DP MYTHBUSTERS : Blowing in NES Cartridges

[VertigoProcess]

Use canned air instead, problem solved...

[Polygon]

Use canned air instead, problem solved...

That doesn't really solve any problem.

The answer is to clean the contacts properly. If your contacts on the game are clean and not corroded to shit and you're still having issues it's the connector in the NES. Try cleaning it first, next there are ways to try and repair the connector. If all else fails, get a new one.

[o.pwuaioc]

That doesn't really solve any problem.

The answer is to clean the contacts properly. If your contacts on the game are clean and not corroded to shit and you're still having issues it's the connector in the NES. Try cleaning it first, next there are ways to try and repair the connector. If all else fails, get a new one.

Even with properly cleaned contacts, sometimes minor dust can prevent a reading, in which case canned air is a perfect solution.

[Polygon]

Even with properly cleaned contacts, sometimes minor dust can prevent a reading, in which case canned air is a perfect solution.

Since cleaning my games and replacing my connector, not once has it failed to start right up the first time. However, I can see your point but that would take a lot more than "minor" dust to cause an issue. But if you honestly believe that then by all mean, canned air is a great solution as long as you don't hold it down or turn it upside down.

[VertigoProcess]

Even with properly cleaned contacts, sometimes minor dust can prevent a reading, in which case canned air is a perfect solution.

Wow, you you beat me to saying the exact same thing by like a second. Thank you for saving me the trouble. Haha

[VertigoProcess]

Since cleaning my games and replacing my connector, not once has it failed to start right up the first time. However, I can see your point but that would take a lot more than "minor" dust to cause an issue. But if you honestly believe that then by all mean, canned air is a great solution as long as you don't hold it down or turn it upside down.

If it isn't a dust issue then why do you think blowing on the cart works at all? Not to mention I remember doing this when my nes and games were still new to make them work. There's no way that corrosion or a bad connector in my then brand new nes was the cause of it not working the first time. Seriously man wtf?

[wiggyx]

If it isn't a dust issue then why do you think blowing on the cart works at all? Not to mention I remember doing this when my nes and games were still new to make them work. There's no way that corrosion or a bad connector in my then brand new nes was the cause of it not working the first time. Seriously man wtf?

That's probably has a lot to do with the crummy design of the front load NES :/

[Polygon]

Why on Earth would people go out of their way to blow on cartridge contacts if it didn't produce a result?

Care to explain?

I hate to say it but people, in general, are stupid. People do crap all the time that doesn't work, but they continue to do it.

You expell far more N2 and O2 than you do CO2, just so you know.

Yeah, so what? I picked one. I wasn't trying to conduct a science class.

It's far more likely that the exhaled air, which has a relative humidity level of 100%, would evenly coat the contacts than a random spattering of saliva. Blow on a price of glass and let me know how much saliva is still there after the water evaporates. That small amount of moisture need only be present for a seconds. How long do you think it takes to insert the cart after blowing on it? That moisture will have a hard time escaping from two contacts pressed against each other, and as someone else already said, it only takes a very, VERY small amount to promote conductivity.

I guess this all depends on your method of blowing on the cartridge. However, go breath on some glass and see how long the moisture lasts. Not long enough for it to be there when you get your cartridge in the NES.

Water + O2 = corrosion. Sure, saliva will hasten the process (as evidenced by my story), but is NOT a requirement for corrosion by any means.

I never said it was.

No shit.

What the hell is this about? None of my post was directed at you, of all this comment. Someone else mentioned "patina" earlier in the thread. I hate that word, personally. I just think people should call it what it is.

If it isn't a dust issue then why do you think blowing on the cart works at all? Not to mention I remember doing this when my nes and games were still new to make them work. There's no way that corrosion or a bad connector in my then brand new nes was the cause of it not working the first time. Seriously man wtf?

I just find it very doubtful. I've work on computers for a living. I've pulled processors, expansion card, memory modules, etc with visible dust in the connectors/sockets and they were working fine. I'm not saying it's not possible. All I'm saying is that it would take more than minor dust to prevent the connection unless you had other issues.

[Atarileaf]

I hate to say it but people, in general, are stupid. People do crap all the time that doesn't work, but they continue to do it.

Like voting

[Polygon]

Like voting

Hehe, well, for POTUS anyhow.

[VertigoProcess]

Thanks for sharing, your story is a much appreciated contribution to this ancient thread.

However, in my original time working on this thread as well as all the years prior and the years that followed, I found that there will always been a set of gamers/collectors that will always deny the harmful effects of blowing into cartridges and live convinced that there's nothing wrong with it/that it's a completely reasonable practice to partake in.

I am completely and totally done trying to convince any last person who believes that no damage can be had from blowing into cartridges. I've had it up to here (points at a space about a foot above my head) with people who think that the procedure is harmless and that no amount of evidence says otherwise, so please don't expect any further examination of the process from me.

I'll leave the "mythbusting" to Jamie and Adam in the future.

Well I wouldn't give up, I actually didn't even think about it being harmful intel this thread was reincarnated. I just started using canned air instead because its easier and I always have it around. But after reading this I will never blow on a cart ever again, the science makes perfect sense.

So there's still hope for stopping this practice for people that just didn't ever think about it, like me.

...And I am greatful for the knowledge.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Well I wouldn't give up, I actually didn't even think about it being harmful intel this thread was reincarnated. I just started using canned air instead because its easier and I always have it around. But after reading this I will never blow on a cart ever again, the science makes perfect sense.

So there's still hope for stopping this practice for people that just didn't ever think about it, like me.

...And I am greatful for the knowledge.

Oh, I'm not saying that the science doesn't make sense on some level, but since I'm really just a layman and had no means by which to conduct anything more than a grade-school level observational experiment with the materials I had available I couldn't really support the near-endless calls for "we want more proof!" or "in order for this to be a real scientific study you need to have this many control groups and you MUST test the materials under these specific conditions!" and the waves of scientific jargon/minutia spewed at me about the way things happen at a molecular level were simply too much for me to even know how to fit into what I was doing.

All I originally set out to prove is that blowing directly from your mouth onto a video game cartridge was not a process that was devoid of some type of reaction that could ultimately be harmful to the electronics, and yet I still meet people deeply entrenched in this hobby that swear up-and-down that no long-term damage could possibly ever come from it.

If I for some massochistic reason I decided to continue this experiment longer than a few months, trust me, it would likely become some type of endless lifelong struggle akin to convincing moon-landing conspiracy theorists that that actually happened.

I deal with enough frustrating things about this hobby that this minor scientific venture was enough for me. If anybody else wants to continue the research, be my guest!

[wiggyx]

^^^ might just do that. I'm on my way to local game store to pick up a dozen SNES sports titles in order to do some"sperimentin"...