How long will a new NES 72 pin last?

[TNTPLUST]

Need some advice. Two months ago I replaced the 72 pin on my NES. Things were going great until last weekend when I inserted a cartridge I picked up at a swap meet. Now I have pixelated verticle lines down the screen. I cleaned the cart before inserting it but it was very dirty. I have tried different carts, tvs, RF and RCA cables. I have removed the 72 pin, cleaned and reseated it. Nothing seems to work. Should I purchase another 72 pin?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

There seems to be varying camps on the overall quality of replacement 72 pin connectors.

Some users here say that they're only short-term solutions and that they fail more often than they work.

Others swear by them.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

I've heard 1000 years minimum. Not sure how accurate that figure is though.

[kainemaxwell]

Also depends where you get them from.

[retroman]

mine worked fine for about 6 months. Now its all the blowing in game thing again. Mine also had a death grip on the games. Which means they were very tight getting out.

[guitargary75]

I have had mine for 2 years, and it still works fine.

[Chuplayer]

The one I got from MCM Electronics in early 2002 still works great today.

[ProgrammingAce]

I've had poor performance from the silver ones but much better results from the gold ones.

[nestlekwik]

I used to work in a store that would replace the pins in NES systems. I can't remember the company we ordered them from at first, but we'd get ripped big time as maybe 3 out of 10 pin replacements actually worked like they should. We constantly had to send pins back to this company but there were certain pins that made NES work like brand new without a single problem for the entire two years I worked there. I suppose like everyone is saying, it depends on a number of factors (and maybe luck).

[TNTPLUST]

Ok so what I think I'm hearing is don't buy the silver/death lock pins. Which is exactly what I did. I just unfastened it again and I swear it looks like the pin has burn marks in the teeth.

[natinh0]

I was pretty sad with my baby snes cause it was just a pain in the 4$$ to make any game work on it and out of the blue i realised that all i need to do is just put a VERY small part of the chip´s connectors on the slot, it works perfectly now, i don´t even have to try a second time, GREAT!
Just try this and i´m certain taht it will last more than you imagine

[Gamingking]

I have had my New 72 Pin for a few months. Haven't had any problems at all with it.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

mine worked fine for about 6 months. Now its all the blowing in game thing again. Mine also had a death grip on the games. Which means they were very tight getting out.

"blowing in the game" is a short term fix, but a long-term one-way road to severe cartridge damage (oxidation, corrosion, mold), so regardless of how good or tight your pinset is, you're destroying your cartridges if you're blowing in them.

[Cornelius]

"blowing in the game" is a short term fix, but a long-term one-way road to severe cartridge damage (oxidation, corrosion, mold), so regardless of how good or tight your pinset is, you're destroying your cartridges if you're blowing in them.

Except somehow people have been doing this since the system came out, and have no more than the usual problems. For me, this is one of those 'old wives' tales' that we gamers sometimes develop.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Except somehow people have been doing this since the system came out, and have no more than the usual problems. For me, this is one of those 'old wives' tales' that we gamers sometimes develop.

Some people smoke cigarettes their entire life and live to be 100 years old, that doesn't mean that tar, nicotine and other chemicals that they put in cigarettes aren't damaging to the human body.

Blowing into an NES cartridge causes human spit (a combination of moisture, bacteria, and whatever else people have in their mouth) to line to cartridge contacts.

In all my years as a gamer, as well as a game collector, as well as a store manager of a Funcoland from 1997 to 2001 I've had thousands and thousands of NES games pass through my hands, and there is a scientifically quantifiable difference between an NES game's (or any cartridge game) contacts that have spent 20 years NOT being blown on on a regular basis and an NES game that has been.

It's really as simple as this.

Since NES cartridge contacts have base metallic combinations of gold and copper, take a freshly minted 2008 penny and compare it to a well circulated 1998 penny (which has come in contact with plenty of moisture and other elements) and look at the level of oxidation. And usually in the case of the penny, it hasn't even encountered the regular level of moisture that a regularly blown-in NES cartridge has.

