NES problem

[Rev. Link]

We've all experienced the blinking light of doom with the NES, right?

Well, I recently got quite tired of none of my games ever working without a ton of babying on my old NES, so I decided to try and fix it. I found an article on ClassicGaming.com that gave instructions on how to open up your NES, take off the 72 pin connector, and fix it. Basically, you just get a tiny screwdriver and use it to pull each individual connector back up into place.

A friend of mine did this to his NES and it works fine now. I did it, and it didn't seem to help at all. In fact, it works worse now than it did before. Games that came on just fine now need to be babied, and some games won't come on at all.

What's the deal? Should I just order a brand new 72 pin connector?

[jonjandran]

Yes.

[1bigmig]

I fixed my NES using this method with a paper clip flattened with pliers and it workes fine now. But, since it's causing you problems Id have to go with

Yes.

[Darth Sensei]

Yes, but sometimes that doesn't even work. Search the archives for the threads, there are many of them.

D

[jonjandran]

I meant that it's his only choice now that he's messed up the pins in his original 72 pin connector. It's his only option now.

[§ Gideon §]

Rev. Link, I was wondering: could you go into detail about how the reparing went? I've been an advocate of the pin-pushing technique ever since it worked on my first NES, but since coming to these forums, I've been told otherwise...

When you put carts in now, is it real tight? How high did you push the pins up (in other words, how close is the bottom row with the top row)? What did the pins look like--any sign of discoloration/corrosion? Is it possible that you overlooked a pin or two? Is it possible that you pushed the pins up so high, that now your carts aren't even going in all the way?

Theoretically, pushing the pins up should not cause any problems, as far as I know. Thanks in advance, and I'm sorry it didn't work for you.

[Rev. Link]

Well, according to my friend who just did the same procedure recently, everything should have been fine. I did pretty much exactly what he did and his works perfectly now.

I didn't really see any corrosion or discoloration on any of the pins. It is pretty tight getting carts in and out of the NES now, but no tighter than on my friend's system.

I did wind up pulling one pin up a little farther than I'd've liked, but I pushed it back down with no problem. So maybe I messed things up there. It's no big deal, I guess. I ordered a new connector last night, so in about a week I'll be able to replace my old one and hopefully have a NES that is fully operational.