how often do you clean your NES games

[SuperSonic]

Does anyone know if Mother chrome polish will work? I know its for chrome but it is a polish for metal.

[wiggyx]

Heat up some aluminum and put some isopropyl and tell me it's not corrosive.

Wrong, as always.

Isopropyl is not inerenty corrosive. What you are referring to is a specific type of chemical reaction between the two.

Isopropyl does not interact with brass or copper in this way.

So, I didn't want to start a new thread. I was cleaning my Genesis games and came across some with a funky screw type. They were all EA game, you know, the longer carts. Anyone have any idea what security bit I would need to open these up?

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Search "Tri-Groove Tamper-Resistant Bits"

Interesting approach. I use Brasso and these nice, thick Viva paper towels for wiping the contacts off, and I go over them pretty thoroughly after wiping off the Brasso so there's no residue. Alcohol is so corrosive, I wonder if that's causing any undue damage to the contacts or not, or if just some Windex or mild all-purpose cleaner would be better for getting that residue off. Generally speaking, once the corrosion is gone on new games I buy & clean, they boot w/o issue.

Brasso has been under scrutiny lately as a contact cleaner as it seems to strip away the the upper layers of the contact. I personally think it should be avoided.

Does anyone know if Mother chrome polish will work? I know its for chrome but it is a polish for metal.

I wouldn't bother with polishes.

I've been using Tarn-X lately and it's pretty amazing at doing the job without the need for anything abrasive.

[RP2A03]

Interesting approach. I use Brasso and these nice, thick Viva paper towels for wiping the contacts off, and I go over them pretty thoroughly after wiping off the Brasso so there's no residue. Alcohol is so corrosive, I wonder if that's causing any undue damage to the contacts or not, or if just some Windex or mild all-purpose cleaner would be better for getting that residue off. Generally speaking, once the corrosion is gone on new games I buy & clean, they boot w/o issue.

Alcohol is perfectly safe for the contacts and the PCB. Brasso, on the other hand, will strip away the gold plating on the contacts exposing the nickle plating underneath.

Does anyone know if Mother chrome polish will work? I know its for chrome but it is a polish for metal.

I suspect that it will remove the gold plating like most other polishes. I wouldn't use any polish that does not specifically state that is safe for gold plating.

[Aussie2B]

If isopropyl alcohol is so corrosive, then why on earth did Nintendo and other companies sell it as the "cleaning solution" in their official cleaning kits back in the day?

If it's not clear, that's a rhetorical question.

[wiggyx]

To clarify, there is NO gold in game cart contacts. Sure, there is in the contacts of many computer components, but not game carts.

There are two reasons why. 1) the price is prohibitive, and 2) gold is far too soft a metal to withstand the abuse that is the repeated insertion and removal of game cartridges.

Not to mention that, If the contacts in game carts were gold, then we wouldn't need to remove corrosion as gold does NOT oxidize.

[Flam]

Alcohol is perfectly safe for the contacts and the PCB. Brasso, on the other hand, will strip away the gold plating on the contacts exposing the nickle plating underneath.

I cleaned a game that from the naked eye looked clean, I then wiped some Brasso over it and some "grime" came off. I'm now convinced that this must have been some of the gold plating that rubbed off. I'm just going to stick with the eraser and alcohol now.

[RP2A03]

I cleaned a game that from the naked eye looked clean, I then wiped some Brasso over it and some "grime" came off. I'm now convinced that this must have been some of the gold plating that rubbed off. I'm just going to stick with the eraser and alcohol now.

Metal polish is supposed to turn black. If I am not mistaken it is caused by a chemical reaction between the metal and the polish, although I am uncertain of the details of this reaction and can not say for sure if this causes metal to be transferred to the rag or something.

To clarify, there is NO gold in game cart contacts. Sure, there is in the contacts of many computer components, but not game carts.

There are two reasons why. 1) the price is prohibitive, and 2) gold is far too soft a metal to withstand the abuse that is the repeated insertion and removal of game cartridges.

Not to mention that, If the contacts in game carts were gold, then we wouldn't need to remove corrosion as gold does NOT oxidize.

I suppose it could be brass but I seem to hear everywhere that it is gold, although that really doesn't mean anything. Also, just because we have to remove corrosion it doesn't mean that the contacts are not gold plated. It could mean that the gold plating has been damaged. If I have time on Friday, I think I'll have to perform some science to determine whether or not the contacts are gold plated.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Isopropyl alcohol is the gold standard, it shouldn't have any adverse effect on the contacts, but it's also not entirely effective in removing crap that's aggressively bonded with/grown on the contacts.

Brasso is a solvent with a VERY VERY fine abrasive. I'd say it's okay for rescuing a cartridge that has large amounts of dirt/corrosion but it should be used very lightly and infrequently.

I swear by Sheila Shine, it's similar to Brasso in that it's a mild solvent polish but it has NO ABRASIVE in it and I've never ever seen it take any metal element off of any contacts.

I use Sheila Shine on any used cart that enters my collection and needs a decent cleaning. The results are gorgeous, brilliant looking contacts.

[needler420]

To clarify, there is NO gold in game cart contacts. Sure, there is in the contacts of many computer components, but not game carts.

There are two reasons why. 1) the price is prohibitive, and 2) gold is far too soft a metal to withstand the abuse that is the repeated insertion and removal of game cartridges.

Not to mention that, If the contacts in game carts were gold, then we wouldn't need to remove corrosion as gold does NOT oxidize.

