Are you sure electricity running through the cartridge contacts when it's plugged into a NES isn't vital to the experiment? Who knows what effect that has on how fast the metal oxidizes. And are we sure that the cartridge contacts are what's getting corroded, not the contacts within the NES itself? An average NES game might be blown on once or twice a week, but if that NES gets several spit covered NES games inserted into it on a daily basis, the wear-and-tear might be even worse inside the NES than inside the cartridge.
Another interesting indicator to see if the spit works would be to use an ohm meter with a cartridge that's been blown on recently versus a dry one versus one that's been blown on for 30 days. Which one has more resistance, or does it make any difference at all?
Here's how I'd test this theory after the 30 days:
1: Take the circuit board out of a toaster NES
2: Plug the cartridge into the NES and power it up. If the game runs, pull the cartridge out and put it back in until you get the blinking light or corrupt graphics or whatever.
3: Once you get the blinking lights, use an ohm meter or a cable tester to check connectivity between each pin on the cartridge circuit board and the NES circuitboard.
4: If all the pins make connection, then obviously the problem has nothing to do with how the cartridge was seated or corrosion on the contacts.
5: If some of the pins didn't make contact, visually inspect them. Are they physically touching the connector in the NES, or is the pin bent back too far, or is the cartridge in at an odd angle?
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