Cleaning and testing your Games/Collection. When, and how?

[Nintendopower4ever | 88]

I've never used Brasso for games, but I really like Weiman's glass stovetop polish on a q-tip for rusty or corroded contacts and then clean them up with alcohol afterwards and they are so bright and clean and it doesn't seem very abrasive. I remember seeing it recommended all the time back when I first joined Nintendoage like 15 years ago and still have my original bottle. It works great! lol
 

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

8 hours ago, MrWunderful said:

So where does the anti corrosion and lubricant go when the female pins scrape on the brass? 
 

And are the pcbs you design pulled in and out of their receptacles thousands of times like a video game cart? Curious what brand contact cleaner you use. 

Saying the pins scrape is misleading. It’s not like razor blades digging into the contacts. It’s a rounded edge making contact with some spring loaded force. 

The additives are so thin/minimal you would have to coat the thing daily and put effort in to trying to clump it up to cause issue like you want to imagine it would. It’s like asking how much money did  I get for the gold I recovered from a scrap pcb. Basically nothing, the coating is so thin, it would take ungodly amounts of time/effort to accumulate enough to make a difference. Regardless, you should be cleaning the cart connector in the console occasionally too, you could use alcohol first to remove any additives leftover from the carts if you were paranoid enough to be worried about it. 

I have not personally done insertion tests. That’s not done by the designers personally. Though, what I do have is test equipment that has been used for many years, which does consist of a pcb board that is inserted into units for diagnostics. That board has probably been inserted 1000’s of times. When it acts up we use the cleaner on it. Deoxit D5 specifically, we also use the F5 for potentiometers if/when they ever start to get “crackly” (think of a guitar amp volume knob getting that crackle sound, if your familiar with that) in the test equipment. 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by LeatherRebel5150

[T-Pac | 7,560]

You're all doing it wrong, obviously...

-CasualCart

[phart010 | 1,707]

I’ve always used a paper towel wetted with water to clean carts then I spot clean tough spots with Isopropyl alcohol. I have seen the plastic on SOME carts degrade after using isopropyl alcohol, but that is not typical. I think the ones that degrade were already sun damaged or oxidized somehow and the alcohol just wiped off the outer layer of the cart plastic exposing damage that already existed but was concealed.

For very good condition carts that were stored properly, I do not see isopropyl alcohol causing the cart plastic to degrade 

Edited December 7, 2022 by phart010

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

On 12/7/2022 at 8:52 AM, phart010 said:

I’ve always used a paper towel wetted with water to clean carts then I spot clean tough spots with Isopropyl alcohol. I have seen the plastic on SOME carts degrade after using isopropyl alcohol, but that is not typical. I think the ones that degrade were already sun damaged or oxidized somehow and the alcohol just wiped off the outer layer of the cart plastic exposing damage that already existed but was concealed.

For very good condition carts that were stored properly, I do not see isopropyl alcohol causing the cart plastic to degrade 

I do this too. 

 

On 12/7/2022 at 7:01 AM, CasualCart said:

You're all doing it wrong, obviously...

-CasualCart

I love this. But a torch or jackhammer might be more effective!

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

Just did 4 EA genny games that didn’t work with the initial iso alcohol qtip cleaning. Qtips+brasso polish came back almost black (pics dont do the filth justice), and pins appeared to be in good shape Before cleaning. All 4 work fine now. 

2 random things-

-populus doesn’t work in a nomad, but works fine in Mega Sg. 

-lotus turbo challenge has a weird external 3wing phillips screw that I didn’t have and have never seen before, and I thought I had “most” security bits. My clutch type worked fine on it however. 

[T-Pac | 7,560]

11 hours ago, MrWunderful said:

I love this. But a torch or jackhammer might be more effective!

We reserve the torch for particularly gross games...

-CasualCart

[G-type | 2,482]

I USED to clean my games... now I just emulate, and originals are for the shelf only.

[AirVillain | 490]

Great thread. 

I fucked up the poll, though.

On the second question obviously I'm going to wait until after I clean the game before I test/play it. First clean, then play/test but I accidentally voted "Test as soon as I have it in my hands."

So "Test after Cleaning" should have an extra vote. 

Who are these people buying a game and just ramming it into their system? Hahaha, my god.... some carts I get have cob webs and years of spit and grime. It's disgusting.

In terms of the cleaning product discussion.... I just use iso for the boards. Higher percentage if I'm not too cheap, or can find it, at the time of buying. Haven't noticed any hazing, but don't use much on clear plastics? 

