Is it my NES or my games?

[Geno Bomb]

Hi. I just received an NES I bought from eBay, and am disappointed to find that almost none of my games work. It claimed to have a new 72 pin connector. Out of my 19 games, only 5 worked. The system came with a game which did work, which makes me wonder whether or not the system or my games are to blame. Oddly, all 6 of the working games are the ones that are missing a couple pins on the chip coming out the bottom. I cleaned all the non-working games with alcohol and a Q-tip. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[darknut101]

I dunno about your NES but for games Caig Deoxit works wonders. I've used it on games that haven't worked forever and now they work like brand new. It helps restore the conductivity in the contacts. I dunno if that was any help.

[Slate]

Hi. I just received an NES I bought from eBay, and am disappointed to find that almost none of my games work. It claimed to have a new 72 pin connector. Out of my 19 games, only 5 worked. The system came with a game which did work, which makes me wonder whether or not the system or my games are to blame. Oddly, all 6 of the working games are the ones that are missing a couple pins on the chip coming out the bottom. I cleaned all the non-working games with alcohol and a Q-tip. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I think it's the games.

If the games that are missing contacts' missing contacts are in the middle, The games that are missing pins were probably made that way. I have about 10 copies of Super Mario Bros/Duckhunt and some have all of the pins, others don't. They all work.

The reason why all of the pins are there on some games and aren't there on others is because of the NES Floppy drive. When it was cancelled for NES systems, the pins that were supposed to contact with the NES Floppy drive were unnecessary, and were taken off of the NES games manuafactured . It doesn't affect the gameplay.

[ron_burgundy]

Quick and easy way to clean your contacts, its a simple thing called sand paper the finer the better. It will not damage your game and it works wonders. just rub it hard and fast over the contacts and they will most likley be clean.

You Stay Classy Digital Press,

Ron

[Bluteg]

It's the games, go to the pool supply store and buy muratic acid. Soak the games in muratic acid and you will NEVER have to worry about them being dirty again.

[qbertandernie]

its not necessarily the games. some of the cheaper brand 72 pin connectors have a % that come from the factory that do not work. some of the pins in these are bad, which means that this one likely has several good pins(why some of the games work) but the games that require different pins won't. the games that won't work likely rely on pins that are faulty.
email the seller, tell them what happened. if they have any experience with these and are worth their salt, theyll send you a new connector...the wholesaler should credit the seller(or send a new connector) after return of the faulty one.
i have bought several of these new connectors from MAT electronics, and theyre good about refunding for faulty connectors.

[Geno Bomb]

Thanks for the help. I tried the sandpaper and that worked great. Now only 3 games don't work. Battletoads, Rush 'N Attack, and a SMB/DH(Which is now a dog toy). Thanks

[jajaja]

You can also use a white eraser instead of sandpaper. I would never use sandpaper on my games.
First I clean them with alcohol. Then I rub the white eraser over and they all work :)

[Videogamerdaryll]

IMO it's the Games..

What I've been using for YEARS=(goes with experience).Light sand paper and 91% alcohol and Q-tip to get off the dirt,left from the sand paper usage.

I've sold hundreds of repaired by me Nintendo's and I always use these methods...(haven't had a complaint yet)
But;I open the carts with the security bit so...

I don't and have never used a replacement 72 pin connector so I have no experience with them to note.
I fix the original 72 pin connectors myself..
My personal Nintendo has been working for over 4 yrs now after I fixed it..I do clean the carts before I use them with 91% alcohol and Q-tip if I've cleaned them before..
All newly acquired NES carts get the full cleaning..Dirty carts will mess up NES connectors..

I just re-did my Sister in laws two Nes systems and all her games..38 of them or so(a few months ago)....From that date,Two yrs ago I repaired the same two NES systems for her doing the pin connector fix...and some of her games/she bought more.
They lasted for two years,being played a lot..Her Son then dropped,more like poured Soda in one......reason it stopped working(soda all in the pin connector/looked to be soda.).He's a FKN Slob...
The second one stopped working from the crud it got from the kid taking the dirtied carts from the Soda filled NES and putting them in it..
My repaired pin connectors weren't bent out of whack just super dirty..(shocked as I opened the systems up)
So I just redid both of them and they work great as she thanked my a hundred times over....plus I cleaned all her games...(I write in the systems when I repair them)
I don't have the heart to tell her,her Son is a pig though..

