off the board if I pulled any harder, so I left them on. Also, the connector is silver on the outside. Is it supposed to be a gold color on the inside of the pins where they contact the cartridge? Doesn't look like rust, but gold.. Anyways, I cleaned thoroughly and tested with 10 carts...all worked first time, except for one which didn't have the best condition contacts. I put it back together, and I'd say about 50% of my carts start up first time fine. The others require re-inserting and other crap, but they will work..eventually. Is 'sanding' the pins down the thing to do if NOTHING works? I am not sure if I should just bend the pins and that's it. Also, I understand from tutorials that that I should put a flat head screwdriver inside the bottom pins and push the pins outward, making the U (bottom row pin(s)) wider. Is this correct...and how will I get the screwdriver inside the inner pins without bending everything out of place? First though, I need to figure out how to get the connector off the board

[omnedon]

http://www.cgcc.ca/articles/view.php...%20Replacement

Best how to on the net. Just ignore the 'new pins are best' crap. Refurb the pin instead.

I gotta update that article. The assembly instructions are spot on though.

[Jibbajaba]

First, do you have to pull really hard to get the connector off the board?

Yes.

Also, the connector is silver on the outside. Is it supposed to be a gold color on the inside of the pins where they contact the cartridge?

No.

Doesn't look like rust, but gold.. Anyways, I cleaned thoroughly and tested with 10 carts...all worked first time, except for one which didn't have the best condition contacts. I put it back together, and I'd say about 50% of my carts start up first time fine. The others require re-inserting and other crap, but they will work..eventually. Is 'sanding' the pins down the thing to do if NOTHING works?

I used the sandpaper technique when my NES was blinking with a lot of games unless I had it in the machine JUST RIGHT. It was defintely pickier with some carts that it was with others. When I finished the sanding job, it played all games the first time I inserted them. If you do the job right, it should be as though you have a brand new NES. Are you sure that the carts you are trying to play are COMPLETELY clean? Either that or you didn't sand enough.

I am not sure if I should just bend the pins and that's it. Also, I understand from tutorials that that I should put a flat head screwdriver inside the bottom pins and push the pins outward, making the U (bottom row pin(s)) wider. Is this correct...and how will I get the screwdriver inside the inner pins without bending everything out of place? First though, I need to figure out how to get the connector off the board

I've never bent the pins on a NES connector. If you have a decent connector that is just really dirty and needs to be sanded and cleaned, my feeling is that you don't need to bend the pins. If you are going to bend the pins and force the connector to work better by having it exert more force on the game's connectors, then you might as well buy a new connector from MCM, because thats how they work. They squeeze the heck out of the game.

Just try sanding it some more. You should be spending more time sanding with the smoother paper than with the rougher paper. Just run the rough stuff through the connector a few times to get things started in there, and then use the smoother stuff for several minutes. Make sure you blow out the connector with some compressed air. At the end, I wrap some white paper around the piece of cardboard and pass it in and out of the connector a few times and see if the paper gets dirty. If it does, then you know that the connector isn't clean. Also, if you have a NES cleaning kit, use that at the end.

Chris

[The Manimal]

So that goldish color is oxidation probably? I'll try the sandpaper route (I know there is another thread which mentions grit number (might be this one, don't remember), so I'll check into that. I'll skip the pin bending...

BTW, I didn't do any sanding. I just did a rigorous cleaning with isopropyl alcohol...


Also with the loading mechanism....it works 100% fine but I was surprised at how cheaply builit it is and how it operates (a thin metal wire, that clips on/off a piece of plastic. Wooo). Anyways, I hate how the thing squeaks. Is putting oil on the springs an okay idea or will it just attract dust and everything else?

[Jibbajaba]

So that goldish color is oxidation probably? I'll try the sandpaper route (I know there is another thread which mentions grit number (might be this one, don't remember), so I'll check into that. I'll skip the pin bending...

BTW, I didn't do any sanding. I just did a rigorous cleaning with isopropyl alcohol...


Also with the loading mechanism....it works 100% fine but I was surprised at how cheaply builit it is and how it operates (a thin metal wire, that clips on/off a piece of plastic. Wooo). Anyways, I hate how the thing squeaks. Is putting oil on the springs an okay idea or will it just attract dust and everything else?

