Broken NES Cartridge - Fixable?

[Tritoch]

When attempting to insert my The Legend of Zelda cartridge in my top loader NES the other day, it seemed to "catch" a bit. Thinking it just needed a bit more push to get it inside all the way, I pushed it a bit harder...and heard a crack. Now the exposed contacts on the right side of the cartridge board are pushed in about halfway, resulting in them looking like "\" and not connecting to the NES' contacts anymore.

My question is, if I open this baby up is there anyway I can fix it? I'm not familiar with the inside of a cartridge, but I'm assuming that something holding the board in place snapped and caused it to sink inside the cartridge. I would just bite the bullet and get a new one, but I don't want to lose the saves I have on this cartridge. Is this fixable?

[Bratwurst]

Sounds like the board came loose in the cartridge casing. That is, the support pegs inside snapped, it's very common with Gameboy carts I've found..

If that's the case, then keeping your saved games would be as simple as opening up the cartridge and transfering the circuit board to another Zelda cart casing. It could be as simple as gluing the support pegs back in place, but to be honest, if they've snapped already from that forced insertion, they're going to be weaker than before after gluing.

You near the Charlotte area, Tritoch?

[Tritoch]

Ah, that's what I figured. How strong do you think the peg would be if I glued it back on with crazy glue? Do you think they'd hold up if I was more careful with the cart in the future?

When you say another casing, do you mean another actual NES game case? How complicated is it to extract and reinsert a board in a NES case...basically, is it screwed, snapped into place, etc.?

I'm about 2hrs. away from Charlotte, but my family lives about 45 minutes away. It's not such a huge deal that I'd ask someone to fix it for me (assuming that's what you're leading towards)...there are much worse things then having to play through Zelda again.

[Bratwurst]

Ah, that's what I figured. How strong do you think the peg would be if I glued it back on with crazy glue? Do you think they'd hold up if I was more careful with the cart in the future?

Not very. I'd suggest setting it back in place with blobs of epoxy if anything. Crazy/Super glue isn't great for small surface areas.

When you say another casing, do you mean another actual NES game case? How complicated is it to extract and reinsert a board in a NES case...basically, is it screwed, snapped into place, etc.?

Pretty much. Once you open a cartridge the circuit board's just loose inside there, held in place by some rectangular prongs.

I'm about 2hrs. away from Charlotte, but my family lives about 45 minutes away. It's not such a huge deal that I'd ask someone to fix it for me (assuming that's what you're leading towards)...there are much worse things then having to play through Zelda again.

No biggie, I was going to offer coming by my place to open it up with one of my gamebits. NES carts use the 3.8mm kind, I think everyone should have a set.

[rbudrick]

You could make it pretty dran strong by using a good gob of epoxy around the base. If you kind of widen it out toward the bottom of the peg it will give it some good support and harden like rock.

-Rob

[Tritoch]

No biggie, I was going to offer coming by my place to open it up with one of my gamebits. NES carts use the 3.8mm kind, I think everyone should have a set.

What's the best place to buy gamebits from? I've been considering buying some anyway, and now I actually have a reason to. This sounds like it could be a fun project!

[rbudrick]

MCM Electronics sells them, but someone on the board does too...can't remember who...

-Rob

[jonjandran]

MCM Electronics sells them, but someone on the board does too...can't remember who...

-Rob

SylentWulf sells them.
Just do a search on E-bay By Seller and enter his name and you'll see them. And I think if you mention you're a DP Member he'll give you a discount.

[Bratwurst]

What's the best place to buy gamebits from? I've been considering buying some anyway, and now I actually have a reason to. This sounds like it could be a fun project!

MCM's probably the worst place to get them from, since they charge so much for shipping.

Ebay user ID circuitmatter is selling 3.8mm bits for 3.49 BIN and 4.5mm (Sega carts) for 4.49 BIN right now, combined with his shipping that's a pretty good price. You'll need a 1/4 driver to use the bits though.

[DogP]

Yeah, I bought a whole toolkit from circuitmatter... it's really nice! It's got just about every bit you'd need for pulling most things apart, and it ended up being about $20 shipped. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3536711234 .

DogP