NES Games stopped working

[jgenotte]

Anybody else find that some their old NES games no longer work...even on 2 known working NES's after a through cleaning?

My guess is that some (or all) games have a small battery which is just now dying.

Most of my games work, but some have stopped due to age. They have been unmoved for years and worked semi-recently, but have unexpectedly stopped working.

Thanks,
-james

[macdude22]

The batteries are not to hard to change. It does require a spot of desoldering but the parts are cheaply acquired online. I did all my battery carts a while back I think I got parts from some place called Nintendo repair shop.

[ApolloBoy]

My guess is that some (or all) games have a small battery which is just now dying.
Only games that have a save capability have a battery, not sure why'd you think all NES games have a battery inside. Have you tried cleaning your games again?

[Gameguy]

It depends on how they were stored, sometimes the traces can rust through. Or the chips can fail, I've come across one game where the chip was the problem. It's still rare for the games to fail though.

I've never been able to fix a broken game, not yet.

[ApolloBoy]

It depends on how they were stored, sometimes the traces can rust through.
That can possibly happen if they're stored in a humid area, humidity is one of the biggest foes of PCBs. Chip failures are usually very rare though since they're most often caused by static discharge.

[BetaWolf47]

Does the game cart have any capacitors on it?

[ApolloBoy]

Does the game cart have any capacitors on it?
Every NES cart has at least one capacitor inside but I doubt that's the problem. Those rarely go bad and they're mainly there for power filtering.

[Guy767]

Anybody else find that some their old NES games no longer work...even on 2 known working NES's after a through cleaning?

My guess is that some (or all) games have a small battery which is just now dying.

Most of my games work, but some have stopped due to age. They have been unmoved for years and worked semi-recently, but have unexpectedly stopped working.

Thanks,
-james

Perhaps the games got damaged due to your cleaning process? How exactly are you cleaning them? It seems strange to have so many carts stop working all at once…

The safest and easiest way to clean game contacts is with CRC Contact Cleaner IMO. It won't harm plastics and does not remove the protective gold plating of contacts either. It's only $5 for an 11 ounce can too.

For severely corroded contacts then Brasso Metal Polish might get your dead games working. Use only as a last resort though as Brasso is highly abrasive and will remove gold plating. I've resurrected many games with Brasso though and it's a valuable tool if used sparingly and carefully.

I find the console that gives me the most trouble is the Colecovision. It's the only system that I have a stack of "dead" games for. Zaxxon is an especially troublesome cart; there’s a high chance for me that copies of the cart won't work or they have graphic or sound glitches.

[wiggyx]

^^^ I've found that the Magic Eraser is a really good last ditch product versus Brasso (which I would NEVER use). It doesn't eat through the contacts like Brasso does yet still does a good job of removing any oxidization.

Otherwise, as you said, the OP may not be doing a very effective job of cleaning the carts. I've seen people "clean" carts in ways that are downright laughable.

[ApolloBoy]

I find the console that gives me the most trouble is the Colecovision. It's the only system that I have a stack of "dead" games for. Zaxxon is an especially troublesome cart; there’s a high chance for me that copies of the cart won't work or they have graphic or sound glitches.
That's actually the console's fault, not the game's. Have you tried cleaning the power switch in yours?