Bottom line, I can appreciate the sentiment that some people have done it since 1985 and still have working games ... but I will never believe that it's not factual that blowing in games can lead to them becoming damaged. I've cleaned out too much GREEN MOLD from cartridges to believe anything otherwise.

[Videogamerdaryll]

I have an older new 72 silver pin ,non death grip pin connector in a banged up NES that still works for over 4 years now.."with" tons of games"after" cleaning them via opening them with the bit,my method of red scotch brite and 91% alcohol
...though I sell NES systems I actually don't have a nice one in my collection,besides a Top Loader.

I had been buying bulk 72 pin connectors off the same eBay seller for awhile,10 out of 10 pin connectors being good....then he started sending the death grip,holes too big for the original screws New 72 JUNK pin connectors.

6 out of 10 will be bad,no matter what I do they are no good....I explained this to the seller since he warranties them but he just gives me a bunch of BS,skipping around the warranty.
So I'm stuck with whatever I have left..He lost a customer..


I've went back to ..
Refurbishing/Fixing the Old Original 72 pin connectors myself....I only started to use the new 72s when time became to restraint to do the Fix

................................................
What I'd really like is a website,link to buy some Good Silver or Gold New 72 Pin Connectors..without the death grip that actually work..:deadhorse:

[traser]

I wold say that if you want you conneector to last a long time, you half to make shur your games are as god and clean as you want your connector to be.
changing the connector and then jaming in dirty thilty carts will ruen the new connector, so if you want your connector to last make shur the games you stick into it are god and clean.

[ErmangelnSeelen]

I had one for about a year and had no problems with it.. the owner before me had it in there for some time as well, no problems.

For those of you with blinking light problems, can't you just disable the lockout chip?

Also, I've heard of just bending the pins back to where they should be.

...I should add, mine was gold, but it DID have a semi-death grip, and it worked amazing. Never any problems.

[PaddyTheChump]

I'm planning on buying one soon. Can someone post a link to one of the best kinds on ebay?

[Cornelius]

Some people smoke cigarettes their entire life and live to be 100 years old, that doesn't mean that tar, nicotine and other chemicals that they put in cigarettes aren't damaging to the human body.

:roll:



Blowing into an NES cartridge causes human spit (a combination of moisture, bacteria, and whatever else people have in their mouth) to line to cartridge contacts.
oh, definitely. I wouldn't say otherwise... in some cases (not all). I've cleaned what I swear was bits of chewing tobacco. Most of the time, though, people are spitting in them. Spit is not the same as water vapor, just for the record.



In all my years as a gamer, as well as a game collector, as well as a store manager of a Funcoland from 1997 to 2001 I've had thousands and thousands of NES games pass through my hands, and there is a scientifically quantifiable difference between an NES game's (or any cartridge game) contacts that have spent 20 years NOT being blown on on a regular basis and an NES game that has been.

so you quantified who blew in their games and who didn't, then measured the amount of corrosion? every game that you've had in your hands you are able to tell whether it has been blown in or not... through some sort of psychic connection? Or did you survey every person?



It's really as simple as this.

Since NES cartridge contacts have base metallic combinations of gold and copper, take a freshly minted 2008 penny and compare it to a well circulated 1998 penny (which has come in contact with plenty of moisture and other elements) and look at the level of oxidation. And usually in the case of the penny, it hasn't even encountered the regular level of moisture that a regularly blown-in NES cartridge has.

well, sure, absolutely there is more, but I'd contend that there isn't a significant difference between an occasional blow and not. I think you'd find that a penny sitting on a counter and one sitting on a counter that is occasionally exposed to higher humidity would have very similar levels of oxidation. as far as I am aware, most people don't hermetically seal their games when not in use, they are open to the environment.



