|
Post by Sarge on Nov 6, 2022 21:48:09 GMT -5
Cartridge cleaning kits were fine. Blowing probably helped a bit short-term, not so much long-term. Humid breath on those cart connectors. We didn't know any better. But I'd often clean my games with alcohol and cotton swabs, so it limited that particular problem.
|
|
|
Post by Kazin on Nov 7, 2022 9:08:33 GMT -5
Water and Q-tips, here, followed by drying it with a paper towel, at least until I learned better in the late 90s lol. Can't imagine how much water got up in the boards inside the closed bit of the carts, it's not like I took them apart when I was a kid... Ugh.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Nov 7, 2022 10:24:36 GMT -5
As far as cleaning cartridge pins, I used q-tips and 70% rubbing alcohol as a kid. Not sure how I knew to do that. Probably read about it in a gaming mag. But the ol' paper towel wedge trick really did work great, as it was rarely dirty cartridge pins but rather a lack of proper pressure upon the pins.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Nov 7, 2022 12:45:44 GMT -5
I think I learned from the pawn shop when we first started getting games from there. That warning on the back was bunk, to be honest.
As far as using water, that's actually not a huge deal as long as you're drying - even Nintendo's official cleaning kit suggested using water for the cart cleaning, or water and isopropyl alcohol.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Nov 7, 2022 13:00:14 GMT -5
The idea with 70% isopropyl alcohol is the alcohol dries quickly and takes the water with it, and said water in the mix is pre-purified (distilled) so it doesn't have trace elements. (It's bad using 90% isopropyl alcohol though, as that can be corrosive to various PCB materials.) Tap water can have impurities (especially well water) that upon drying leaves behind potentially conductive (short enabling) trace elements.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Nov 7, 2022 13:16:42 GMT -5
Yeah, they recommended distilled water preferably.
I'm pretty sure either 70 or 90 percent alcohol is fine. I see lots of places that recommend 90% with PCBs. They both dry quite quickly, too.
|
|
|
Post by Kazin on Nov 7, 2022 13:18:05 GMT -5
Yeah, it was city water for me as a kid, so I'm sure I left impurities behind, I wasn't super diligent about cleaning stuff when I was a kid, I just wanted to play the game, dangit lol. Meanwhile, I use 99% isopropyl alcohol now, though I'm careful with it to make sure I'm only cleaning pins, and even then using a q-tip or whatever, never dousing entire boards in it. That stuff will take a layer of plastic off old cartridges, if you're not careful, so I usually completely take carts apart to clean them so as to not damage the plastic.
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Nov 7, 2022 13:19:01 GMT -5
I've personally seen 90% dissolve cyanoacrylate on a PCB before, so I'm wary of it.
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Nov 7, 2022 15:13:31 GMT -5
Hmm, that ain't good.
|
|
|
Post by Kazin on Feb 16, 2023 14:43:25 GMT -5
Christa at SoundRetro.co does excellent work - she fixed my PC Engine CD that I just couldn't get to work even after I did a recap. She had to clean some rails and mess around with the motor or something to get it working, but now it works flawlessly and my Rondo of Blood disc boots and I can play it, finally! Hooray! She was a delight to work with and even after I failed to ship it to her properly - resulting in the CD lid latch breaking completely which was my fault - she sourced a replacement shell, swapped the parts in, got it fixed, and for all of that, including the price of the CD unit she had to buy to for replacement parts, including shipping, was $140, which I thought was super, super reasonable. I'll absolutely be going to her for repairs from here on out.
|
|