Hello NA,
Attached are the dirtiest games I have for the N64 and SNES. The links are to No Mercy, my other dirty N64 game. After I clean these games this weekend I will reupload and show you the results.
For the SNES game I tried cleaning it and it doesn't get anything out, but there are "blackness". The q-tip doesn't even get dirty unless I press really hard but I'm afraid to press any harder. Both N64 games I haven't cleaned them for over a decade.
No Mercy Game
http://i50.tinypic.com/ngeclj.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2yl74mr.jpg
I recently started buying top ranked old-school Nintendo games for SNES and N64 that I may have missed when I was younger. Luckly, the games that I buy all work well, but I noticed the games that I owned as a child don't seem to work that well anymore.
What I did was clean the SNES games with water and soap and they all worked fine within one try, but after a few weeks, I noticed that it started giving me black screens. My HDTV would either say "No Signal" which basically means it doesn't even detect a game, or if I'm lucky I just get a "Black Screen", which means it reads the game, but it's not working. However, my new SNES games work flawlessly so I know it's not the SNES console itself.
Yesterday, I spent a few hours cleaning each of them with a Q-Tip and 91% rubbing alcohol, I got them all managing to work again, but even after cleaning them it still gave me a really really really hard time. The Q-tip doesn't even get dirty anymore, but yet the game doesn't always work. It takes like 10-20 tries for some games. However, once it works, it stays good.
I did a bit of research and I read that:
1) Water and Soap can make things worst
2) Blowing the Cartridge works short term, but will make things worst in the long term.
3) Stay away from Windex and sandpaper
Now as a child all I did was blow games so I'm afraid that it may have now damaged them in the long run.
My cousins who never blew their games, gave me their SNES games once they "grew out of it" and they work flawlessly today.
I decided that I will open the games and clean it thoroughly, my steps are:
1) Prepare a safe and clean enviroment.
2) Open the game using a 3.8mm gamebit.
3) Put a pea-size amount of Weiman Glass Cook Top Cleaner on the contacts of the SNES games and rub it hard with a cotton cloth to get rid of any dirt that may have missed with the rubbing alcohol
4) Rub it with a Q-tip and 91% alcohol
5) Make sure it's completely dry
6) Hope the game is fixed.
My questions are:
1) How do you know when a Nintendo Cartridge (any console) is beyond repair? (Besides breaking the contacts)
All my contacts are intact but some look mildly blackish on the SNES games that I can't get rid out with my Q-Tip rubbing alcohol, I'm hoping that Weiman will do the trick,
2) Do you think Weisman will get rid of that blackness? Why did it get like that?
3) Is Weiman Glass Cook Top Cleaning the best product to use when trying to buff the contacts? Or is there another product?
4) Do you think the water and soap may have permanently damaged the contacts? I did this about a few weeks ago.
5) Any tips when using Weiman? What shouldn't I do?
6) How hard can I scrub the connectors? I'm afraid to use all my force in fear that I may scratch it and break it permanently.
I have yet to try and clean my N64 games but they look flithy, they look white, and greenish on the inside, and some of the contacts looks as if it's being eaten away
. How did this happen? What are the white and green stuff? Will Weiman clean this?
I know to stay away from water and soap this time.
It's crazy because I had my games locked up in a plastic box for over a decade, How can it get that dirty!
I won't be getting all my tools to open and clean my games until this weekend, but I wanted tips from people with experience before I started using Weiman.
Few last questions:
1) Is a pencil eraser good to use on the contacts?
2) Is WD-40 good to blow the dust, or should I use canned Air instead (without all the chemical that WD-40 has)?
3) How often should I clean my games?
4) When is a game beyond repair? (I know I asked this already) Do you have a picture of a game that is beyond repair?
5) After seeing the pictures, have you seen worst? If yes, were you able to remove it and did your game work well after?
If you read all this thanks a lot. I just get anxious when it comes to the conditions of my games, because they are a bit part of my childhood and it's something I don't want to lose. Furthermore, I want them to be around when I have kids so they can play them on the original consoles.
Keep in mind,
all the games work, but they just take LOTS AND LOTS of tries.
Take Care and thanks very much for the help!
(Goodnight as well, I won't check back until tomorrow afternoon)