So I've recently been inspired to re-clean my NES.... (Editors note: re-clean = bending and boiling pins as I've opened it up and cleaned the pins with alcohol and toothbush before.... Toaster, obviously)

http://nintendoage.com/forum/mess...

Amazing results and playing games within seconds of choosing them makes the system feel like new again.

So my question is this: WHY THE HELL ARE THERE SO MANY PEOPLE USING REPRODUCTION PINS?

Personally, I want my NES to be 100% authentic and with OEM parts. Whether the system had some cheap part in it to begin with or not, if it works, I want that part. 

So you have to take your system apart to replace the pins, anyways. Why not just clean them/recondition them by bending the pins back into place?

Are people just taking these out of their systems and throwing them away?? *single tear. Note: I know some people keep them and sell them, so that's good.

And then, after these people have replaced their pins, they keep bending them by pressing the NES game cartridge down. This will inevitably bend these new pins and they will no longer work. This leaves the gamer in the same position they were in BEFORE replacing their pins, without a working NES system.

Don't even get me started on the "Blinking Light Win". My goodness.... Why would anyone WANT to put whacky, after-market parts into their NES? Not only is the pin connector new/different but there's a totally different game tray that needs to be installed.

Just clean the damn NES!

Side question: How do you play your NES? With the pins bent and cleaned I don't need to put any extra pressure on the pins by pressing the game slot down so I leave it in the "upright" position. Works great.

I've been using the boiling method to revive my current NES, as well as several other friend's NES consoles with 100% success each time. I never really thought about it from an "all original parts" perspective, but that's absolutely legit.

Now that I think back to it, the one time I did order a replacement 72-pin connector, it seemed to have issues within months of use. I can't remember the brand, but the current NES I have (was a gift from a good friend) was revived with the boiling and bending method. All my games work first time, every time.

I leave my nes in the upright position too. On to the next question. Here is a quote of what you said "Whether the system had some cheap part in it to begin with or not, if it works, I want that part." So,by that, you could say that the old pins were not working and that by putting in new pins it is now working. Your quote pretty much says to me that if the new part works, then you want it. All of the other techniques will work too, like the boiling method, but they also take work. And why bother with work when a repro will do just as good?

Ive been using the same repop one since 2011 and its worked great. At the time i just started collecting and didnt lnow about how to fix originals

I would never use repro pins just because they are cheaply made and don't seem to last long (whether or not you push the game down). However, I'm a big fan of the Blinking Light Win because it's a permanent fix. You asked why anyone would use that. The simple answer is so that they don't have to bother with the maintenance that comes with the original design flaw. Even without pushing the game down, the original pins will require modification after time. As far as the originality of the system, no problem. The BLW is completely reversible if you even want to go back to original. My original pin connector is safely stored away in case I ever want to put it back in.

The other big reason why I like the BLW is that you cannot try to pass it off as original. Unless you have never seen an NES before, you will know imediately upon opening the door that the parts have been swapped out. This is not the case with repro pins. Most people here wouldn't be able to tell the difference betwen an NES with original pins and one with repro pins, and that's a problem for second hand NES systems. I know that mine is original, because I've owned it since its release, but if i find a used one at Goodwill, who knows?

Upright. Cool.

No, sorry.... What I'm saying is that I want an OEM part, despite it's quality (if it lacks any).

In terms of "why bother" I think it's worth the work to fix them up yourself. For me it was fun and certainly rewarding. Also, to keep your machine with authentic parts.
  Well, I understand what you're saying, but how many people are going to keep the pins/game slot after they install their BLW?

In regards to not dealing with the design flaw of pressing the game cart in a downward position, that's remedied by cleaning and bending the pins. When you've done that you no longer need to press the games into the down position to work. Leave the game up and the pins don't bend.

You're taking the time to take your NES apart and install the Frankenstein BLW, why not just clean it instead? 

Awesome. I love seeing feedback on this because I was scared to do it for years. I feel liberated from the thought of games not working, haha.
  I know what you're saying about not knowing how to fix the originals, but you obviously knew enough to take the thing apart and replace the pins. You knew the pins were the problem. A little Sherlock Holmes'ing would lead you to believe the pins were dirty/not working properly.

Like I said, originally when my games didn't work I cleaned the pins with a tooth brush and alcohol (takes relatively the same amount of work/skill/knowledge as replacing the pins with new ones).

So when I did that and learned people were making new replacement ones, I wasn't interested. I just cleaned them.

Now that I've been confident enough (Thanks to Nintendo Age) to do the bend/boil method I've realized how easy it is.

I want to shout it from the roof tops... BOIL! BEND! BOIL! BEND! BOIL! BEND!

I boil my pins. But I might get this BLW thing. It also disables the region lockout.

I don't personally like the feel of new pins in the system, but if they work then great! Otherwise, I think it's a convenience thing...boiling and bending take a long time in comparison to swapping out the pin connectors. I prefer the original and put the time in for my own systems, but am overall indifferent to the situation.

It takes 3 minues to put a BLW in.  It takes more than 3 minutes to boil and adjust pins on an original pin connector.  Plus I'll eventually have to do it again down the road, even if I don't push the game down.  I've said it in another thread, but if you enjoy the maintenance of adjusting the pins, good for you.  It sounds to me like you actually have a fun time cleaning the system out.  That's great. If I were you , I would offer the service for a fee.  It would give you a chance to educate people about not pushing down anymore (which you seem to want others to know about) and you could make a little cash on the side. 

