DP MYTHBUSTERS : Blowing in NES Cartridges

[onReload]

Since this is being studied so thoroughly, I'm guessing you guys already knew this, but here goes: it feels to me (with an SNES or top-loading NES) that if the game was slightly tilted, you might not get the same conductivity. So if someone took out a cart to blow on it, then replaced it, they might replace it in a way more properly aligned to be read.

I do this with with an old copy of SMRPG - the cart can tilt back and forth a bit while "secured" in the SNES, and booting it up with it tilted one way is usually more successful.

So maybe this explains why people thought blowing was successful, along with the whole water-conductivity thing?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Since this is being studied so thoroughly, I'm guessing you guys already knew this, but here goes: it feels to me (with an SNES or top-loading NES) that if the game was slightly tilted, you might not get the same conductivity. So if someone took out a cart to blow on it, then replaced it, they might replace it in a way more properly aligned to be read.

I do this with with an old copy of SMRPG - the cart can tilt back and forth a bit while "secured" in the SNES, and booting it up with it tilted one way is usually more successful.

So maybe this explains why people thought blowing was successful, along with the whole water-conductivity thing?

There are many factors that contribute to the casuse of cartridges not making correct contact with the NES's internal pinset.

I'm not looking to discover the "cause" ... I just want to see what type of external visible damage that blowing into cartridges causes.

[c0ldb33r]

I'm not looking to discover the "cause" ... I just want to see what type of external visible damage that blowing into cartridges causes.

So you're not going to be inserting either cartridge into an NES during the month period?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I'll do my best to revise/further clarify in the original post to avoid confusion ... this isn't about whether or not the games work when inserted into an NES ... as there are WAY too many variables to take into consideraition in that equation.

The short short is that I want to see what the physical damage to the metal contacts is after 30 days of daily abuse via "blowing" onto an NES cartridge.

I would venture to guess over that short a period of time the game could easily be "rescued" with simple cleaning products, and it might even work if inserted into a toaster or top loader ... but that's not the point of this test.

There are people out there that A.) Don't realize that blowing into NES (or any cartridge games) potentially causes damage. and B.) Don't believe that it causes any type of damage at all. I just want some nice visual physical evidence that there is a damaging chemical process that happens when you do this, even if it does in-directly cause games to boot on a toaster NES with a higher degree of success (for whatever reason that is ... moisture increasing conductivity, repeated re-insertion causing a correct connect ... etc.)

[jajaja]

I think this is a pretty cool idea, nice work!

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm not looking to discover the "cause" ... I just want to see what type of external visible damage that blowing into cartridges causes.

It wouldn't be a difficult extra step to have NESes set up (using the dry cartridge first, if you only have one NES) and test how often they work, as well.

You're already doing one step, why not the other?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

It wouldn't be a difficult extra step to have NESes set up (using the dry cartridge first, if you only have one NES) and test how often they work, as well.

You're already doing one step, why not the other?

As I said, for starters I don't have a toaster NES.

What I really want do to is simply see if moisture via blowing causes surface damage.

Once we figure that out, there have already been volunteers to continue the experiment/test with actual NES systems, and measure the functionality of both games.

[Rob2600]

Cool experiment. I'm curious to see the outcome. A quick thought:

When a child turned on a game and got a blinking screen, how often do you think that was because of the lockout chip being out of sync with the game and not because of dirty contacts or bent pins? Then, when the child removed the cartridge, blew on it, put it back in, and turned it on again, maybe by coincidence sometimes the lockout chip was now in sync with the game, making it boot up just fine.

How big of a problem/coincidence do you think the lockout chip was vs. dirty contacts/bent pins?

[Cornelius]

How big of a problem/coincidence do you think the lockout chip was vs. dirty contacts/bent pins?

You weren't exactly asking me, but the answer is very little. Back in the day I remember we'd turn it on and off a few times, take it out and put it back in and have very little success. One quick blow, and bam, it would work. Pretty much anyone that played/plays it a lot will tell you that blowing definitely works well, though like someone said, we used to all think it was dust.

As an adult trying to get these games playing it is even clearer that corroded contacts are the main problem, since taking them apart and cleaning them thoroughly is the single most important way to get them going.

[Trevelyan]

if the game was slightly tilted, you might not get the same conductivity. So if someone took out a cart to blow on it, then replaced it, they might replace it in a way more properly aligned to be read.

This was the case with Zelda:OOT on my N64. Its an interesting point.

Noting which NES console variations you use in the experiment would be handy. Would one be able to determine by aid of a statistical analysis if the differing NES consoles vs 'typical' insertion technique (into 'said' console) might lead to a pattern? Maybe its all to do with the cartridges, but it may be worth checking out.

EDIT: just read your post above mine, ignore this if its off topic/experiment