View Full Version : What system's carts are the easiest/hardest to clean?
DigitalSpace
10-10-2006, 04:34 AM
I just got done cleaning about 35 games, and this came to mind.
Easiest: It's a three-way tie between Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and GBA carts. The average carts can be cleaned in under a minute. For home consoles, Genesis carts usually don't take me much time.
Hardest: My pick would be NES carts. The cart connector is pretty wide and they take me a little more time and Q-tips.
What about you?
Neo Geo MVS. They are ALLWAYS so fing dirty. Id go through 4-5 swabs a pice. Plus they are big, then with their second connector it easily wins for first place.
Easyest N64 I have yet to need to clean one. So by them being proactivly resistent to grunge they are my winner.
jajaja
10-10-2006, 06:28 AM
Neo Geo is probly the most time consuming yes because of the BIG contacts :) SNES games are also easy to clean. The connector in the SNES is good so its usualy enough to drag the q-tip 2-3 times over the SNES games and it will work great. NES games also takes some time since you (atleast i do) have to open the cart to do the best cleaning. Many of the NES games are also very dirty and requires 2-3 q-tips alone for 1 game.
jajaja
10-10-2006, 06:32 AM
Forgot to add, GB is probly the easiest games to clean ye. You dont have to open them, the games arent that dirty as NES games and the connector in the GB is good so you dont have to clean the games that good as NES games. 1 q-tip usualy does the work.
CosmicMonkey
10-10-2006, 07:02 AM
Yup, I'll go for MVS carts too. Especially those from Yanton that are covered in 10 years worth of Chinese arcade filth. Took 10 (yes, 10) Q-tips to clean my copy of Top Hunter.
Not to mention those little nooks and crannies in MVS cases. Damn near impossible to clean.
theshizzle3000
10-10-2006, 09:02 AM
I would have to say that NES carts really give me a run for my money. I bought a Ninja Gaiden cart from goodwill one time and it was absolutely filthy. I took me about 6 q-tips and towel to clean that thing and after that the towel was stained and useless.
Xexyz
10-10-2006, 11:05 AM
NES for me. It's probably a combination of the fact that they're quite old, along with the large width and length of the contacts. Along with that, you've got all the grooves and the finger pinch to clean. Those finger pinches always have a build up of old finger print oil and dust :puke:
rbudrick
10-10-2006, 12:23 PM
You guys are lucky Qtips even do the job! I don't doubt NeoGeo carts are the worst, but NES games piss me of most (because I don't have a Neo). You have to use a very awkward screwdriver to open them (you really can't see if they are clean unless opened), and I swear most kids played with these things in the sewers. Neo Geo, not so much, since only 13 kids in the world owned one (the rest adults).
Anyway, I always have to use a white eraser on most carts. Lots of times it has to be done with alcohol AND a white eraser to clean some carts. Anyway, NES carts suck to clean.
-Rob
Sparky
10-10-2006, 01:17 PM
easiest… for me Tg16 games, usually a firm rub on my shirt and there good to go. :)
hardest… for me are Vic-20 carts, my god some of the contacts look like they have been set on fire, hard to remove that grime.
SarKenobi
10-10-2006, 08:27 PM
Now the only cleaning I ever do for my games is sticker goo cleaning! I once cleaned a nasty assed SNES console and then sent it back to the person who sold it to me, with Method wipes. I should get around to cleaning my games because my hands were so nasty after NWCGE.
What would be a good "gaming cleaning kit" for that purpose?
InsaneDavid
10-10-2006, 08:34 PM
Easiest: Virtual Boy, the connectors are technically self-cleaning with how the pins in the system enter them. (I swear I think Nintendo got a patent on that, wouldn't surprise me)
Genesis, SNES, VCS, Master System, etc. all are equal since once you open them they all clean just as easily. Quit screwing around with cotton swabs down in the connector well and get yourself some gametools, open the cartridges, and clean them properly. Still...
Hardest: NES. As has been mentioned, getting the connectors exposed is easy but most of the time if an NES cartridge is dirty it's DIRTY. Also given the way the ZIF connector in the NES works (doesn't help any) and how temperamental the 10NES lockout chip is, it can take a long time until a grimy NES cartridge is back to clean working condition.
smokehouse
10-10-2006, 10:01 PM
Another vote for Neo Geo MVS carts. I've seen some dirty NES carts in my day but NOTHING close to 10+ year old used arcade carts. Most have used and abused and in the worst ways. It can take well over an hour to get one clean.
Jorpho
10-10-2006, 10:03 PM
How about the TI-99 carts? I seem to recall their connectors were largely inaccessible.
MarioMania
10-11-2006, 03:29 AM
The Easy one's are Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, SNES, Master System, Genesis/32X & the Game Gear for me
The Hardest is the NES..I got some NES game from people here..I still havn't got around to clean it
I refuse to play a Game I got for any Cart System..I couldn't find my Cleaning Kit for my SNES, I wouln't play my Games I got for the SNES til I found my Kit
SkiDragon
10-11-2006, 03:43 AM
I agree that most portables are easy to clean.
I disagree with a previous comment. The VCS is probably the hardest to clean because of the self closing door on most of them. I havr to simultaneously hold the door open and then clean the contacts, which are quite wide. You cant really open them up because the screws tend to be behind the label and nobody wants to ruin a label to open the game.
I agree that most portables are easy to clean.
I disagree with a previous comment. The VCS is probably the hardest to clean because of the self closing door on most of them. I havr to simultaneously hold the door open and then clean the contacts, which are quite wide. You cant really open them up because the screws tend to be behind the label and nobody wants to ruin a label to open the game.
Damn forgot about that one. When I purchased a stores Atari inventory I attempted to clean every cart. How spiders roaches and eggs managed to climb in there i have no idea, but it was some of the most horrifying shit I've ever dealt with.
MarioMania
10-11-2006, 04:09 AM
Well non-VCS Games are easy like Activision carts & others
rbudrick
10-11-2006, 02:02 PM
I almost forgot...Famicom games are a bitch because there's no screws to open them. The clips are easily broken when taking the cases apart.
-Rob
InsaneDavid
10-11-2006, 04:39 PM
I almost forgot...Famicom games are a bitch because there's no screws to open them. The clips are easily broken when taking the cases apart.
-Rob
Agreed, a complete pain in the ass to get apart without breaking a tab, cracking the shell, or putting a warp mark along the edge from prying it open. Most I've come across are clean however.
Darth Sensei
10-11-2006, 05:06 PM
I just got done cleaning about 35 games, and this came to mind.
Easiest: It's a three-way tie between Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and GBA carts. The average carts can be cleaned in under a minute. For home consoles, Genesis carts usually don't take me much time.
Hardest: My pick would be NES carts. The cart connector is pretty wide and they take me a little more time and Q-tips.
What about you?
Not to mention that you should open the NES carts to clean them. Otherwise I've never been able to get them clean enough.
Neo Geo MVS. They are ALLWAYS so fing dirty. Id go through 4-5 swabs a pice. Plus they are big, then with their second connector it easily wins for first place.
Easyest N64 I have yet to need to clean one. So by them being proactivly resistent to grunge they are my winner.
right on the money. mvs ftw
SarKenobi
10-14-2006, 01:27 AM
Being a recent collector in the last two years, I haven't actually cleaned my games yet. So what would be the best "kit" to clean games? Rubbing alcohol and qtips? What do you all have on stand by to clean your games?