As I've said, to each their own.  I just think it's silly to avoid the BLW just because it's not "original."  You can always put the original parts back in.  Will some people throw the old pin connector away?  Probably, but that fact doesn't make the BLW a bad product or bad idea.  It just means that those people don't care about whether or not they are using orginal parts.  I can't control their actions.  Even if the BLW didn't exist, those same people would probably buy Chinese made replacement pin connectors and still throw their original pins away which is too bad.      

 

I don't think it's a big deal, either way.

I think the negativity toward replacement components is a bit over-the-top.


If you want to preserve one of your consoles as a pristine all-original device, go right ahead.
But for day-to-day system use, all I care about is functionality, so swapping in alternate pins isn't some kind of transgression.
(and it's not like I threw away the original part, so I can always clean it and use it again the next time I need to pin-swap)



Kind of reminds me of the other thread, fairly recently, about the AC adapters.

The DC replacement adapters (that take the load off the internal system power supply voltage conversion) do WONDERS for eliminating fuzzy or wavy lines that are due to some of the system capacitors going bad.
I'm not going to spend my time re-capping an NES unless it becomes entirely non-functional, then I'll do them all at once.

But a $6 power adapter fixes the problem for zero effort (and if you don't care about the original AC adapter you can resell it on eBay for more than the cost of the replacement)

I think it takes a liiiiiiittle longer than 3 min to put the BLW in, but I understand what you're saying. It's really not that difficult/time consuming to bend the pins. Certainly not when we're talking about how long it takes to master some of these games, or play 700 of them.

I'm certainly going to hone my skills on mine and my friends/systems and then, yes, maybe it would be something to offer to people.

I'm just saying that repop parts aren't my bag. Being a gamer/collector means taking care of the systems properly, they don't need a BLW to work. Yeah, I see what you're saying.

I don't want any riots or beheadings or anything... just wondering why so many people put them in their systems.

I've always steered clear of them, just curious what others thought. Especially given the rather fun and easy fix.


 

I'm going to put a BLW into my brother's NES sometime soon (whenever we are both free at the same time). I'll time myself, but if it takes more than 3 to 5 minutes to do it, than I have no business even holding a screwdriver.

I should clarify i didnt know about the boiling method at the time. I did try just taking it out and cleaning it and disabled the lockout too. So i wasnt completely incompetent. But that didnt work my last resort was a replacement pin which has worked great ever since. No death grip and has not loosened up to the point of having to push games down. So i dont get the hate towards them
 

Seriously! Didn't you use to HATE that? My biggest worry was always paying for games, then having them glitch out or not work. Now, whenever I get a new game that isn't cooperating, I have a tried and true method for cleaning the game itself. I have like a 98% success rate cleaning carts with just 70% isopropyl and cue tips (I have a game bit driver as well to open the carts).

The ONLY issue I've ever had - and it's a rare one - is when people try and previously clean the carts with some random bullshit that's not conducive to cleaning. I have a TMNT 2 cart that looks like someone tried to clean the contacts with gum; they are literally worn out to the point where there's no more material in terms of contact to be read. Those are the only un-solvable NES game issues I've come across in my journey since 1997.

Because it's easy, it's fast, it's cheap, and they work.

 

I'd want to look into the specific plastic used, and the solder, before I go about befouling my kitchenware.
 

My reasons off top of my head:

* It's faster. Time is money, yo!
* I would rather not wait to boil and dry things, the kitchen's for ramen-use only.
* Boiling could lead to oxidation later on down the road. It works because... well the water's conductivity and all...
* Pin connectors that are already corroded to the extreme needs a replacement.
* Some old zif connector pins are way too bent out of shape
* Blinking Light Win works the same way top loading systems work-- the connectors don't get bent out of shape as quickly over time and they grab the cart pins better

If you want to keep the OEM connector, there's plenty of room inside the NES you can duct tape it to so that way you'll never worry about losing it.

Yeah, I get it.

I guess I had WAY TOO MUCH fun cleaning my system, haha... so rewarding. Like making a fire from scratch or building my own house from scratch.

I felt like the caveman who first found/harnessed fire. I was sitting in front of my NES with my face glowing red with a warm feeling inside my heart. That wonderful, beautiful red glow.

As one of the few other people who like to keep parts as-is, I will say there's one thing abotu this I don't think you thought of.  It's 100% reversiable, just keep the old pins. It's the best of both worlds.  I wish more people would do that.

And shout outs to Gruntz: http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=6&thr...   for keeping the chips on his translations.

 

Yeah, no doubt. I did already comment that I thought it was cool that people were keeping their pins.

That was part of my question... how many of the people who buy the pins from eBay or whatever actually KEEP their pins? I see that people here, who are somewhat NES savvy, are keeping them. That's cool.
 

Yeah when I get my BLW I don't plan to throw out the tray or the original connector.  I'll just store it away and can easily restore it whenever I want to.  

I kept mine with the first batch of connectors I bought in 2002ish timeframe, but I know I did throw some out then.  I couldn't tell the new and old pins apart, and I tossed the ones that just wouldn't stay working.  Then in 2005ish I bought a few more off ebay and they were the grip of death style pieces of crap

 

Dang. Yeah... certainly not those.

Grip of death = no good.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but it was a great feeling taking the 10 minutes to bend the pins and the 10 to boil them and have such success.

Like I said, it felt like I had performed black magic. Easy peasy black magic. Edit. I'm not technically minded in any way, but I'm good at following instructions.