I find "Goo Gone" highly effective for stickers/residue/permanent marker on the carts. Haven't seen any carts, even labels, fucked up from it yet. See E.V.O. attached (first big removal attempt on a cheap cart at least, and it had scotch tape over it's own label ) . If that label melts, I'll update this thread and let you all know. It's been like 8 years so far and it still seems fine.

Also begs the question @MrWunderful, how does this fit into the OVERALL cleaning/dusting of the collection? Once a week, once a month? NEVER???  Haha... I guess that's a whole other thread? 

Edited December 9, 2022 by AirVillain
Cleaning "products" & example....

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

Great work @AirVillain bet that was so satisfying lol

 

Anyways, I wish I was better about dusting my collection but Im not. And most likely wont clean the carts after my initial clean/test unless I have to. 

[AirVillain | 490]

4 hours ago, MrWunderful said:

Great work @AirVillain bet that was so satisfying lol

 

Anyways, I wish I was better about dusting my collection but Im not. And most likely wont clean the carts after my initial clean/test unless I have to. 

Thanks, haha yeah it sure was satisfying. 

I'm not at all experienced in these types of matters so I just kinda went for it. I think my blind ambition and ignorance kind of helped me though and I just went for it. Hair dryer. peeled carefully but not too slowly. cleaned up the excess gunk with the aforementioned goo gone. 

I, myself, am not really sure how I pulled it off (pun not intended). 

I get what you're saying about dusting... but "won't clean the carts... EVER?"  haha... You must dust them some... time?  ... aaaaaaanyways I was the same way but I kinda like it now. I found a couple things that made dusting the 'ol collection fun. Dusting GLOVES... you basically get to pick up and rub everything you own. It's great in a kind of weird but not TOO weird way. (picking up not necessary, haha)  

Dusting gloves that are for cars? They're basically microfiber gloves. Peep this:

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/simoniz-microfibre-dusting-glove-orange-grey-1-pc-0396124p.html#.VtWrwPkrLIU

I mean, I know it's CANADIAN Tire, but you must have some sort of American Tire equivalent or something, haha 

I also like compressed air for dealing with the systems, aka the vents on the NES. I plan on one day grabbing a small air compressor for that very reason. I guess I could use it for real adult things like blowing up tires, or "manly" things, but cleaning my video games is as manly as I want to be.

Edited December 9, 2022 by AirVillain

[Tanooki | 4,936]

You did the good work there removing those non-historical atrocities from that EVO cart as it looks largely where it matters, fantastic.  Hair dryer works like a charm, except in the case of a label that has no protectant on it like the direct ink stuff (n64, genesis, super gameboy through color, late snes) as they're just screwed largely.  A lot of testing I found the only good way to lean them, indirect (spray onto paper towel first) use of Windex of all things, oddly it doesn't remove the ink and works far better than just water/damp rag ever would.  Back on the hair dryer, also great if you ever have to fix a handheld or console that breaks, so you can pull your original factory stickers off and transplant them undamaged in one piece.

[Tulpa | 3,510]

20 hours ago, AirVillain said:

I mean, I know it's CANADIAN Tire, but you must have some sort of American Tire equivalent or something, haha 

We have America's Tire, but that's just a tire store, not an ... everything store.

I dunno, our equivalent is probably WalMart.

[AirVillain | 490]

3 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

We have America's Tire, but that's just a tire store, not an ... everything store.

I dunno, our equivalent is probably WalMart.

Well... in it's true "essence" Canadian Tire is a mechanic shop/car/outdoors store. "Up here in Canada " you would go there to get your car fixed and buy stuff for your trailer to go camping.

So I know because Wal-Mart is expanding by the nano second and has car stuff and mechanic shops, and Canadian Tire is also expanding (They have Mark's Work Wearhouse's and Part City's INSIDE them now) and sells lots of housewares but they're a bit different.

You could essentially do the same things at each store, I'm sure, but here's an example.... I wouldn't want to be buying any plumbing or electrical hardware from Wal-Mart, and you wouldn't really be buying socks and underwear from Canadian Tire. If that helps. 

So the American Tire tire shop actually is the best equivalent because what I referenced was a car detailing glove. But you'd also probably find something very similar in the Wal-Mart Automotive section. 

Also.... a Canadian Tire does NOT have a chip section like Wal-Mart in the States. Sweet Jesus.... what in the hell types of chips are you eating that you need entire SECTIONS dedicate to chips??? (witnessed in Wooster, Ohio) It's insane the variety of potato chips available. And you don't have Ketchup flavour? Yeesh. 

