Dreamcast controller plugs... rusted/green o_O

[Kitsune Sniper]

Last week I bought three Dreamcast controllers. Two of 'em work fine, but one isn't even recognized by the Dreamcast.

I took a look at the plug itself, and it looks... green. o_O Looks like the metal parts are rusted green for some reason! Is there a way to clean them out? I think I had a Dreamcast lightgun that had the same issue stored somewhere.

Also (and kinda related) how do I clean the DC lens? I've heard people use QTips but I'm kinda scared of that, will they work? ^^;

[Kitsune Sniper]

Anyone? Come on... :|

[Gapporin]

Get yourself some CLR (Wal-Mart should carry it, maybe other stores) cleaner, and pour some of that onto a Q-Tip. Rub the Q-Tip on the green areas...it should fizz up, but it's just getting rid of the corrosion. Dry it off, plug it in, and see if it works! I use this stuff all the time on corroded battery compartments without danger. It should work the same on the ports.

As for the DC lens (provided they are about the same as a regular CD lens), you should just pick up a CD cleaner kit (with the bristles on the underside of a CD). Probably much safer than directly appling a Q-Tip to it.

[ianoid]

I have a similar problem without the green.

I picked up a set with two controllers that are intermittently recognized by the system, particularly with inadvertent wiggling of the controller connector. When I plug in a new controller, it works fine without the connection issue. Both controllers seem to work great otherwise. I've decided it's the connectors at the end of the controller cables, not the ports.

The connectors on the two used controllers are a bit dinged up, not really impressively. I've cleaned them with a q-tip and alcohol as best I could, but clearly they have some nooks inside I'm not gonna get. Thinking about canned air and some Deoxit.

Any thoughts or experience with intermittent connections with fixing Dreamcast controller controllers?