[pledge]

Hi guys sorry to bring back such an old thread, but I have the same problem as the thread starter... I've searched all over the internet and this was the only place that seems to be discussing it. I too bought a NES from ebay which claimed to have a new 72 pin connector. So far, all my games that have a gap (missing pins) in the centre work just fine. The games with a full row of pins dont work properly...everything is glitched up. Is it really the games, I've tried cleaning and not much difference.

[bb_hood]

Hi guys sorry to bring back such an old thread, but I have the same problem as the thread starter... I've searched all over the internet and this was the only place that seems to be discussing it. I too bought a NES from ebay which claimed to have a new 72 pin connector. So far, all my games that have a gap (missing pins) in the centre work just fine. The games with a full row of pins dont work properly...everything is glitched up. Is it really the games, I've tried cleaning and not much difference.

Its probably not the games, thats just how it works. In my experience you will rarely find a faulty nes game, so if you have multiple ones that you cant get to work its most likely a system issue.
Even new pin connectors will encounter problems.
Try doing this, this is my method for getting probelm systems to work:
1. insert the game in the system but only as far as needed to be able to press the cart down. DO NOT cram it in all the way it can go.
2. Press cart down and turn on power, then jiggle/slide the cart left/right a little bit with index finger.
3. Keep toggling reset button, not power button, until title shows up and does not flicker.

[Daria]

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/nesmaintenance/nesmaintenance.htm

Read this. Most useful article I've ever read. NES games are extremely resilient, it's highly unlikely that all your games are broken. Everything probably just needs a deep, thorough cleaning.

[pledge]

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/nesmaintenance/nesmaintenance.htm

Read this. Most useful article I've ever read. NES games are extremely resilient, it's highly unlikely that all your games are broken. Everything probably just needs a deep, thorough cleaning.


Thanks, but I've done these things already. Like I said, the games that do not have that gap in the middle are working flawlessly already. Its just those older 5 screw games with a full row of pins that dont work. Its really is strange. I have two copies of teenage mutant ninja turtles...one with that pin gap in the middle and one without it (the older 5 screw version). Only the one with the missing pins in the centre works...the other glitches.

[Gameguy]

Try the games on another NES console, if you can find someone else with another one. It could be the new pin connector is a piece of crap that doesn't contact the pins on the game properly. I personally avoid consoles with new connectors.

[bb_hood]

If you bought the nes with the new pin connector in it, the seller probably used a crappy pin connector. You can buy them in bulk and often times they are refurbished connectors. Its probably safe to assume a cheap quality pin connector was used so I would just order another connector.

[Daria]

Thanks, but I've done these things already. Like I said, the games that do not have that gap in the middle are working flawlessly already. Its just those older 5 screw games with a full row of pins that dont work. Its really is strange. I have two copies of teenage mutant ninja turtles...one with that pin gap in the middle and one without it (the older 5 screw version). Only the one with the missing pins in the centre works...the other glitches.

Ah, I was thinking it was the other way around (that the newer games didn't work) and assumed that the console had some gunk in it.

[Rickstilwell1]

I've always had multiple NES consoles from 5th grade on, and I can tell you it's pretty commonplace even on toploaders that there will be games you have trouble booting up on one particular system but not another. Never think a game is broken, just realize it might not always work well when combined with your system. That was actually one of the things I used my FC Twin for when I still had it - testing cartridges I just bought used.

At one point I had a copy of Donkey Kong that worked on one of my toploaders and not another I had at the time which I later sold. I had copies of Kaboom and Pitfall for Atari 2600 that wouldn't work on my Atari 7800 even though people claimed those games weren't incompatible.

I think I also had a copy of Dragon Warrior that would never boot up on my toploader but worked on my front loader. I sold it and bought another copy.