How to Clean a Game Console Cartridge

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A classic symptom of older game systems which use cartridges is that sometimes the game cartridge itself can become corroded and unusable. There are several ways to clean cartridges, from the easiest to most desperate. First, here are some common things NOT to do in order to clean your game cartridge:

Things NOT To Do

Do NOT blow into the cartridge. Yes it is a quick fix. Yes it does work temporarily. However, due to the moisture of you blowing onto the cartridge connectors, eventually, it *will* corrode the contacts, and you *will* have to use step 2 below to get your cart working again.
Do NOT use household cleaners such as Armor All or Pledge. This may seem obvious, but many people attempt to clean their game console cartridges with cleaners in order to polish the game contacts. This does NOT work!

Things to Try

There are two main things that can be done to try and clean your cartridges. The first is a safer method -- always try this first:

1. Use rubbing alcohol

Take a q-tip and soak it with rubbing alcohol. Leave it soaked, and clean your cartridge by rubbing roughly on one side of the contacts. Next, take the cartridge, insert it into the cartridge slot of the console a couple times, in and out, quickly. Next, take the dry end, and rub again on the same side. Repeat until you see the dirt disappear from the game contacts. Once all the dirt is gone, go to the other side of the cartridge connectors. and repeat. After you are sure the cartridge is dry, try it out! If it does not work, move on to step two.

2. CAREFULLY APPLY 2000 GRIT SANDPAPER

There must be some corrosion on the contacts if the game still does not boot. 2000 grit sandpaper will polish those metal contacts right off, and make them look shiny new. It will take off a tad of the PCB, but its nothing to be concerned of. Generally enough isn't taken off enough to even remove the color of the PCB, let alone ruining it.

It is best to take apart the cartridge if possible. It's the easiest way to get into the contacts. Nintendo games use special bits to open them, but you can find those with a quick google search. Take your worst credit card or some kind of card that is like it. Fold the sandpaper across the card, of course, the abrasive side out. Now, sand with medium strength (not too light, but not hard either) on one side of the connectors, until you see a shine on the contacts. Now, repeat on the other side. Don't do this until you do step 1 first, because step 1 also cleans the cartridge slot's contacts.

Now your game cartridge should work like new! This should work for most video game systems which use cartridges, including NES, SNES, N64, Colecovision, Intellivision, Vectrex, Genesis, and anything that is not CD based.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 July 2010 13:15

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