atari games in the sun

[afiresevenfold]

I found a whole box full of atari games at a flea market for pretty cheap, but they are sitting directly in the sun, and being black, you can dang near iron clothes with them. I was just curious if anyone has an experience with prolonged exposures to the sun and if you think it would be a good idea to buy them or not. any input would be appreciated, thanks.

[ussexplorer]

Well if non of the carts melted and the whole box or games are the right price. Not worth picking up a few you want. I seem to clean stickers off using a hair dryer. I remeber getting one case so hot. I burned myself and the game worked just fine.

 

Later,

 

Josh

[Rob Mitchell]

Give them a line: "Hey, these carts are in the sun and are so hot! Who knows whether they work or not! I'll give you $0.50 each .. "

 

Grab the bunch. Test them out. If any are nonfunctional after cleaning the PCB, sell them to Atariage for $0.50 each. No loss!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Bonestripper]

If they dont work, strip the circuitry out of the cart and sell them! Some homebrewer could use 'em

[Brian R.]

They should be fine. Just sitting in the sun is unlikely to damage an Atari cartridge. They are very durable and can withstand a lot of abuse. I've come across carts that suffered a lot worse than that and still worked.

 

Although, as said, their overall condition - probably having sun-bleached labels - can help you argue for a good price. Buy 'em all, buy just the ones you want, whatever.

[Godzilla]

/me sings weezers 'island in the sun'

[Ehrbad]

They should be fine. Just sitting in the sun is unlikely to damage an Atari cartridge. They are very durable and can withstand a lot of abuse. I've come across carts that suffered a lot worse than that and still worked.

 

I read somewhere on the web about this guy who went and tested just *how* much abuse an Atari cart could take...everything dropping the cart out of a 4 storey window, backing over it with a Jeep, magnetism, boiling, freezing.....long story short the casing was completely destroyed, but the ROM still worked....man, what a fun afternoon THAT must have been!!

[Video]

I've never had problems with Atari carts getting hot, rain, stomped, whatever. The case may be ruined, and the lables may fade, but the cart useualy works anyways.

 

I thought about doing some stress tests. Some stuff like microwaving, dropping, and crushing carts. I could do that I guess, just out of curiosity to see what you can do to it.