my problem with replacing 72-pin connectors on the NES

[gbpxl]

1. They're too tight.

2. The system is no longer original once a key component of it is replaced with a third-party connector.

3. Most of the issues with connectivity can be solved simply by applying rubbing alcohol to a game cartridge and pulling the cartridge in and out of the system repeatedly and moving it up and down. If you read any service manual for the console, it says one should be cleaning the system periodically- granted it says one needs the Nintendo brand cleaner system, but this method will work, and most people are doing goofy things like boiling the 72 pin or bending the pins, making them even less functional.

The design of the console was flawed but it was built to last. I have a system in front of me that was built between 1985 and 1990 with original capacitors, pins, etc and works fine.

It upsets me to see so many eBay listings advertising "new 72 pin." And with the HDMI mod, there will be even less consoles in their original condition.

[YoshiM]

I think I bought new Nintendo OEM pins from someone on this forum years back. And it works as advertised!

So the original stuff is out there.

[Greg2600]

3. Most of the issues with connectivity can be solved simply by applying rubbing alcohol to a game cartridge and pulling the cartridge in and out of the system repeatedly and moving it up and down. If you read any service manual for the console, it says one should be cleaning the system periodically- granted it says one needs the Nintendo brand cleaner system, but this method will work, and most people are doing goofy things like boiling the 72 pin or bending the pins, making them even less functional.

Goofy? Boiling the connector worked PERFECTLY for me. I had replaced mine with aftermarket ones which I hated. Too stiff/tight, and still had issues. Took it out, boiled the original, and put the original back in.

[gbpxl]

Goofy? Boiling the connector worked PERFECTLY for me. I had replaced mine with aftermarket ones which I hated. Too stiff/tight, and still had issues. Took it out, boiled the original, and put the original back in.

I meant goofy in the context that there is a much simpler and quicker method that works just as well.

[Niku-Sama]

I've only not been able to save the old connector once or twice. normally I bend them back and they are good for a long time or you don't even have to push them down any more. I remember one that the metal had lost all of its spring and was real brittle and crispy. it was odd, not rusted or any thing either. it was like something you would see if it had been heated up and cooled off a bunch of times but temps to make that happen would have melted plastic and the rest of it was in good shape.

[Aussie2B]

I'm not a fan at all of third party replacement connectors either. I feel they're just a temporary fix that ultimately leaves you in a worse position than where you started. They're so tight that having a game in there will loosen them over time to the point that you eventually end up in the same position of having a loose connection, except, in the process of getting to that point, shoving in and yanking out games when it's really tight will permanently thin the contacts on your games, making it that much harder to maintain a solid connection.

[megasdkirby]

What about the blinking light win?

[Tanooki]

I meant goofy in the context that there is a much simpler and quicker method that works just as well.

No it doesn't. Boiling is far more effective on a dirty set of pins that may have never been or rarely been cleaned. If someone would have maintained cleanliness at a periodic rate then yes it's overkill. But buying second hand assume the worst.

It's not hard to boil water with a paper towel in the bottom, drop in the pins for 5min, then pull out and use a cleaning kit (or like) wedge into the pins and in-out that a dozen times until it comes away clean before stopping the 5min dunking again. The last time I did it the first rub of the pins had large amounts of gray nasty looking goo come off the connector using the plain OEM Nintendo Cleaning Kit (with alcohol) could not remove and it repeatedly failed as such. 2 dunks to remove the goo, that system has run like a fine watch without fail ever since for the last year.

There's nothing goofy about a process that works the best. Using after market brittle crap cheap chinese metal pins will cause you far more problems than that.