7800 cartridge slot misbehaving.

[NeilTheDruid]

Hello everybody!

 

I have a 7800 that I have modded for composite video, I was aware that the cartridge slot was intermitant at best. It turns out that it's next to dead. I have tried a couple of carts in the slot, Pac-man for 2600 and Enduro for 2600, both of which I have managed to get working woth a bit of holding the carts in certain positions while switching the system on. Whenever I try a 7800, like Galaga or Centipede, I have got nothing except maybe a bit of fuzzy black and white graphics. Sometimes with all the games I have tried the system doesn't detect the cart at all and goes straight through to the built in game.

 

I have a Sega Megadrive that had loose pins that needed bending back out a touch, I am wondering whether this is the case with my 7800? Other than this can anyone think of any other issues that maybe causing this problem?

 

Cheers

[Corby]

Hello everybody!

 

I have a 7800 that I have modded for composite video, I was aware that the cartridge slot was intermitant at best. It turns out that it's next to dead. I have tried a couple of carts in the slot, Pac-man for 2600 and Enduro for 2600, both of which I have managed to get working woth a bit of holding the carts in certain positions while switching the system on. Whenever I try a 7800, like Galaga or Centipede, I have got nothing except maybe a bit of fuzzy black and white graphics. Sometimes with all the games I have tried the system doesn't detect the cart at all and goes straight through to the built in game.

 

I have a Sega Megadrive that had loose pins that needed bending back out a touch, I am wondering whether this is the case with my 7800? Other than this can anyone think of any other issues that maybe causing this problem?

 

Cheers

 

 

thats what it sounds like!

 

take a small precision screwdriver, a small flat head. and carefully bend back the metal pins.

 

once you have done that, get a peice of plastic something like a swipe card or that over burdened credit card cut it for the middle slot, and a small peice for the 2 ends.

 

get a thin peice of material like a old t-shirt or something, and rubbing alcohol 70% or better. Of course unplugg ur machine!!!! Its kinda like the nes cleaner just do the samething!

 

if that doesn't work then you may have a chip problem or cart. slot needs to be replaced!

[NeilTheDruid]

It's not looking good. I've done the pin bending and cleaned the slot with isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush and I'm still getting nothing. It's a shame as well because the composite mod I did works a treat.

[Corby]

A tooth brush not going to do it

[NeilTheDruid]

Oh sorry, yeah I tried the card and cloth idea. Didn't get any results out of it.

[Corby]

hey my friend all I can say is either your motherboard is fried or you need a new cart slot!

 

try these guys, they're nothing but atari

 

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/

[NeilTheDruid]

I found those guys. They were the people who gave me the idea to have a go at cleaning the pins with a toothbrush and alcohol. They also told me that if that didn't work, it propbably wasn't worth trying to fix.

[Corby]

I found those guys. They were the people who gave me the idea to have a go at cleaning the pins with a toothbrush and alcohol. They also told me that if that didn't work, it propbably wasn't worth trying to fix.

 

 

Yeah, your better off going on ebay or here on the marketplace. What you'll spend on fixing it, you mind as well buy another system!

[+Mitch]

Here's another thread with more info about things to try.

 

Mitch

[Dastari Creel]

get a thin peice of material like a old t-shirt or something, and rubbing alcohol 70% or better. Of course unplugg ur machine!!!! Its kinda like the nes cleaner just do the samething!

 

I realize that it seems that your slot is unfixable but I did want to point out one thing. Even though alochol will clean your game or cartridge slot in the short term it is a VERY BAD solution in the long tem. Alcohol is corrosive to copper. It will cause the copper to corrode and even if your slot had started working after your cleaning it would have only been a matter of time until it was no longer useful.

 

Sorry I had to get on my soapbox for this one. I've been cleaning games for years now and every time someone mentions that they use alcohol I shudder a little inside. I'd use the NES solution. Its a little pricier but it won't rot your games away.

