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I want to clean the contact points on my old NES Carts. I thought to do this with a little bit of Isopropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol) and a Q-Tip, or perhaps a micro-fiber cloth. I don’t think this would damage the board, but the NES Carts have a label on the back that tell you not to do this so I am a bit hesitant to try it.
well if you open up the cartridge you can see how dirty they are generally, if they are REALLY dirty then yes it’s fine to use alcohol on it and Q-Tip’s (is that an American thing?) we call them cotton buds in the UK ;p Another good method is using a pencil eraser on them, i’ve done that a good few times, just make sure there is no eraser shavings left on the cart anywhere.
Yep, it’s fine. It’s better than fine, beats blowing in them, as that oxidizes them from the moisture. Just don’t use anything strong like acetone, that will eat the plastic!
Hi folks, Nintendo Repair Shop repair tech here. While using rubbing alcohol won’t hurt your games (unless you absolutely douse them in it), using alcohol and a qtip is really not an effective cleaning method.
Here’s a video to clean any cartridge with alcohol. http://youtu.be/Ly4DvUmVkd0 Thank you
It’s not recommend to use a pencil eraser to clean the contacts of the cartridge. The eraser is abrasive, meaning that if you continue doing this, you’ll eventually rub off the gold coating the contacts, making the problem worse. You can use alcohol and a cotton swab to clean the contacts, but NEVER use a pencil eraser.
i always used window cleaner such as windex on a cotton swab seems to work every time the first time plus not only should the cartridge be cleaned but the console as well
This is the way to clean games: The 1UPcard. Super easy, and designed for cleaning retro game cartridges. The kit comes with 99% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol and a wide cleaning pad. Find it here: www.1upcard.com
EDIT: Sorry about the wrongful information, i just edited what i know now. Also Please Beware im a young collector, so i really didnt think when i said that. Well, its fine to use it but i really dont like to use it but, sometimes i have to. But its not going to hurt to use it a few times, but just be warned there is a possibility of rusting. It really shouldnt go on, but it gets the job done. What i like to do is use a scrubbing pad, a and clean the pins by scrubing it gently. Try not to blow on them too often since again, it could rust from moisture. If it doesnt work, take apart the cartridge and use counter top cleaner, trust me, it works well, my friend at a retro game shop told me it, and it WORKS. if you tried everything, it may be that the board is shorted out and will not work at all, that means it is dead, hoped that helped
A small amount of Windex OR Isoprophal Alcohol(you want the 91 or 97 % lower has to much water or other liquids mixed in and to high can damage contacts) on a q-tip or on a thing called a one up card(it comes with the alcohol if you buy them)will USUALLY clean them well enough to work. If you use Windex make sure it is BRAND NAME WINDEX or WINDOWLEAN in Canada. cheaper Glass cleaners will have to much water and rust your pins. If they are extremely dirty you will have to Open the cart up and then using a Brass Polish is best though in a pinch you can use a Pencil eraser though I wouldn’t suggest using that every time on the Pins being very careful to only get the polish on the Brass Pins.
There are quite a load of opinions here. Some people will tell you that scrubbing is the best, others will say that rubbing/isopropyl alcohol makes the contacts rust. I tend to VERY gently rub a pencil eraser on the contacts, as it removes the oxidized layer on the contacts. I then clean them using alcohol and a Q-tip. And for the eraser part, do it only if you have the special nintendo security screwdrivers to unscrew the cartridge, otherwise it is too much of a pain. And if you can unscrew it, alcohol is fine :). Get some 70% or 90% alcohol, or even some 50%. The most concentrated you can find, really. For female cartridge connectors (the connectors inside the consoles), I usually take an old plastic gift card and I wrap up a piece of fabric around it (make sure the fabric that you choose won’t leave any kind of string coming off of it into the connector). Then, I dip it into alcohol and I put it into the console connectors in an in-and-out movement. Be sure not to go diagonally, otherwise you may bend the pins. As I said at the start, there aren’t really any kind of “universal method”. Try different methods and think with your head. For instance, never scrub the contacts with anything harsher than an eraser. And even then, I wouldn’t use the eraser too often because if there are little dust particles on the eraser you will be scratching you contacts. A couple times is fine, but be reasonnable :). Have a nice day into the wonderful world of retro gaming ! EDIT: Oh, yeah, and by reading other answers, research the products you are using. I wouldn’t use a brass polish, but I haven’t researched it. Really research stuff before you use them. And, for the love of god, please, don’t you ever, EVER use sprays. They are imprecise and they could cause shorts. Dip your Q-tips into the alcohol or something.
Put in a blank brand new cartridge and run for a couple min. to clean the heads. Then your done.
