My NES game has diarrhea

[SpaceHarrier]

Back in 2006 I bought the NES game Stinger from a small game store. It was pretty beat up, and had a name written on it in black marker. I took the game home and carefully cleaned it with a wet Q-tip. The game worked fine and I played it here and there throughout the years.

Recently, I pulled the game out for another go, but noticed something.

Something gross.

A brownish fluid is leaking out the bottom of the cartridge, between the two halves of the shell. It is trailing all along the bottom of the cartridge. It's not sticky, it has no smell (yes I sniffed it). I wiped it off a month or so ago, and now there is more.

I would have noticed this any of the times I played it previously. It was not there before. The cartridge is not 'sloshing' or anything. This is just some kind of trace amount of ... something ... leaking out.

All of a sudden, my copy of Stinger is losing its shit.

I am going to buy a gamebit off ebay to disassemble the cart, and I'll update this when I get it. Also, I'll add pics of the exterior when I'm on my own pc again, soon.

Any ideas what this could be? Does an NES game even have capacitors that could leak?

[Rickstilwell1]

Maybe, somebody spilled pop into your game and over time it hardened into a sticky substance? Then maybe, playing the game is heating up the electronics inside which are now melting that sticky pop spill, causing it to leak?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

open it up and clean it with 90% isopropyl alcohol and clean cotton swabs.

If that doesn't work, take some pictures and pm me.

[T2KFreeker]

Honestly, it sounds like Rust. I know that wounds crazy, but I have seen it before . . . need something that dries without any left behind liquid on the pins.

[Atarileaf]

it has no smell (yes I sniffed it).

Yes but what did it taste like? That's the million dollar question.

[megasdkirby]

Haunted or possessed cart?

[Kitsune Sniper]

Good god, I hope it's not mold... open that sucker and clean it. :(

[T2KFreeker]

Good god, I hope it's not mold... open that sucker and clean it. :(


Actually, you could be on to something with this line of thinking too. Much more so than my Rust idea. I'll go with the mold idea.

[Gameguy]

Does an NES game even have capacitors that could leak?
There's one capacitor on the board for every NES game I've seen, I'm not sure if that's the problem though.

[treismac]

Yes but what did it taste like? That's the million dollar question.

And the $10 crackhead question is how does it smoke out of a pipe?

[Parodius Duh!]

remove it from the rest of your collection and bag it. If its mold it will infect all your other carts.

[jb143]

Haunted or possessed cart?

It's funny, last year I noticed my walls were bleeding a weird brownish substance. I cleaned it up but it did it again a few days later. I searched online to see what it could be and most of the info I found was that it was proof of ghosts, haunted houses, etc... I had to really dig to find that it was caused by a past owner smoking and then painting the walls. The tar or whatever eventually leaches out of the paint in humidity and looks like blood dripping down.

Anyways, I wonder if something similar could be happening here. Maybe it previously belonged to a heavy smoker. Just an idea.

[o.pwuaioc]

Anyways, I wonder if something similar could be happening here. Maybe it previously belonged to a heavy smoker. Just an idea.
Possible, but unlikely. Rusting metal does leak a brown ooze, though, so that's my first guess.

[Gameguy]

It's funny, last year I noticed my walls were bleeding a weird brownish substance. I cleaned it up but it did it again a few days later. I searched online to see what it could be and most of the info I found was that it was proof of ghosts, haunted houses, etc...

http://i39.tinypic.com/34sqk95.jpg

[understatement]

It's funny, last year I noticed my walls were bleeding a weird brownish substance. I cleaned it up but it did it again a few days later. I searched online to see what it could be and most of the info I found was that it was proof of ghosts, haunted houses, etc... I had to really dig to find that it was caused by a past owner smoking and then painting the walls. The tar or whatever eventually leaches out of the paint in humidity and looks like blood dripping down.

Anyways, I wonder if something similar could be happening here. Maybe it previously belonged to a heavy smoker. Just an idea.

This almost makes me wish I was a heavy smoker.

[Daria]

I would think that rust would have a metallic oder, while similarly nicotine tar would stink.

[SpaceHarrier]

Haha, thanks for the replies everyone, I'll quarantine this sucker right away. I've owned this game like 6 years and there was no trace of this stuff the first 5. Also, this game sat at least the last year without being played, and I saw the stuff before plugging it in, and haven't tried playing it since, so I doubt heat was a factor in liquifying whatever this stuff is. It feels like alcohol, but if it were then surely it would have evaporated and left just goo behind. It's not just goo though, it's liquidy.

Here's a pic:
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii158/ayumifanatic/stingerpoo.jpg

You can see it on the left at the seam and on top along the edge. I can't wait to open this sucker up and see what the hell is waiting for me inside. Perhaps it is some kind of primordial ooze, and is evolving at a breakneck pace. I might find dinosaurs by the time my gamebit arrives.

[markusman64ds]

I might find dinosaurs by the time my gamebit arrives.

Chances are they will be 8-bit dinos. Can I have one :)

[SpaceHarrier]

Chances are they will be 8-bit dinos. Can I have one :)

You got first dibs on any raptors that pop outta this cart. Of course, there could also be some sort of Pandora's Box type of scenario; think Raiders of the Lost Ark or Andromeda Strain. I'll send those your way too!

By the way, I are dumb! I ordered a gamebit from ebay assuming that all NES carts had those proprietary screws. Well, this one just needs a very small flat-head screwdriver. *facepalm*

[markusman64ds]

By the way, I are dumb! I ordered a gamebit from ebay assuming that all NES carts had those proprietary screws. Well, this one just needs a very small flat-head screwdriver. *facepalm*

At least now you have a gamebit for the carts that need them.

And I changed my mind about the dinosaurs. Apparently, my parents won't let me have one, and chances are that it will eat me.

[Griking]

Could something have spilled into your NES? Small kids sometime stick things in the oddest of places.

[old man]

I didn't think stinger was a shitty game. *roll-on snare drum*