Need some advice on cleaning & repair

[erehwon]

I picked up at a garage sale an atari 2600 and a sega master system. Both are pretty dirty. The outsides are going to need a good cleaning, but I need some advice on the inside. I was planning on opening both up and blowing them out. Some other people at another forum have been saying to use some kind of alcohol and q-tips on the contacts after that. I was wanting to be sure about that alcohol part.

My other question is a about repairing an xbox. My brother and I both want one, but neither us feels like spending a lot of money at the moment. I was looking at a few broken ones on ebay and noticed that some mention how they are getting a disc read error. If that is the case, would all I have to do is clean the lense or replace the drive? If a replacement drive turns out to be to expensive, I found this mod for an LG drive. http://www.paccforce.de/tutorials/Tutorial_GDR-8163B.pdf

[chaoticjelly]

Atari 2600 and Master System - outside - clean with "Liquid Soda Crystals" and a damp face cloth I find is best - gets everything really clean.

Inside - - would recommend dusting out etc etc, any connectors you can clean with q-tips and isopropyl / rubbing alcohol - wont damage anything, as long as you make sure its dry before using the system (the isopropyl alcohol rapidly evapourates at room temperature so that only takes seconds anyway...)

In the past ive had systems that have been WET with RAIN.. and I left them to dry for like a week or two, and then they still work..

The major mistake people make with WET electronics etc is turning them on before they are bone dry LOL

Anyway... I digress..

- I know nothing about Xbox hardware.. so I cant help you there buddy.

[Avatard]

Don't mess with broken XBoxes on eBay. The prices are high on those anyhow. Plus don't think that the person you're buying it from didn't try to repair/mess it up himself. Look for a pawn shop and ask to buy broken consoles, thats what I do. Most are glad to recover whatever price they can on an "unsellable" item. It just typically smells like tobaccol smoke for a while. =P

You literally could put your atari in the dishwasher if you let it dry for a LONG LONG TIME. I'm not suggesting that, just saying don't worry too much about messing up the circuits. Use the alcohol.

[Tron2005]

ive disaasembled some of mine and gave it a good cleaning i will not wash the circuit board but will blow it off with compressed air.

After i wash the housing i will blow it out really good with compressed air because if the circuit board dosent dry quickly enough and it will start to corrode. the biggest death to electronics is Heat.. (through Normal usage) so whenever i get a console i make sure all of the vents etc are clear allowing the best cooling it can have.