I'm like 90% sure that those gold contacts are gold plated.


Ok I checked with my buddies on my precious metals forums and I was right they are gold plated. I know this because people actually recycle the game carts to extract the gold using the aqua regia process. These are the same people that recycle gold from other electronics mainly older computers and cell phones.


I've read a few threads pertaining to gold fingers on game cartridges, and the outcome of the conversations were pretty negative. Recently I bought 7 games at a yard sale for $7. I cracked the games open, cut the fingers, and ran them through an AP solution. Now these foils are huge! They are from NES games, so I can't vouch for the size of the different game systems. They contain 4-5 times the amount of surface area that RAM contains. The end result of my dried finger foils weighed in at .2 grams. This means that each foil contains 0.028 grams of gold

[Polygon]

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Search "Tri-Groove Tamper-Resistant Bits"

Thanks a ton!

If isopropyl alcohol is so corrosive, then why on earth did Nintendo and other companies sell it as the "cleaning solution" in their official cleaning kits back in the day?

If it's not clear, that's a rhetorical question.

I've never seen a cleaning kit that didn't use ISO. An interesting tidbit; the reason it said not to use rubbing alcohol on NES games was because they were worried about kids handling it.

[wiggyx]

I'm like 90% sure that those gold contacts are gold plated.


Ok I checked with my buddies on my precious metals forums and I was right they are gold plated. I know this because people actually recycle the game carts to extract the gold using the aqua regia process. These are the same people that recycle gold from other electronics mainly older computers and cell phones.


I've read a few threads pertaining to gold fingers on game cartridges, and the outcome of the conversations were pretty negative. Recently I bought 7 games at a yard sale for $7. I cracked the games open, cut the fingers, and ran them through an AP solution. Now these foils are huge! They are from NES games, so I can't vouch for the size of the different game systems. They contain 4-5 times the amount of surface area that RAM contains. The end result of my dried finger foils weighed in at .2 grams. This means that each foil contains 0.028 grams of gold

What you meant the say is that you did a google search and stumbled across this:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/~goldre...hp?f=68&t=9837


Based on what I'm reading on the web, it would seem that (as far as NES games go) only "older" titles have gold plated contacts, which could be entirely wrong, as nothing I've read provides a credible source of any sort of proof. I'm not seeing much about SNES or Genesis games. I haven't bothered to look for anything pre-NES or portable consoles. Curious. I'm going to have to do some more research and possibly testing...

[granz]

I clean them just once upon buying them and taking them home. After that, I keep them stored in loose plastic sleeves + hard plastic ex-rental cases. Suffice it to say, they never gather dust.

It can be a little difficult to get your hands on a set of ex-rental cases, (at least, still in good condition) but I've come across some good deals for entire lots of them on eBay.

[Polygon]

I would surmise that the plating on the contacts is more likely zinc.

[wiggyx]

I know it's not zinc just because I've treated games with Tarn-X which will strip zinc in mere seconds.

I clean them just once upon buying them and taking them home. After that, I keep them stored in loose plastic sleeves + hard plastic ex-rental cases. Suffice it to say, they never gather dust.

It can be a little difficult to get your hands on a set of ex-rental cases, (at least, still in good condition) but I've come across some good deals for entire lots of them on eBay.

"Universal Game Cases" are what a lot of us use to case games. They're essentially rental cases, but can be purchased new still

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I Recently I bought 7 games at a yard sale for $7. I cracked the games open, cut the fingers, and ran them through an AP solution. Now these foils are huge! They are from NES games, so I can't vouch for the size of the different game systems. They contain 4-5 times the amount of surface area that RAM contains. The end result of my dried finger foils weighed in at .2 grams. This means that each foil contains 0.028 grams of gold

You did no such thing.

You copied and pasted that post from this thread in this forum.

http://goldrefiningforum.com/~goldre...hp?f=68&t=9837

[Polygon]

I know it's not zinc just because I've treated games with Tarn-X which will strip zinc in mere seconds.

Oh crap! Good point.

[needler420]

You did no such thing.

You copied and pasted that post from this thread in this forum.

http://goldrefiningforum.com/~goldre...hp?f=68&t=9837

I know that post is copied and pasted.


I never said that specific post was a response from me asking. I asked my buddies through PM's. The post was meant to prove that the games are gold plated is all..

I'm still a member of about every other precious metal forum there is.


I knew to google it because I as I said I am on multiple precious metal and metal detecting forums so I knew they recycled video games items for gold.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I know that post is copied and pasted.


I never said that specific post was a response from me asking. I asked my buddies through PM's. The post was meant to prove that the games are gold plated is all..

I'm still a member of about every other precious metal forum there is.


I knew to google it because I as I said I am on multiple precious metal and metal detecting forums so I knew they recycled video games items for gold.

Yeah, whatever you say.

Learn some forum etiquette.

If you're going to cite a comment found on another forum use quotations and link back to the page.

A blind copy/paste with absolutely no reference makes it appear as if the comments are written by you about your experience.

[needler420]

Yeah, whatever you say.

Learn some forum etiquette.

If you're going to cite a comment found on another forum use quotations and link back to the page.

A blind copy/paste with absolutely no reference makes it appear as if the comments are written by you about your experience.

It takes less then a minute for anyone to research it themselves, That's how I found it.
I was about to provide a link but just decided to pass for some reason this time. Normally I do provide a link for credibility.

[Flam]

So not only does Needler420 smoke pot, now he’s a plagiarizer :-). Yet he will not tolerate copy right infringement!