Damaged NES games?

[jajaja]

I recently bought a big pile of 50 NES games, all loose cartridges, no manual or boxes.
Anyways.. i started to try them on my NES and i only got the well known grey screen, game after game. Only about 7-8 games worked.
I tried to clean them with a q-tip and water. Didnt help much.
Then i tried to use rubbing alcohol and some games started to work, but not all the time, maybe 1 out of 5 times.
I have 2 NES consoles. 1 have a brand new 72pin connector, but still grey screen.
Is it possible that the games are broken? Or are they just realy realy dirty?

[chrisbid]

you use water?!!

the NES is a finicky system, i would dub it the worst cart based system of all time in terms of reliability. use alcohol instead of water, and give the cart some time to dry. also keep in mind that using lots of dirty carts with a system is bound to make the system contacts dirty

[SkiDragon]

They are probably just dirty. You also may have dirtied your connector a bit while trying the dirty games.

[Emily]

DO NOT USE WATER!
Use a white eraser on the pins.Youll have to open the carts to clean them this way.

[jajaja]

DO NOT USE WATER!
Use a white eraser on the pins.Youll have to open the carts to clean them this way.

Hehe no problem with water. I dont user spring water, i use destiled water, 100% pure. I also dry up all the water of course. Never had any problems with this. If you think it can make rust, I cleaned some NES games like over 10 years ago, then with spring water. These games work perfectly today and no rust. So i would say its more of a myth not to use water.

What do you mean with eraser btw? Just a normal eraser like you use to remove pencil with? Not familiar with this method. How does it clean the games if the dirt is realy stuck?

[imanerd0011]

"use alcohol instead of water, and give the cart some time to dry. also keep in mind that using lots of dirty carts with a system is bound to make the system contacts dirty"

Great advice!

Honestly, all of your games should work. You probabely messed up the connector on your system when you put the dirty carts in your console. NEVER do that again! :angry: JK, but seroiusly... it is a good idea to clean them with a q-tip dipped in alcohol and then rub the contacts with a dry q tip to make sure it is dry. I have over 350 games and all of them work perfectly using this method.

[jajaja]

"use alcohol instead of water, and give the cart some time to dry. also keep in mind that using lots of dirty carts with a system is bound to make the system contacts dirty"

Great advice!

Honestly, all of your games should work. You probabely messed up the connector on your system when you put the dirty carts in your console. NEVER do that again! :angry: JK, but seroiusly... it is a good idea to clean them with a q-tip dipped in alcohol and then rub the contacts with a dry q tip to make sure it is dry. I have over 350 games and all of them work perfectly using this method.

Hehe i did clean them before putting them in of course :)
Ye.. i usualy use 100% pure water or alcohol, and all my games have worked.
But these 50 games i just bought.. alot of problems with them, so i was wondering if there was a possiblity if they might have been damaged or if the reason is just dirt.

[Masco73]

A standard white eraser is the way to go. I have also used regular pencil eraser, but the white has a bit more grit to it. You need the security bit to get into the cart and use the eraser until the contacts are nice and shiny. It is the only method I use. I have 350-400 nes carts and never had a cart that would not work.

[jajaja]

Ok, i will try the earser trick, but first i need to buy a 3.8mm screwdriver so i can open the games :) Thanks for the tip emily and masco73

[Nesmaster]

yeah def try the eraser method. ive had 2 nes games that i vigorously cleaned several times with a qtip and alcohol, and the game still did not work. got them open and used an eraser and presto, works like new :)