The Roach Motel: NES Restoration Project

Max, please do make a video of your 72 pin procedure because I was mostly winging it and just trying to get it to work. Would love to see how you do it. Thanks!

 

Yeah, I am actually quite motivated about making one, I see a lot of people being misguided about what to do with those NES connectors.
There is a lot of dubious and downright bad information around. I do not claim to be the ultimate reference on the subject, but when I look at existing youtube videos for instance, I see a lot of nonsense being propagated around and it sure makes my eyes roll.

 

@MaxWar , what is your opinion on this:



It seems to be based more on the worn out connector/pins not lining up theory vs the grime theory. My NES has been getting a bit finicky lately with me having to spend all kinds of time resetting the system while moving the cart around in order to get it just right. I have a new standard 72 pin connector in the shrink wrap that I bought a few years back, but I liked what I saw in the video and have been strongly considering it. In all honesty, I should have never replaced the connector in it 9 years ago. My NES worked great but I figured I should be proactive since it was getting old, and it was never as good.

 

This video is not bad, but it is a complete replacement guide rather than a refurbishment guide.
You need to purchase new parts to make it work.
It offers you a more permanent fix at the cost of purchasing some new custom made hardware.

Ok for one thing, I really laughed out loud at 1:00 when he showed how to take the system apart and basically ripped the tray and connector out in 5 sec. That was awesome, really badass.

Now, seriously. The first thing to consider is the Zero insertion force cartridge design itself.
IT IS a bad design... Yes... IT IS BAD. It is not long term reliable. It needs a lot of maintenance.
It's really not a good design. We wont argue that part. It is a given.

But then.. it is what the NES is... You gotta ask yourself wheter you want to make your NES an ''upgraded'' unit or just restore it to it's former glory.

The video you just showed goes for the former. It wants to cure the NES once and for all. I am no opposed to this mind you .
This is also what many of those chinese 3rd party replacement connectors try to do. They are very tight, in an effort to overcome the ZIF connector problems and make it like other consoles instead.

But personally, I somehow prefer to got for the other route. I like to restore the NES as it was supposed to be.
After all is it not what retro gaming with real hardware is supposed to be about? Experiencing the real thing as it was?
Somehow I am fond of the Nes Zero insertion force mechanism, even though it is flawed. When I insert a cart in the machine, I feel no resistance at all, then I press on it and power it up and see the game booting immediately... Its like magic. It puts a smile on my face every time. I know it sounds silly but that is how I feel. I like to have it back to how it was supposed to be.

 

Sadly, if the unit was soaked in piss, roaches and what not. Who knows what's still lurking inside. It's not a good idea to use the same spaces or things you use to cook or prepare food on. Washing can still leave germs behind.

 

I boiled my connector in extremely soapy water , then rinsed it with 100% IPA. Works great but my latch on the NES is broken so I'll have to replace the whole tray

 

I ordered two of these kits just the other day. The website says out of stock, but I hope they get them to me soon. Will do a write up on them when I get them.

 

With my 100th post, I look forward to that and thank you in advance.

 

For being in such shitty condition, I'm actually rather surprised at how un-yellowed the top is!

How do you "deep clean" your connectors? I've cleaned the crap out of my original Nintendo connector (isopropyal alcohol and cloth over a card plus toothbrush and Windex) but I'm still getting the occasional visual artifact when I push the cart all the way into the slot. If I don't push it all the way, it seems to work better.

 

Yeah, me too! No cracks in it either! It's actually the best condition NES I have now.

 

I should do a video demo of my technique, there is a definitely a demand for it.
But here are the big lines:
1. I work on original ZIF connectors only. Bootleg connectors or connectors that had their pins messed up through bending are not worth it. If your connector works better without pushing the cart down it is likely a bootleg or the pins were bent.
2. The cart must also be very clean for the system to work good. I take the PCB out and polish with silvo when needed. You have no idea how filthy some NES carts are, a mere q-tip + alcohol wont do it.

When I clean both the games and the 72 pin I get close to 100% success boot at first try. All that with no pin bending and keepuing the original ZIF system.

 

Silvo looks to be very expensive. I was looking to order a bottle but it's so much for such a small bottle.

 

Absolutely not, I got a 142 ml bottle for like 5.99 at the corner hardware store and this litteraly lasts forever, you need very little at once.

 

on ebay stuff like that usually is expensive

 

Yeah I found it on amazon for a more reasonable price.. On eBay I was only finding it from international sellers for like $30 plus shipping. Is it not sold in the USA?

 

S

Silvo is really safe for nes carts? I've tried Brasso in the past and it just strips the gold plating off. I've tried cleaning the connector of my games throughly with some magic eraser and iso, which has revived filthy games for me in the past, but it hasn't helped here. Like I said, it seems to be fine if I don't fully insert the cartridge, I assume there's less wear or something on this part of the connector.

 

Silvo is a lot gentler than brasso. According to manufacturer Silvo is designed to polish soft metals like silver and gold, whereas brasso is for harder metals. Silvo works great to remove surface grime and make the connector mirror finish without stripping the plating off like brasso does. It is still an abrasive and maybe not requiered every time. At this point I kinda know by experience when to use it or not. I still use it on pretty much every nes cart I sell as I do not want the buyers to complain it is finnicky. But on my own carts sometimes I will use a simple contact cleaner.

There are instances where you will find ''gooey'' cart connectors. Not sure how those happen but ive seen them. Carts with goey connector wont work. They need cleaning. Silvo wont quite work so well on those. Might be better off cleaning it with hertel or something first to remove the dried gummy stuff. Eraser also works better than silvo against the gummy stuff.

 

You mean the cartridge connector in the NES console, or the contacts on a NES game?

 

Both I guess. I know the connector in a cartridge is plated, but what about the 72 pin connector?

 

The 72 pin connector is the one that is gold plated. I haven't had any issues cleaning NES or SNES game contacts with brasso, but typically I only use it on really dirty and oxidized games. Usually alcohol or windex on a q-tip works wonders for the games. I never tried brasso on a 72 pin connector, but according to Max it's a no no because of the gold plating.