What does Goo Gone do to Atari 2600 carts...

[KAZ]

I have two (non-working) Atari 2600 carts:

 

Q-bert and Night Driver

 

I was thinking of testing Goo Gone on the Night Driver, to see what effect it would have on the label.

 

There is a sticker on the front of the Night Driver that I want to get off (Goodwill puts stickers on the front of the carts sometimes, it just sucks!)

 

It worked great on stickers that were on the BACK of cartridges, but I don't want to try it on the front of a cartridge, in case it will damage the label.

 

Has anyone had a bad experience with Goo Gone damaging the color on an Atari 2600 cart? I've read the faq on Atariage about cleaning carts, but they just say "be careful", it isn't specific enough.

 

It takes off marker quickly (like there was red marker on the back of one that came off extremely fast).

[StanJr]

GOO GONE is a miracle product. I swear by it. If you can't take it off with GOO GONE, it won't come off. I promise.

 

The GOO GONE itself will do nothing to the label as long as you apply it lightly. Too much GOO GONE can soak into the label and cause it to darken (which sometimes dries out and sometimes not).

 

However, if you rub the label too much while applying GOO GONE the label color can rub off a bit. This is not caused by GOO GONE itself, but rubbing too much or too vigorously.

 

Best thing is to apply a light coat of GOO GONE, allow to sit for a minute, then rub until the thing is gone, or until you fear the label will fade. GOO GONE takes off marker, grease pencil, dirt, funk, goo, stickers, glue, fungus, and gunk.

 

It is my clean all. I've never hurt a cart by using GOO GONE, unless I did too much rubbing or applied too much GOO GONE.

 

GOO GONE is an oil based cleaner. I would NOT advise using GOO GONE on the contacts or any internal part.

 

[ 05-26-2002: Message edited by: StanJr ]

[marillion]

Yes, but what about price labels on the boxes themselves? As a former collector of vintage Star Wars toys, I know that the product takes off price tags from the backing cards the figures came on.

 

Anyone have experience with this? I just won a few boxed items that have price tags, and I'd like to get them off when they come in.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

[KAZ]

Interesting, I posted this on the Atari 2600 message board, and it was moved here, the the cold, dark, forbidding place of "Marketplace". I know why (of course), although I also know that alot of people want to get stickers and crap off of their cartridges.

 

Yeah, this Goo Gone worked amazingly on one cart. It was a Venture cart, and as you know the label only covers part of the cart, the bottom part doesn't have a label. In black marker was written TWISS

It was also written on the back of the cart.

I don't know what it means, and wanted to get it off.

 

Goo Gone went to work on it, it was amazing. It is not completely gone, but I faded the black like 7 shades. My Q-tips were completely black after each attempt.

 

I'm thinking about using it on the hard water stains in my bathtub, as this product is incredible.

 

This has been The Truman Show

[KAZ]

Quote: GOO GONE takes off marker, grease pencil, dirt, funk, goo, stickers, glue, fungus, and gunk.

 

Response:

That is funny as hell, what is funk and gunk? Is there a difference?

 

I'm just joking around of course, but maybe they really are different too, hehe.

 

I'm guess that boxes would have the same issue as carts with Goo Gone, with the real problem being getting the box or cart label WET, and thus "warping" it. If you apply it lightly, I'm sure it won't damage it any more than water might.

 

Peeling a sticker off that has been Goo Gone is a unique and fun experience. It seems to dry it out, and makes all the gluey stuff cling to itself.

 

[ 05-27-2002: Message edited by: KAZ ]

[StanJr]

I would NOT recommend using GOO GONE on a box. Toy Cards are printed on very stiff cardstock, game boxes are MUCH weaker and the oil WILL soak into them. I recommend using an EXACTO knife to remove as much of the sticker as possible, then VERY VERY VERY gently apply a VERY VERY light coat of GOO GONE, then IMMEDIATELY wipe off with a dry cloth or paper towel. This is JUST a suggestion, attempt at your own peril.

 

I still don't know why this got moved to Marketplace, it belongs in 2600. Oh well.

 

Go back and give that Venture cart a few more rounds. Use a stiff bristled finger nail brush. Let the GOO GONE soak for a few minutes, then go to work with the brush. You can remove ALL of that marker (as long as its on the cart ONLY no label).

 

I've used GOO GONE to remove a nasty funky film from a very old wine bottle! Its a miracle product

[StanJr]

gunk can just be some common house dirt or grease combination.

 

funk is a complete unknown and should probably stay that way. Best to remove it immediately.

[KAZ]

Thanks for all the input StanJr!

 

I think I get more of a kick out of caring for my hardware/cartridges than I do actually playing them. I like the exercise of collecting more than playing too.

 

I'm always looking for an excuse to meander over to Radio Shack to find some new cool way to put my electronics together.

 

And I've said it many many many times, but it is just an awesome experience to clean a cart's board (with isopropyl alcohol and Q-tips), and have a bunch of black dirt (accumulated dust probably) come off on the Q-tip. And if the cart wasn't working before you cleaned it, but it did AFTER you cleaned it, it is three times the reward.

 

Out of the 61 Atari 2600 carts I have, like 5 were "repaired" like this, most notably a pitfall that I had bought off ebay wasn't working (was all glitched), but worked after I cleaned it.

 

The two that still don't work are Q-bert and a Night Driver I got from Goodwill. I'm going to do open heart surgery on the Night Driver very soon, and see if I can do anything for it.

 

Q-bert is so clean inside it...crap I can't finish it in a poetic way. It is VERY CLEAN.

[StanJr]

Glad I could help. I get kick out of tinkering with carts and stuff as well. I get that same rush when you get something working that was before, dead.

 

Good luck and happy cleaning.

[King Asmo]

Goo Gone is great for carts.. I use it all the time, particularly on NES carts.. but also on 2600 and Colecovision carts.

 

Whatever you do, tho, DO NOT use it on Spectravision carts. For whatever reason, that stuff just lifts the ink right off of the silver label (but leaves the label all nice and shiny). I'm really glad I found this out using a Gangster Alley, and not using a Bumper Bash.

 

KA

[Osbo]

I love GOO GONE, in the army I used a lot, in the final inspection, Seargent Mayor ask me what I'd have used to clean my stuff, everything looked spanking new

 

Osbo