Can this broken SNES game be saved?

[Red | 439]

I have this SNES cart that won't boot up.  I've included some pictures of the board.  It looks like there is some sort of scratch or bend along the contacts.  There's also a blemish right above one of the contacts (visible in the second and third pictures).  Also, the little metal prongs that connect to the ROM chip aren't shiny.  They have some sort of white stuff on them.  I'm assuming one (or multiple) of these things is causing the problem.  Can anything be done to fix this cart?  Thanks in advance.

[CMR | 522]

I don't think the blemish is anything of note.  I also don't see any broken traces, but they could be hiding under the green coating which is the solder mask.   The next step would be to use a multimeter to test continuity between the edge connectors and the chip pins.  This would tell you if there were any damaged traces.  You could also reflow the solder on the chip pins with a solder iron.  It's possible the white stuff you're talking about could be corrosion, but I honestly can't see it in the pictures.  Lastly, just make sure the contacts on the edge connector are really clean.  I recommend giving them a gentle scrubbing with a pencil eraser just to be sure.

Edited October 1, 2022 by CMR

[FireHazard51 | 2,062]

Yeah, multimeter to test for continuity but it does look likes in pretty good shape.  But I have heard of traces breaking that don't look like they would be broken.  Solder joints can fail with time and that could be the source no continuity too.

[ProtonX | 69]

Also- you can use a flashlight to look at the traces by the board. It doesn’t always work for spotting bad traces- but usually a break occurs at the pin connection or right where the plastic shells rubs against the PCB.

The tried and true method especially on such a small board is just continuity testing with a multimeter.

By the way- what game is it?

[austin532 | 467]

Is it residue on the pins or a crack? To me it looks like a light crack on both sides.

[Red | 439]

Thanks for the replies.  It seems to be working now, but I'm not sure for how long.  I must have powered it on and off at least 50 times, slightly adjusting it's position each time, on different SNES consoles, sometimes using a pass-through cart, sometimes just the bare PCB.  It finally started up, bare PCB in a pass-through cart, on a model 2 console.  I'm afraid to turn it off at this point until I finish the game!

@CMR@FireHazard51

I didn't have a multimeter, so I had to track one down.  I wound up borrowing one, which turned out not to work, which lead me to just try starting it up again tonight.  If I got it to start up once, would that mean broken traces were not the issue?

As for the white stuff, I'll have to take better pictures.  I didn't notice it when I first took pictures, so I don't have a clear picture of it.

Cleaning it with a pencil eraser is the first thing I did, but it didn't seem to help.

@ProtonX

It's Metal Warriors, which is why I'm quite interested in getting it working.

@austin532

It looks like it could be a crack, but it doesn't seem to go all the way through, so I referred to it as a bend.  If I (lightly) scratch it with my finger nail, it does get caught in the groove, so it' ether a deep scratch or a crack in the pins.

[CMR | 522]

A cracked solder joint could work intermittently if your wiggling got the pin to make a connection. 

[Red | 439]

@CMR Maybe that is the case.  I haven't been able to get it started again since turning it off the other night.  I'll pick up a multimeter at some point and post back here what I find out.

[CMR | 522]

If you have access to a soldering iron, it might be better to reflow the pins first.  Use soldering flux also, especially if you're inexperienced with soldering.  If you're really unsure, find yourself a cell phone repair shop or somewhere that does electronics or musical instrument repairs and have them do it.

Edited October 15, 2022 by CMR

[FireHazard51 | 2,062]

On 10/14/2022 at 9:15 PM, Red said:

@CMR Maybe that is the case.  I haven't been able to get it started again since turning it off the other night.  I'll pick up a multimeter at some point and post back here what I find out.

You can get a decent multimeter for a pretty low cost.  You may not use it a lot but when you need it there isn't much else you can do.  It is THE tool to use for checking continuity.  If you need some help picking one out let me know.  I found a great YouTuber who really loves to help armature electronic hobbies get started and the first thing to get is a decent multimeter.