Bad NES 72 PIN (Restored) and ultra sonic cleaning the motherboard

[FireHazard51 | 2,175]

Bought a cheap NES from GoodWill auctions.  Expected it to not read games, which it didn't.  I waited kind too long to test out the NES so when I went to fix it I didn't have all the tools I wanted.  So I did what many had mentioned, bent the pins to get a better connection.  I TRIED to ultra sonic clean the pin connector in a 70 C cleaning solutions but my mini ultra sonic clear wasn't working (bought from GoodWill auctions for cheap ).  I'll have to open it up and try and fix that another day.

So I used my microscope station and bent every pin so there was a great connection.  Still couldn't get it to work.  Back under the microscope and I HAND scrapped every pin because I couldn't find my electronic contact cleaner.  THIS did do the job and I got the game to run.

I took the whole motherboard (minus the 72 PIN connector) and used my big ultra sonic cleaner to clean the board of dust and old flux.  Remember that when you do that you have to rinse board.  In the past I would do it under a sink and then give it a 99% isopropyl alcohol bath.  This time I went straight to the IPA bath after a violent shaking to get excess cleaning solution off.  Gave it a good shaking and blowing to help the drying out process.  I reconfirmed everything still worked and put the board into a clear shell: https://www.videogamesage.com/forums/topic/15380-clear-nes-shell-mod

Since this was a rushed project to give as a gift I didn't take many photos.  But near the AV/Power section you can see how dirty it looked before ultra sonic cleaning and afterwards.