The two sandpaper grits I used were 160 and 320. Be careful with the 160 and be gentle, then use the 320 quite a bit. I would say that any gold coloring you see is just oxidation. After all the sanding and whatnot, I would advise against using the alcohol, as you may oxidize the freshly exposed metal.

The squeaking annoys me as well, but thinking the same way you are, I didn't want to gunk up my system with oil for fear of what it would attract.

Chris.

[The Manimal]

Bad news. I tried 80 grit (judging from the 80-160 comment from before) sandpaper and let's just say I snapped a pin the very first time I tried it. :/ I guess this NES won't be working at all for now It wasn't even that bad... Afterward, I just fucked around with 180 grit (which I bought instead of 160) and that worked a lot better, though the gold discoloration wasn't going away. I did notice that the top pins were rusted (they are hard to see, but I was using a flashlight).


I don't understand how one would go about bending these without snapping one, either.... there's just about no room to work with...I guess if you push the lower pins upward there is a little space, or push them down, but ehhhh, don't know what to say.

Whenever omnedon gets results on those gold connectors and also whatever else, I'll go from there. Honestly, I've seen pics of those 'new' connectors where people say "Oh look, I don't even have to push the loading mechanism down", and I honestly don't think it was meant to be like that. If it was supposed to be like that, there wouldn't have been a loading mechanism in the thing in the first place.

[omnedon]

I've had good luck refurbing pins for the last year.

I got the first test run of manufacturing for Simple Jet's try at 72 pin connectors. I'll post the results in the "ALARMING" thread.

It's more than a year old now....

[Jibbajaba]

Bad news. I tried 80 grit (judging from the 80-160 comment from before) sandpaper and let's just say I snapped a pin the very first time I tried it. :/ I guess this NES won't be working at all for now It wasn't even that bad... Afterward, I just fucked around with 180 grit (which I bought instead of 160) and that worked a lot better, though the gold discoloration wasn't going away. I did notice that the top pins were rusted (they are hard to see, but I was using a flashlight).


I don't understand how one would go about bending these without snapping one, either.... there's just about no room to work with...I guess if you push the lower pins upward there is a little space, or push them down, but ehhhh, don't know what to say.

Whenever omnedon gets results on those gold connectors and also whatever else, I'll go from there. Honestly, I've seen pics of those 'new' connectors where people say "Oh look, I don't even have to push the loading mechanism down", and I honestly don't think it was meant to be like that. If it was supposed to be like that, there wouldn't have been a loading mechanism in the thing in the first place.

You should just call Nintendo and have them send you a new connector. They don't charge for them.

Chris

[The Manimal]

Bad news. I tried 80 grit (judging from the 80-160 comment from before) sandpaper and let's just say I snapped a pin the very first time I tried it. :/ I guess this NES won't be working at all for now It wasn't even that bad... Afterward, I just fucked around with 180 grit (which I bought instead of 160) and that worked a lot better, though the gold discoloration wasn't going away. I did notice that the top pins were rusted (they are hard to see, but I was using a flashlight).


I don't understand how one would go about bending these without snapping one, either.... there's just about no room to work with...I guess if you push the lower pins upward there is a little space, or push them down, but ehhhh, don't know what to say.

Whenever omnedon gets results on those gold connectors and also whatever else, I'll go from there. Honestly, I've seen pics of those 'new' connectors where people say "Oh look, I don't even have to push the loading mechanism down", and I honestly don't think it was meant to be like that. If it was supposed to be like that, there wouldn't have been a loading mechanism in the thing in the first place.

You should just call Nintendo and have them send you a new connector. They don't charge for them.

Chris

Would it be asking to much to say that I have TWO NES's that don't work? (Since I have the one I broke and my original unit which is just starting to get fishy after 15 years...)

I'll have to call them and try.

[Nesmaster]

you could just phone from someone else's house and have it shipped there. friend or relative or something

[Jibbajaba]

you could just phone from someone else's house and have it shipped there. friend or relative or something

Exactly what I was goin to say. I am planning on doing the same thing.

Chris