best method for cleaning cartridge pins?

Is there a consensus regarding what works best? Something with alcohol yes?

 

Isopropyl alcohol, 90%+ and a Q-tip. Repeat until the Q-tip stays white.

 

I use isopropyl alcohol with a cue tip, then a rubber eraser until all the black is gone, then finally isopropyl again with a cue tip.

 

If the cartridge can be opened up I never bother with alcohol, a pencil eraser works perfectly and will leave them gleaming. I also use an eraser for cleaning ISA and PCI card connectors. They will eventually tarnish again of course; I'm not sure if there's any way to prevent that.

 

Natural rubber leaves a little bit of smearing (like a powder) on the contacts. While they are electrically clean they don't look so good.

I like vinyl rubbers instead for that purpose. And a brush.

And kids, please do not blow on your cartridges after cleaning ! :lol:

 

and do not use sandpaper, you'll get rid of the less corrosive layer and in the end you'll have totally corroded pins....

 

Ditto.

-hl718

 

It is also important that to cleaning cartridge pins. For that special tools are available in market. With that tolls you can easily cleaning your cartridge pins. Clean opening of cartridge and connector pins with damp cotton swab. Take the damp end of the swab and place it in the opening of the cartridge. At last rub the connector pins with a side-to-side motion.

 

An important note...



As a result, the following will not work!



On a serious note, just use cotton buds (brand name Q-Tips in America, not cue tips, those are for pool cues) with contact cleaner (isopropyl alcohol), as stated. DO NOT use pencil erasers. These will just smear rubber over your contacts and leave deposits.

 

I use Jewelry cleaner on a q-tip. It melts the corrosion and dirt off.

 

lol, yes, a q-tip, btw, you have too much time on your hands if you took that picture yourself I also take the PCB's out whilst I'm cleaning the cart because a lot of grime tends to build up in between the two halves of the cart.

After using the rubber eraser (not cheapo plastic ones that just fall apart on contact with the dirt) I clean it again with isopropyl to remove any left over deposits.

 

I've used a pink pearl eraser on some games and it made a huge difference. "Deposits" or not, now they boot up right away.

 

For refernce: Isopropanol is also sold with the name Polypropanol.

 

Alcohol or Contact Cleaner.

 

I am surprised no one has mentioned Weiman Glass Cook Top cleaner. It sounded odd the first time I heard it, but I tried it on a old beat up NES cart (I think it was Bart meets radioactive man). Worked like a charm. It is a mild abrasive, so you do not want to be doing it every day. I used it four or five times on the same beat up NES cart before I used it on anything of value.
To use the cleaner I remove the board from the cart. I apply the cleaner with the a q-tip and scrub it a little. I then let the paste dry. Once dry I buff it off with an old t-shirt. I then go back with 90% isopropal alcohol and a q-tip to remove any residue.

 

Cotton swabs and alcohol. Then let it dry. Works like a charm.

 

Isopropanol is OK, but in truth it's not the best solution because it can be potentially corrosive to gold finger bonding. A better solution is DeoxIT Gold or alternative which cleans, deoxidizes AND leaves a lubrication film over the plating.

Also regular Q-tips aren't the smartest tool for the job, worst case they can catch on and possible LIFT UP a gold finger. Even best case they will put minor stress on the fingers and will leave lint. There are special lint-free microfiber swab things just for this purpose, look at an old cleaning kit.

Probably the ultimate method is to clean the board with soapy distilled water in an ultrasonic cleaner, then apply DeoxIT.

 

Contact cleaner isn't pure isopropyl alcohol - it does have a lubricant, so basically the same thing.

I'm surprised you didn't say anything against using a pencil eraser as some mentioned! To me, that's WAY worse than using a cotton bud with isopropyl!

 

I said Vinyl pencil erasers. (I recommend Faber-Castell Vinyl erasers)