What did I do wrong with NES 72 pin installation?

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I installed a new 72-pin connector inside my NES. When I place a cartridge in it, it feels super tight, and it does not automatically pop back up easily. I have to wiggle it and press hard a certain way before I can get it to come out. The instructions with the kit did say it would feel stiff at first, but it has been a year. Did I screw something in too tight?

Also, it did not improve the performance of the machine. I still get a lot of blinking and white screens, even after a massive cleaning of my games.

I'm about medium when it comes to technical expertise.

[Zthun]

I installed a new 72-pin connector inside my NES. When I place a cartridge in it, it feels super tight, and it does not automatically pop back up easily. I have to wiggle it and press hard a certain way before I can get it to come out. The instructions with the kit did say it would feel stiff at first, but it has been a year. Did I screw something in too tight?

Also, it did not improve the performance of the machine. I still get a lot of blinking and white screens, even after a massive cleaning of my games.

I'm about medium when it comes to technical expertise.

I have the same problem with mine, so I would like to know the answer as well.

[gokugohandave]

have you made sure that the lip of the black holder piece is underneath the motherboard? If not that can cause some head banging problems.

[b1aCkDeA7h]

I noticed the tightness and odd issues with a replacement 72 pin as well. I know this may sound strange, don't push the cartridge down. Mine actually works better that way now effectively turning the thing into almost a side mounted top loader if that makes sense.

Also, when putting the NES back together, don't overtighten the screws. I noticed that I had to purposely leave it a bit loose in order to pop up and down properly.

Also, I know that if I want to make the pins looser, I'll just cram the Game Genie in and out of it until to loosens a bit.

[gokugohandave]

Yes as I forgot to mention, do not push the game down, just push it in and leave it. Mine works perfectly this way after I rebent the pins. If I push it down, it phucks up. Just leave it up.

[izarate]

Also, when putting the NES back together, don't overtighten the screws. I noticed that I had to purposely leave it a bit loose in order to pop up and down properly.

The small lip under the caddy must be under the PCB but your's must be over the PCB.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

You guys were right. The black tray has a lip that fits underneath the board. I had it on top.

In order to slip that piece underneath, I had to disasemble the unit a little more than I did last time. While I was inside, I also disabled the lockout chip.

You guys are also correct about not pushing the cartridge down. It works a lot better now. It's still a little tight, but not having to push down makes it a lot less work. With that thought, I guess I really didn't need to worry about the lip part, but at least I learned a lot.

[gokugohandave]

The lip part is critical in any maintenance, no matter how little. Too much force with it in the wrong position and youll crack the board in two. You only make the mistake once though.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

With that thought, I guess I really didn't need to worry about the lip part, but at least I learned a lot.

Sorry, I should have phrased this differently. The lip's proper position is very important. I simply meant that not pushing down would have help solve my problems as well.

[Zthun]

Have you tried to disable the lockout chip? That seems to be the true cluprit of all the NES blinking problem from my research.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Have you tried to disable the lockout chip? That seems to be the true cluprit of all the NES blinking problem from my research.

Yeah, I did that while I repaired the lip problem. Some say it helps, others says it just replaces a blinking screen with a white screen.

[izarate]

Have you tried to disable the lockout chip? That seems to be the true cluprit of all the NES blinking problem from my research.

The console's lockout chip tries to contact the cart's one. If no connection is possible (due to dirty contacts or bent pins) the blinking occurs.

Disabling the lockout chip just skips the lockout process which, if the pertinent pins are bent or dirty, might seem like a fix but eventually the rest of the connector would loosen too.

Anyway, disabling the lockout chip doesn't have any adverse effect, so if you're going to restore/replace the connector you might want to disable it anyway.

[Zthun]

The console's lockout chip tries to contact the cart's one. If no connection is possible (due to dirty contacts or bent pins) the blinking occurs.

Disabling the lockout chip just skips the lockout process which, if the pertinent pins are bent or dirty, might seem like a fix but eventually the rest of the connector would loosen too.

Anyway, disabling the lockout chip doesn't have any adverse effect, so if you're going to restore/replace the connector you might want to disable it anyway.

From what I understand, the lockout chip was defective and would eventually cause a short between the pins connectors and the games. Disabling it would fix a lot of problems.

I agree though, there would be no harm doing it. It allows you to play everything rather than just licensed games.

[Oldskool]

If you installed everything correctly, the cartridge should still work in the down position. I installed a new 72 pin connector in my NES and have no issues with it. A lot of it has to do with tightening the screws too tight, or too loose. Then of course the games. I find that the absolute best way to clean the games is to take the PCB out of the cart and use a dab of tooth paste on each side of the pins. Use your fingers to really rub the hell out of them, and then use an old tooth brush to scrub and rinse them off. Do not worry too much about getting a little water on the PCB. When drying use an old towel or rag to really polish the hell out of the pins. Then make sure everything is nice and dry before playing the game, I can guarantee you won't have any issue. My NES works like new, why not keep it the way it was meant to be when it was new (IE: push the cart down to play).

The screws of interest are the two screws at the front of the cart slot mechanism, and the screws at the front of the console that hold the top/bottom of the NES together. Sometimes leaving the front/middle screw loose helps. If they are all too tight the cartridge will not want to stay in the down position.

[b1aCkDeA7h]

When I actually went and restored a connector a few days back (rather than replace it), I wanted to hit myself after experiencing how easy it was to restore a connector.

While it was open, I had a good friend of mine solder in a wire to bridge the expansion pins and solder a capacitor and resistor to a converter cartridge (Gyromite actually). That's all you need to do to enable use of the expansion chips for games like Akumajo Dennsetsu or the Famicom Disk System.

Oh and Orion really hit the head on one thing, be careful about screw tightness.