The DREADED stickers, markers!! Dirty Pins!

[Cornelius]

Hmm, lots of people on youtube mentioning to use a magic eraser on the marker. I might give that a shot. The electric toothbrush seems to work good too.

Also, I've heard of people putting circuit boards in the dishwasher (without soap), and them coming out spotless, not sure if this works well or not, and not really willing to try it. Has anyone else tried this? Supposed to help a lot with corrosion/leaking capacitors, etc. etc.

A magic eraser on an NES cart is not a great idea, IMO. They are just very fine abrasives, and while you can get the marker off, you will be able to see a difference in the remaining texture. The color is a bit different after as well, but that might just be because of the texture being worn down.

Yes, you can dishwash circuit boards, although I'd think it is not a good idea with a battery backup. I haven't done it myself, but it is essentially the same as on of the later steps in board manufacturing.

edit: these methods have been hashed and re-hashed in the 'Tech and Resto' subforum (very bottom of the page), so it would be a good idea for anyone considering cart restoration to do some searches in that forum. Also, the toothpaste method to clean contacts seems labor intensive. I use a high quality metal polish and it work great for me, and sounds like a lot less work based on your description.