Bottom line, I can appreciate the sentiment that some people have done it since 1985 and still have working games ... but I will never believe that it's not factual that blowing in games can lead to them becoming damaged. I've cleaned out too much GREEN MOLD from cartridges to believe anything otherwise.
I'm guessing it is green corrosion/oxidation, and not mold at all. just sayin'

Bottom line, I win! That's what people mean when they say "bottom line," right? There is a whole thread about this from a while back, so I really shouldn't have re-treaded it here. don't have time to find it now, maybe later.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

:roll:
oh, definitely. I wouldn't say otherwise... in some cases (not all). I've cleaned what I swear was bits of chewing tobacco. Most of the time, though, people are spitting in them. Spit is not the same as water vapor, just for the record.

And water vapor is not the only thing that comes out of a person's mouth when they take a deep breath and blow into a confined space. (but even JUST water vapor would be enough to jank an NES cartridge if done on a regular basis) So.....


so you quantified who blew in their games and who didn't, then measured the amount of corrosion? every game that you've had in your hands you are able to tell whether it has been blown in or not... through some sort of psychic connection? Or did you survey every person?

As a matter of fact, in nearly every instance of a customer trading in NES games that showed signs of serious oxidation/corrosion I asked them "did you blow into your games when they didn't work?" ... I didn't keep a scientific log or journal of every occasion of this, but out of the 4 years I was there, we had NES trade ins on close to a daily basis, so you can do the math. When the games looked like they were in near-mint condition, it was obvious that the owner never abused them, when they looked like crap, the answer was always a resounding "Yeah, I blow in them all the time." ... there were no electron microscopes or swab tests involved, but yes, I did quantify them in my own way.


well, sure, absolutely there is more, but I'd contend that there isn't a significant difference between an occasional blow and not. I think you'd find that a penny sitting on a counter and one sitting on a counter that is occasionally exposed to higher humidity would have very similar levels of oxidation. as far as I am aware, most people don't hermetically seal their games when not in use, they are open to the environment.

Again, this isn't about being sealed, it's about multiple factors that go into games oxidizing. Factor 1 is exposure to air and standard, regular, indoor environments. Factor 2 is external abuse : blowing into the games on a regular basis, indoor storage situations that would cause increased oxidation (garage or attic storage), Factor 3 is any abuse above and beyond the above that could contribute to rapid oxidation (cleaning the cartridge contacts with non-distilled water instead of isopropyl alcohol).


I'm guessing it is green corrosion/oxidation, and not mold at all. just sayin' Oxidation, mold, tiny mushrooms, I've seen it all. Whatever it is, it's gross, it's not meant to be there, and I've seen enough NES games in the wild to know the visual difference between one that's been abused and one that hasn't.


Bottom line, I win! That's what people mean when they say "bottom line," right? There is a whole thread about this from a while back, so I really shouldn't have re-treaded it here. don't have time to find it now, maybe later.

You win?/I win? I was un-aware that we were having a contest. I was just sharing my opinion on something. If you don't believe that blowing in games is potentially damaging to them, that's fine. You don't have to and I'm not trying to convince you of anything otherwise. I'm simply sharing my opinions based on the knowledge and experience that I've gathered over the years. I know what I've seen, and I'm fairly certain that others have had similar experiences in the field of used game collecting and/or used game retail.

Just yesterday I was perusing the NES games at the Digital Press store, and I picked up a 1984/85 no-top-tab copy of Gyromite. The FIRST game that was manufactured for the NES in the USA, and the cartridge contacts were brilliant, gold, and shiny ... now, the previous owner wasn't in the store ... but I'd be willing to wager a small amount of money that if we tracked that game owner down and asked him if he had kept that game in a closed environment (not one that need be hermetically sealed mind you) and if he had never blown in it that the answer would be yes on both counts.

*EDIT* You know, let's make this interesting ... follow the link .... http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117240

[Cornelius]

Here's the thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101712) I was thinking of before.

[XianXi]

I've had my gold one for about 3 years now and it still works great.

[MeTmKnice]

One of the NES' I have I have owned since basically new, has the original 72-pin and it still works, almost flawless at that. I use it at least once a week. Used to use it daily.

[titanzguard]

After reading the posts I took a look at the 72 pin connector I put in my NES and see its one of the silver, not gold connectors with a heck of a grip on games. Should I be concerned or should I just continue to use it til it goes bad?