Can't get NES to work

[Baloo]

I have this NES that I put a new 72-pin connector in a few years ago and it hasn't wanted to work since I put it in, with the exception of the first game I put in it, Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt. Every game I have tried after that first one has not wanted to work, and the pin connector is still very stiff. I disabled the lockout chip in it today and I'm only getting plain gray screens and every once in a while a purple graphical garbage screen when I put in games. What can I do to get this NES working again? Is the 72-pin connector broken? Please Help!

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Well, you may want to open it back up and see if the 72 pin is seated flushly with the motherboard. Personally I would have cleaned all the games before ever putting in a 72 pin, because game pins are almost always the culprit. Try cleaning a cart that doesn't work with a metal cleaner like Mr. Metal, and see if it changes anything. If it doesn't than you may want to open the NES back up and reassembling it. Even if your games aren't obviously dirty, the metal may have tarnished just enough to where it's not making a proper electrical connection.

[Baloo]

The thing is, I have another NES and all my games work fine on it. The games are all pretty clean.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Well it sounds like a bad 72 pin. Maybe only one game worked because it happened to use the pins that weren't bad on the 72 pin. If you still have your old pin I'd try refurbing it some and put that one back in. Other than that I have no clue, sorry.

[Baloo]

Yep, did that earlier today and it worked right. I never did it all those years because for some reason I was under the impression that it wouldn't go back in due to the crunching noise it would make when I would try to push it back in. But I cleaned the contacts on the board today before I put it on (they had a fair amount of dirt on them I may say, I used four Q-tip ends to clean them, one with alcohol and 3 dry, all came out with a good amount of dirt on them) and just pushed it back in. Now it's good to say that it all works fine.

I went and trashed that other 72-pin connector btw, I'm now never buying a new one of those again.

[NESman]

Yep, did that earlier today and it worked right. I But I cleaned the contacts on the board today before I put it on (they had a fair amount of dirt on them I may say, I used four Q-tip ends to clean them, one with alcohol and 3 dry, all came out with a good amount of dirt on them) and just pushed it back in. Now it's good to say that it all works fine.

I went and trashed that other 72-pin connector btw, I'm now never buying a new one of those again.


A good idea for any NES user is to pick up a 72 Pin connector cleaner. They are relatively cheap used, and inserts into your machine like a game. It cleans your pins by you moving it in and out. However, I would "not" recommend getting the NES cleaning kit variety (black cart), as they are cloth based and can snag on your pins and mess up everything. A great one to get (the best) is the classic Eliminator Systen Cleaner for NES. That's the pink cart. It is awesome, and a must have for any serious NES player. I have used it on systems that I knew had horribly oxidized pins, and it brought it back to life with only a few pushes in and out. Just my two cents.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Glad you got it to work. I bought an NES yesterday that said it wasn't working. So I took it apart and cleaned it, and it still didnt work. I refurbed the connector and then tried using the NES cleaning kit on it... just like I was told not to... and sure enough it bent half a pin outward which I then broke off trying to reseat. Anyway I disabled the lockout chip too, and it seems to work when the game is not pushed down. Weird. Guess I'll need to find a new 72 pin at some point, and then it may operate normally. Anyway I should have listened about the NES cleaning kit. Lesson learned.

Whatever it was only $5.

[BetaWolf47]

It's kind of weird. If both the games and your 72-pinner are perfectly clean, the games will load fine with even the most bent 72-pinner. You need to use a cleaner that erodes away the caked-on dirt and corrosion from the games and pinner, but it only takes a little dirt to stop it from being perfect again. It's a pain to do, so it's better to just get a replacement pinner.