Best way to clean cartridges?

ryosnk

ryosnk

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I have few genesis and snes games but they dont work (were in closet for awhile). What is the best way to clean them?
 
actually a friend of mine uses absolut citron vodka to clean cart games, he swears by this and recommends it to all who ask about it, I trust him to use it as well
 
[quote name='jennie25']actually a friend of mine uses absolut citron vodka to clean cart games, he swears by this and recommends it to all who ask about it, I trust him to use it as well[/QUOTE]
its the alchohol that does the job, use rubbing alchohol for a job that can never be beat
 
[quote name='jeffreyjrose']Water and your roommate's toothbrush.[/QUOTE]

I find your roomates toothbrush and urine works better. :)
 
[quote name='greendc27']I find your roomates toothbrush and urine works better. :)[/QUOTE]

LMAO!!! My suggestion I have used and found to work quite well. Yours seems to a step too far...
 
[quote name='tmei03']should i use alcohol and qtips on my N64 games that i got from GC sale?[/QUOTE]

I would like to know this as well, some of my 64 games have been acting up lately, I'd been thinking about asking about it here before I saw this thread.
 
[quote name='jennie25']actually a friend of mine uses absolut citron vodka to clean cart games, he swears by this and recommends it to all who ask about it, I trust him to use it as well[/QUOTE]

that guys nuts, you dont waste alcohol unless its shitty or rubbing alcohol......or not yours
 
[quote name='Zman310']I would like to know this as well, some of my 64 games have been acting up lately, I'd been thinking about asking about it here before I saw this thread.[/QUOTE]

Yes, Q-tips and rubbing alcohol should do the trick. I bought a couple used N64 games before and they didn't work, but once I gave the contacts a quick cleaning, they have worked flawlessly ever since.
 
I doin't reccomend anything with an excessive amount of water in it like windex (or vodka, for that matter wich is only usually 80 proof, or 40% alcohol).

Use rubbing alcohol, but get the 99% kind instead of the cheaper 70% solution. The difference is only a few cents but the less water, the better.

NEVER use acetone.
 
Shit, theirs one games that still doens't work (midnoght resistance)! Thanks the info worked on the other games :).
 
On a related note, is there a good way to clean the contacts on the system? Or does cleaning the cartridge usually take care of the problem?
 
I'm with the rubbing alcohol camp. I use it for any cartridge games. You can bring games that look like hell back to working order with just a little elbow grease and about a minute or two of your time.

As for cleaning the systems you can sometimes use a piece of carboard soaked in rubbing alcohol. Just insert that like it's a cartridge and jimmy it back and forth. You just want to be careful not to bend the pins and screw it up worse than it already is, so don't use carboard thicker than the chip part of a cartridge. I've read foam makeup applicators can work for this as well, but I've never tried them.

For the old NES systems you can completely dissamble them with a phillips head screw driver. For top loading systems you can get to the cart slot from the top opening.

Remember, there's no gaurantee you won't hose it up beyond repair :)
 
Use rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. Its best to put the alcohol in the freezer for awhile before you do it... colfer alcohol evaporates faster than room temperature.
 
The manager at GameCrazy said the best way to clean the carts is with Windex and a Qtip. Something about the windex doesn't remove the metal layer on the contacts like alcohol can do over time. Hope that helps. I asked the same question 2 days ago while at GC.
 
Wow, the rubbing alcohol and Q-tips really work great! Cleaned up a few games and they load up fine now. Finally got Street Fighter II for SNES working. Never really played it before, but I was really having some fun with it.
 
For cleaning most systems, I have good luck wrapping a disposable CD cloth around some sort of card (I use an old gift card), taping it into place, and applying a bit of diluted alchohol. Just pull it in and out like a cart, making sure to get both sides.

I dunno an easy way to do the front-loading Nintendo, since I got lucky and found a Nintendo brand cleaner at a flea market that was never used.
 
[quote name='mkg12']isn't using a pencil eraser also a good way to clean contacts? i heard that a while ago[/QUOTE]

Seems like you'd get eraser residue on the contacts. I wouldn't try it.
 
[quote name='indomitable']The manager at GameCrazy said the best way to clean the carts is with Windex and a Qtip. Something about the windex doesn't remove the metal layer on the contacts like alcohol can do over time. Hope that helps. I asked the same question 2 days ago while at GC.[/QUOTE]

Don't worry, alcohol will not remove the metal "layer". That guy is just talking out of his ass. Windex has water in it which will promote corrosion with the copper contacts.

And you don't need to put your isopropyl in the freezer, it won't evaporate faster if it's cold, quite the opposite. It'll take more energy to evaporate, meaning if the solution is colder it'll take longer to 'disappear'. Putting a cold solution on the contacts may also cause condensation to collect after the alcohol evaporates, thereby promoting corrosion.
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']For cleaning most systems, I have good luck wrapping a disposable CD cloth around some sort of card (I use an old gift card), taping it into place, and applying a bit of diluted alchohol. Just pull it in and out like a cart, making sure to get both sides.

I dunno an easy way to do the front-loading Nintendo, since I got lucky and found a Nintendo brand cleaner at a flea market that was never used.[/QUOTE]

That's a great idea. I've used cardboard soaked in rubbing alcohol before, but I think this would be a much better setup.

And as for the NES, they are pretty easy to take apart. (No special tools needed.)
 
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