[+Mitch]

I realize that it seems that your slot is unfixable but I did want to point out one thing. Even though alochol will clean your game or cartridge slot in the short term it is a VERY BAD solution in the long tem. Alcohol is corrosive to copper. It will cause the copper to corrode and even if your slot had started working after your cleaning it would have only been a matter of time until it was no longer useful.

 

Sorry I had to get on my soapbox for this one. I've been cleaning games for years now and every time someone mentions that they use alcohol I shudder a little inside. I'd use the NES solution. Its a little pricier but it won't rot your games away.

 

Sounds like you've been using the wrong kind of alcohol.

 

100% isopropyl alcohol is what you want to use. Though 70% or higher will work. The higher percentage the better.

 

Mitch

[Dastari Creel]

I realize that it seems that your slot is unfixable but I did want to point out one thing. Even though alochol will clean your game or cartridge slot in the short term it is a VERY BAD solution in the long tem. Alcohol is corrosive to copper. It will cause the copper to corrode and even if your slot had started working after your cleaning it would have only been a matter of time until it was no longer useful.

 

Sorry I had to get on my soapbox for this one. I've been cleaning games for years now and every time someone mentions that they use alcohol I shudder a little inside. I'd use the NES solution. Its a little pricier but it won't rot your games away.

 

Sounds like you've been using the wrong kind of alcohol.

 

100% isopropyl alcohol is what you want to use. Though 70% or higher will work. The higher percentage the better.

 

Mitch

 

That's odd...I've never heard of anyone dispute that alcohol would be bad for the copper, just a lot of people that said that they got away with it and hadn't had a problem yet.

 

I've never experienced the problem because I'd been warned away by enough people when I started taking care of my games but this is a discussion that I see come up time and time again over on the NES forums. Everyone seems to agree that alcohol is bad in the long term but I guess the real question is how long it takes for the problems to show up. I'm guessinng its long enough that some people don't care.

[Rybags]

Contact cleaner spray might be better... I've been using it a bit.

 

You could dribble some onto the cart contacts then just insert/remove quickly 3 or 4 times.

 

It's a bit pricey though... I think I paid about 13 bucks for a medium sized aerosol can of the stuff.

[+Mitch]

I realize that it seems that your slot is unfixable but I did want to point out one thing. Even though alochol will clean your game or cartridge slot in the short term it is a VERY BAD solution in the long tem. Alcohol is corrosive to copper. It will cause the copper to corrode and even if your slot had started working after your cleaning it would have only been a matter of time until it was no longer useful.

 

Sorry I had to get on my soapbox for this one. I've been cleaning games for years now and every time someone mentions that they use alcohol I shudder a little inside. I'd use the NES solution. Its a little pricier but it won't rot your games away.

 

Sounds like you've been using the wrong kind of alcohol.

 

100% isopropyl alcohol is what you want to use. Though 70% or higher will work. The higher percentage the better.

 

Mitch

 

That's odd...I've never heard of anyone dispute that alcohol would be bad for the copper, just a lot of people that said that they got away with it and hadn't had a problem yet.

 

I've never experienced the problem because I'd been warned away by enough people when I started taking care of my games but this is a discussion that I see come up time and time again over on the NES forums. Everyone seems to agree that alcohol is bad in the long term but I guess the real question is how long it takes for the problems to show up. I'm guessinng its long enough that some people don't care.

 

Considering many NES collectors get their carts to work by breathing on the contacts (which is the worst thing to do) I don't think I'd take their advice.

I've been using isopropyl alcohol for years on all of my game carts and have not had any issues.

 

Mitch

[Dastari Creel]

Considering many NES collectors get their carts to work by breathing on the contacts (which is the worst thing to do) I don't think I'd take their advice.

I've been using isopropyl alcohol for years on all of my game carts and have not had any issues.

 

Mitch

 

Oh lets not turn this into a systems thing. Even when I had an Atari and everyone else in my neighborhood did, there was plenty of blowing into the cartridges as well. Its how people learned to do it for the NES after all.

