SNES blank screen?

[Syzergy11]

Let me start of by saying I have NO retro console knowledge at all and I HAVE searched for this issue and didn't find anything.

I recently found an old SNES in my basement and needed to buy the proper cords, a game, and a controller. I got the cords from amazon and it said that they would work with the SNES. I got the AC power adapter (NOT an official Nintendo power adapter) and it seems to work fine. I get the red light on the front of the system. I also got the RCA cord (Yellow,Red,White) and that also seems to work fine...I think. The problem is when I turn the system on my screen flickers a little bit (as it should?) and just goes to a blank screen. I've tried it on all the TV's in my house and they all do the same thing. When I slide the reset button the screen, again, flickers for half a second and then just a blank screen.

Some info the might help.
I've tried the SNES on a Modern flat screen TV (42" samsung plasma TV) and an old Tube box TV. Still have the same problem.

The RCA cable I ordered from Amazon is NOT Nintendo official but I have found my old GameCube RCA cable which IS Nintendo official. The problem still happens with both.


Hope you guys can help!

[alec006]

First thing, what's the rating on your power adapter. The SNES requires DC 10v 850mA, with a negative tip, which looks like this on the adapter (+)----(o----(-)

Second, have you cleaned the game connector with a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol? Also have you tried multiple games to see if any worked?

Those are the two most common problems with the SNES, if the wire itself is showing a blank black screen as you said then the wire is working perfectly. In my experience third party power supplys tend not to work real well, especially with the SNES for some reason. But if the red light is coming on then, clean the games and see if that fixes the problem.

[Syzergy11]

First thing, what's the rating on your power adapter. The SNES requires DC 10v 850mA, with a negative tip, which looks like this on the adapter (+)----(o----(-)

Second, have you cleaned the game connector with a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol? Also have you tried multiple games to see if any worked?

Those are the two most common problems with the SNES, if the wire itself is showing a blank black screen as you said then the wire is working perfectly. In my experience third party power supplys tend not to work real well, especially with the SNES for some reason. But if the red light is coming on then, clean the games and see if that fixes the problem.

The power adapter looks really really cheap and only says this on it "Input:AC 110V 60Hz and OutputC 10V 1000mA"

And I will try cleaning the game connector when I get the chance.

EDIT: I tried cleaning both the game connector and the game itself and no luck. And I only bought the 1 game so that might be the issue....

[alec006]

Hmm, well the power adapter seems to be fine 1000mA is enough since the SNES only takes what it needs which is 850mA. Link me to it on Amazon.

How long was it in the basement for, moisture could have gotten to it and/or extreme temperature changes could have done something to it. What sucks is you can't try the game on another SNES to see if the game works perfectly.

It leads me to believe that if you bought the game from somewhere else then, it's not the game it's the actual system, or that the connector inside the system is not making proper contact with the game.

[Syzergy11]

Hmm, well the power adapter seems to be fine 1000mA is enough since the SNES only takes what it needs which is 850mA. Link me to it on Amazon.

How long was it in the basement for, moisture could have gotten to it and/or extreme temperature changes could have done something to it. What sucks is you can't try the game on another SNES to see if the game works perfectly.

It leads me to believe that if you bought the game from somewhere else then, it's not the game it's the actual system, or that the connector inside the system is not making proper contact with the game.

Power adapter:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A7I71C

I also got the game used on Amazon for cheap. I ordered another used game that was "guaranteed" to work so we will see in a few days.

[APE992]

Wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it wasn't a blown fuse:
http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/ni.../snes-fuse.htm

[Leo_A]

Have you tried removing and reinserting the cartridge several times? Old cartridge systems, even with a recently cleaned cartridge, can be finicky at times.