my atari 2600 is not working :(

[General_Murdock]

I won an atari from a friend last week. Today I got that small rca-rf adapter and plug the system to my tv.

When I start it without a cartridge and with a cartridge it's always the same: a loud noise and a black screen. Sometimes stripes on the screen.

It seems to not matter if a cartridge is there or not, it's always the same thing.

I think the connectors between game - system might not be ok.

What should I do to fix it ?
I live in a small town and I don't trust anybody here to fix this gem.

[Oldskool]

A lot of my games just get a black screen, green screen, or garbage on the screen. Usually after cleaning the pins with some alcohol on a q-tip (like a NES game), it'll work. Just keep trying. The more you insert the games the more the pins inside the machine will be cleaned off as well. Sometimes you just have to insert/re-insert the games many times for them to work.

Of course make sure that the channel on the TV and the channel on the 2600 match.

The things are tanks, so I'm sure it's just a dirty connection somewhere.

On the games with the covers over the pins, you can take a safety pin or a needle or something to open the hatch. When the hatch is opened you can get in there and clean the pins, but I've found that those games are usually pretty clean because they are covered. It's the games that don't have the pins covered that I have the most issues with. Let us know what you find out.

Also technical problems like this should probably have been posted in the tech area, although you'll probably get more exposure here.

[Greg2600]

One thing I've noticed with newer TV's and the pass through connector is that the 2600's channels 3/4 get picked up as 2/3 on the television.

[MachineGex]

Make sure you are pressing the carts all the way down. Sometimes it feels like they are all the way in, but they aren't(insert juvenile joke here).

[General_Murdock]

Just like my nes and my snes, I'll have to buy new connector pins :(

I've tried almost 5 games, every one of them I've cleaned with Brasso.
But nothing works.

The motherboard is right here besides me. So sad :(

I was going to play some Adventure..bleergg terrible night ://

Oh and does etilic alcohol (70%) work or just isopropilic (99%) ?

[Oldskool]

I use 99% percent, but I don't think it will make that much of a difference. How are you polishing it with Brasso if the carts don't come apart easily to do that? You might not be cleaning it effectively or getting all the Brasso off before you insert the cartridge. For some reason I have this doubt that you have a bad cartridge slot.

I mean, I am not sure if you can even buy a new cart slot, but if you can if you want to de-solder and solder a new one in go right ahead. It can be done.

[Greg2600]

The other possibility is that your AC Adapter is broken.

[Arkhan]

My Atari 2600 did this when the AC adapter was broken. So, you might want to try a new AC adapter.

Especially if it does it with or without a cart installed. Without a cart it should just like, turn a different color.

The thing that sucks about Atari 2600 is the AC adapter uses that stupid plug that resembles a headphone set, so you cant just go poppin in some other adapters just to see.

[PapaStu]

**moved to Tech& Resto**

[Oldskool]

Yeah I don't like the style of AC Adapter it uses either. It's a good thing I have not lost mine, finding a replacement is probably a pain in the ass. I guess you could find one on Ebay though for a small price.

[tpugmire]

I have a bunch of extra 2600 AC adapters. PM me if you're interested.