Customer claims EverDrive-MD board connectors are oxidized

Agreed with many other people, that ED is ruined and will eventually stop working. Mine came looking like the "dull" and "oxidated" contact and it's working just fine.

Guess the idiot doesn't realise the old saying "If it's not broken, don't fix it". He tried to fix what was not broken and broke it. He'd be spending a lot of time re-polishing those contact every time it oxidates and sooner or later there'd be nothing left there.

 

It's not *ruined* but he clearly didn't know what was going on. The light marks in one picture are just from the cartridge being tested. The non shiney appearance shouldn't make you think omg it's dirty or oxidized. I agree with what others have said that he basically removed the surface metal coat which Krikzz would know if it was gold plating. But I don't understand *why* someone would think the cartridge needed cleaning. I'm guessing the lack of a shine was why. Official Genesis carts useless have a shine to their metal contacts.

His cartridge will still work and work for a long time probably. But if he did remove gold from the surface he made it *more* vulnerable to oxidizing in the future. Meaning he may have to clean it again somewhere in the future. But if the cartridge is in a controlled room (low humidity) chances are he never will have much of an issue with oxidation anyway. Atleast not for 10-20 years. Remember lots of cartridges have no such gold plating on their contacts and they still work despite being over 20 years old.

Usually cartridge issues can be fixed just by a light cleaning with an eraser and maybe alcohol.

 

This is not oxidation. It's part of the alloy. I'm pretty confident that the customer made the potential performance worse, if not unchanged.

 

I'd like to know what this person did, so I NEVER do it!

 

He probably used some kind of polish, maybe something very abrasive. If you ever clean your ED cartridge, just use a pencil eraser to rub off any dirt/dust thats on the edge contacts. That shouldn't damage or remove the metal coating. But it'll take some time before you even need to clean your ED cartridge. There are 20+ year old carts that haven't needed to be cleaned yet. It all depends on use.

 

Personally I prefer Q-tips and rubbing alcohol. Don't go for cheap stuff, they are usually 30% water. The quality stuff is closer to 98% alcohol. Also stick with quality Q-tip and not cheap imitation cotton swaps, the fuzz will come off and leave mess on the contacts.

Pencil eraser is for last resort for really dirty contacts. It can rub off little bit of metal (nowhere near what the idiot did).

 

agreed with wilykat. i too use q-tips and alcohol for the cartridges. i never needed pencil eraser, though none of my cartridges were very dirty.

 

That's just horrible. Really an idiot.

 

Just an update on this. After talking to KRIKzz he told me that the method used is Electroless Nickel/Gold Immersion. I looked this method up and it appears it a very good gold playing method and actually more expensive and longer lasting than most methods.

I told the customer what he had done and I showed him evidence of this. I quoted some posts from here (I removed name calling and vulgar language), I told him what the creator said, and also quoted an article about this gold plating process.

The guy told me that he stands by everything he has said and and done and then lectured me on how to run my business, blah, blah. Basically telling me customer is always rights and he's going to give me bad reviews and not recommend me to his family and friends. Typical tact for someone like this.

The funniest part of the whole thing was that after I presented him with evidence he told me he got 3 independent expert sources to verify his claims. A computer repair shop and 2 used video game stores. The guy obviously just refuses to me wrong, because admitting to being wrong in this case would make him look like massive fool. Unfortunately he doesn't realize that not admitting he was wrong makes him look even worse.

His last swing at me was to tell me how terrible our customer service was for not having good enough knowledge about the products I sell. Again attempting to deflect blame on to me. After this I just blocked the guy's e-mail.

 

I hope he will atleast put some tin on the now exposed copper traces or he will soon see what oxidation really looks like.

 

I would say just don't let this "nut" bother you. I've been in business for over 5 years and I get a fool like this every few months. There is never any "winning" with a customer like this. You offer to take the item back and he then goes and messes up the board. I mean what does he want from you? Most likely this crazy customer would never buy from you again so there is no point in standing behind "the customer is always right". I.E. Approach Customer complaints not as a battle between being right and the Customer being wrong. Making the customer feel as though they are right by doing everything you can to resolve the problem, even if that means swallowing your pride and giving them what they want. Since he made it clear he has no plans for future business SCREW him!! :victorious:

 

Gold can and does oxidize but I'm not aware of it being a problem. I've seen contacts on N64 carts corrode a bit to the point where I had to use 1500 grit sand paper before I even considered placing the cart in a N64.

I'm sure he found actual game and computer stores to backup his claims too. Down the street is a store that has a one of a kind Atari 900 prototype worth easily $10k and the son of the owner (both run the store) has claimed to see a Dreamcast that can play PS3 games. Obviously this isn't possible and I have no idea what he actually saw but if you want someone who is supposedly an authority of a topic to confirm something that isn't true you'll find it.

 

I love my Mega EverDrive and my EverDrive-MD, I'd never leave home without either!
I'll be sure not to scrub the contacts off the cart... a little tricky as they never leave my Mega Drives! :topsy_turvy:

 

Yeah, Lawyers do this all the time. 1 supposed expert Vs. another supposed expert.

 

Thats because in the very link you posted, it says to cause it to happen the conditions are:

So no, gold does not oxidate under any conditions its likely to ever be in.

 

What, you don't live inside a quartz tube at 250C?

 

I tried that once, I don't recommend it. My gold teeth are worthless now...

Hopefully that customers carers will find him soon though and take him back to the ward.

 

Stripped back the gold to show the nickel bravo. This may shorten the life of his product.
The teeth of the board are comprised of 3 layers first copper then nickel and finally gold.

 

Indeed. It's too bad that he butchered those contacts.

 

Gold does not oxidize normally, Gold oxide can be made by reacting a gold salt with a base such as ammonia. The cause of the oxidation seen on some connectors is caused by a scratch in the plating, After being scratched the remaining gold actually speeds up corrosion, look up galvanic corrosion for more about that. BTW yet another reason that he is screwed.