 

I'm going to need to do some more reading.

 

By the way Mitch, you seem fairly knowledgable. Could you comment on some of my other threads that I have here. I'm trying to get started with my Atari and I've got some questions and need some direction to where I can find answers if the answer is to long to go in the forums.

[Corby]

Yeah just blow on your cart. connectors Neilthedruid that is your problem!!!

 

What do I know!

 

Wish I hadn't mentioned the word "NES" on the atariage!

 

don't use alcohol! ....no use water...no no use solvent!!!

 

what the hell is there to read about???

 

(Rolls his eyes and walks away)

[+Mitch]

Considering many NES collectors get their carts to work by breathing on the contacts (which is the worst thing to do) I don't think I'd take their advice.

I've been using isopropyl alcohol for years on all of my game carts and have not had any issues.

 

Mitch

 

Oh lets not turn this into a systems thing. Even when I had an Atari and everyone else in my neighborhood did, there was plenty of blowing into the cartridges as well. Its how people learned to do it for the NES after all.

 

I'm going to need to do some more reading.

 

By the way Mitch, you seem fairly knowledgable. Could you comment on some of my other threads that I have here. I'm trying to get started with my Atari and I've got some questions and need some direction to where I can find answers if the answer is to long to go in the forums.

 

I was just giving you a hard time about the NES stuff.

 

Honestly, most of the questions you have posted have been answered in the past here on the forums. Yes, it's not as pleasant to have to dig up the answers yourself but I know I personally don't have the time to write up in depth answers or dig up old ones.

 

Mitch

[CGQuarterly]

Alcohol could corrode copper if you left your game or connector immersed in it. Water is at least as corrosive to copper, if not more so. Wiping copper contacts with an alcohol-dampened Q-Tip or piece of cloth is fine. Alcohol is extremely volatile and evaporates completely within seconds. A lot of people on the web talk about the concentration of the alcohol solution as well, whether to buy 50%, 70%, 90%, etc. It really doesn't matter that much. The presence of that much alcohol in the solution makes it evaporate MUCH faster than water alone would. That being said, you can buy pretty concentrated (90%, I believe) alcohol at the drug store, and it doesn't cost very much more, so you might as well get the best stuff that you can.

 

What you are trying to do with the alcohol solution is clean off the grime that has collected on the contacts. Some of that grime is going to be more soluble in water than in alcohol, so the water is serving a purpose. What you don't want is for excess liquid to be sitting on the contacts for any length of time. For cartridges that you can open up, you shouldn't use any liquid because you can clean the game with a plastic eraser. For cartridges that you can't open without cosmetically damaging the game (like most Atari games), you should just use a Q-Tip with alcohol solution. The trick is to squeeze the excess alcohol out of the cotton before you start rubbing the contacts. The cotton should be damp, not wet. Hold the cart with the open side facing downward, so that if there is any excess liquid, it doesn't flow into the cart . Do that a few times until the cotton doesn't look so dirty when you're done. Them use a completely dry Q-tip to help dry the contacts and to rub off any left-over grime residue. If you have a can of compressed air, spray it up into the end of the cart to completely evaporate any leftover liquid (although if you made sure to really squeeze the excess liquid out of the Q-Tip before using it, there shouldn't be any.)

 

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. I've been doing this for a lot of years, so I definitely have a lot of experience under my belt. I do want to reiterate though that any time you have a cart that can be opened, dry cleaning methods (like the eraser) are preferable to wet ones (like using alcohol.)

 

Chris

Edited April 12, 2010 by Jibbajaba

[MaximRecoil]

You may have a cracked/cold/bad solder joint on the edge connector (where it is soldered to the 7800's motherboard). I have a 7800 that would sometimes only display in black & white (link to old thread), and you could get color by wiggling the cartridge around. The problem was a solder joint on the edge connector that had a void in it:

 

 

I desoldered and resoldered that joint and it has worked perfectly since.