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

23 hours ago, AirVillain said:

Thanks, haha yeah it sure was satisfying. 

I'm not at all experienced in these types of matters so I just kinda went for it. I think my blind ambition and ignorance kind of helped me though and I just went for it. Hair dryer. peeled carefully but not too slowly. cleaned up the excess gunk with the aforementioned goo gone. 

I, myself, am not really sure how I pulled it off (pun not intended). 

I get what you're saying about dusting... but "won't clean the carts... EVER?"  haha... You must dust them some... time?  ... aaaaaaanyways I was the same way but I kinda like it now. I found a couple things that made dusting the 'ol collection fun. Dusting GLOVES... you basically get to pick up and rub everything you own. It's great in a kind of weird but not TOO weird way. (picking up not necessary, haha)  

Dusting gloves that are for cars? They're basically microfiber gloves. Peep this:

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/simoniz-microfibre-dusting-glove-orange-grey-1-pc-0396124p.html#.VtWrwPkrLIU

I mean, I know it's CANADIAN Tire, but you must have some sort of American Tire equivalent or something, haha 

I also like compressed air for dealing with the systems, aka the vents on the NES. I plan on one day grabbing a small air compressor for that very reason. I guess I could use it for real adult things like blowing up tires, or "manly" things, but cleaning my video games is as manly as I want to be.

I do, but not as often as I would like!

Edited December 10, 2022 by MrWunderful

[AirVillain | 490]

18 hours ago, MrWunderful said:

I do, but not as often as I would like!

Haha, of course..... just the way I read "unless I have to". 

 

[Tulpa | 3,510]

On 12/10/2022 at 11:37 AM, AirVillain said:

Also.... a Canadian Tire does NOT have a chip section like Wal-Mart in the States. Sweet Jesus.... what in the hell types of chips are you eating that you need entire SECTIONS dedicate to chips??? (witnessed in Wooster, Ohio) It's insane the variety of potato chips available. And you don't have Ketchup flavour? Yeesh. 

Dude, WalMart has entire sections dedicated to salad dressing.

Salad dressing.

[AirVillain | 490]

6 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Dude, WalMart has entire sections dedicated to salad dressing.

Salad dressing.

Shit, those must be some tasty salad dressings!! All the flavours of salad dressing a person could ever imagine!

[Tulpa | 3,510]

1 hour ago, AirVillain said:

Shit, those must be some tasty salad dressings!! All the flavours of salad dressing a person could ever imagine!

Eh, not really. It's like the standard flavors from Hidden Valley, etc, and then like nineteen copies of those under various house brands.

[AirVillain | 490]

4 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Eh, not really. It's like the standard flavors from Hidden Valley, etc, and then like nineteen copies of those under various house brands.

That's disappointing.

I guess it's my fault for getting my hopes up for salad dressing.

[goldenpp72 | 1,234]

I don't really fit into the criteria here, but I clean stuff when I want to actually use it, and I test stuff that I consider semi+ valuable just to make sure, but I collect so much that it would be too time consuming to do it all, so I guess I just hope most of my stuff is working ok

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

3 hours ago, goldenpp72 said:

I don't really fit into the criteria here, but I clean stuff when I want to actually use it, and I test stuff that I consider semi+ valuable just to make sure, but I collect so much that it would be too time consuming to do it all, so I guess I just hope most of my stuff is working ok

How do/would you handle a situation where you found out it wasn’t working or was a fake game? Seems like you would be out of some money with that method 

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

On 12/10/2022 at 2:37 PM, AirVillain said:

Also.... a Canadian Tire does NOT have a chip section like Wal-Mart in the States. Sweet Jesus.... what in the hell types of chips are you eating that you need entire SECTIONS dedicate to chips??? (witnessed in Wooster, Ohio) It's insane the variety of potato chips available. And you don't have Ketchup flavour? Yeesh. 

You were in Wooster, on purpose?

[AirVillain | 490]

4 hours ago, captmorgandrinker said:

You were in Wooster, on purpose?

Have family that lives there. I guess it's kind of a random spot? Kind of in the sticks of Cleveland? Or considered shitty?

Seems nice enough, only place I've frequented in the States, though, haha. 

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

1 hour ago, AirVillain said:

Have family that lives there. I guess it's kind of a random spot? Kind of in the sticks of Cleveland? Or considered shitty?

Seems nice enough, only place I've frequented in the States, though, haha. 

It's just a very odd place to randomly be.   There's nothing around there but farms, that Wal-Mart, a Best Buy that is the last to run out of hot ticket items, and formerly a hockey team.