Quote Originally Posted by Gameguy View Post
If the screen didn't display anything then the contacts had a bad connection, that's what erased your saves. You reinserted the game which cleaned the contacts just enough to get it working again, but it's not going to be reliable. Clean your cartridges, clean your cart slots. Same for memory cards for systems that have them.
While I agree with what youre saying, can we stop calling the corroded pins/boards "dirty?" Maybe I am being a grammar Nazi here but I think it gives laypersons the idea that they're "cleaning" the contacts, as if they are covered in dust, dirt, grime, when in all my years I have never seen a cartridge that was literally dirty, other than a copy of Thunder and Lightning where it was covered in this nasty grime.

I'm not sure the exact composition of the contacts. I always thought it was either gold or brass? Whatever it is, when it is exposed to the air, it tarnishes. That's why carts eork better if theyve been sitting inside dust sleeves for 30 years, unplayed. Don't know the science behind it besides just knowing the basics about how copper turns blue (Statue of Liberty for example)