DP MYTHBUSTERS : Blowing in NES Cartridges

[Polygon]

Why on Earth would people go out of their way to blow on cartridge contacts if it didn't produce a result?

Care to explain?

I hate to say it but people, in general, are stupid. People do crap all the time that doesn't work, but they continue to do it.

You expell far more N2 and O2 than you do CO2, just so you know.

Yeah, so what? I picked one. I wasn't trying to conduct a science class.

It's far more likely that the exhaled air, which has a relative humidity level of 100%, would evenly coat the contacts than a random spattering of saliva. Blow on a price of glass and let me know how much saliva is still there after the water evaporates. That small amount of moisture need only be present for a seconds. How long do you think it takes to insert the cart after blowing on it? That moisture will have a hard time escaping from two contacts pressed against each other, and as someone else already said, it only takes a very, VERY small amount to promote conductivity.

I guess this all depends on your method of blowing on the cartridge. However, go breath on some glass and see how long the moisture lasts. Not long enough for it to be there when you get your cartridge in the NES.

Water + O2 = corrosion. Sure, saliva will hasten the process (as evidenced by my story), but is NOT a requirement for corrosion by any means.

I never said it was.

No shit.

What the hell is this about? None of my post was directed at you, of all this comment. Someone else mentioned "patina" earlier in the thread. I hate that word, personally. I just think people should call it what it is.

If it isn't a dust issue then why do you think blowing on the cart works at all? Not to mention I remember doing this when my nes and games were still new to make them work. There's no way that corrosion or a bad connector in my then brand new nes was the cause of it not working the first time. Seriously man wtf?

I just find it very doubtful. I've work on computers for a living. I've pulled processors, expansion card, memory modules, etc with visible dust in the connectors/sockets and they were working fine. I'm not saying it's not possible. All I'm saying is that it would take more than minor dust to prevent the connection unless you had other issues.