Yoooo guys, how are ya'll? Yeah I know I haven't been around. Work work work. Speaking of work....
Well before I get into that, let me start off with a little side note. So I recently picked up some metal polish (Brasso specifically) and have been going to town on carts and cart based systems, restoring them to full capacity with this amazing stuff! (Really, go out and buy it.) But I noticed that using it really takes the dirt off...and sometimes the finish. Specifically, there is, I guess gold?, plating over a lot of NES cart pins that rubs off when I use the Brasso. Maybe this is due to the age, I donno, because not all of it does, just the heavy traffic areas. Just a observation of mine, now on to the real question...
So I am prepping for a anime convention I help run, and I was cleaning some NES controllers. They were giving me so so results on button presses, and I pop open the controller to do my normal cleaning and realize that every contact is covered in a black coating...and then I wondered. Have the controllers been like that from day one? I think they have, but then onto the next question, what are they for, and do you think if they came off, would it improve my preformance, or just cause direct corrosion to the metal underneath (the only reason I believe the black stuff is there to prevent)?
Let me know, I really miss this place, and maybe I will post how I have been restoring my NESs and what not when I get the chance. It has worked amazingly. I repaired a beat top loader by doing it...
Jeremy out!