famicom problems

[bradhig1]

My modded Famicom occasionally freezes when playing games and has vertical lines on the screen.  The microphone buzzes when I touch the second controller.  Could my everdrive N8 be damaging it?

[Tanooki]

The lines are a known with the old Famicom model of the system that seems to rear up over time.

 

Microphone, unless it's something worse, it's likely the slider on the controller.  Unscrew the controller and give a very good cleaning to the contacts, and what they contact deeply, adjust the tension to make it more tight again too and re-assemble and see.

[bradhig1]

I cleaned the slider and the buzz is mostly gone yet happens sometimes.  The NES to famicom converter I use wobbles and shakes too much in the cartridge causing games to crash. Any way to stabilize it?

[Tanooki]

Not really, unless you want to wedge something in there or get a frame 3D printed.

 

My shielded one broke, going to probably just buy one of the cheap ones that stupidly don't have a protective shell on it just so I can use my US carts on the color monitor when I want to, and for my light gun carts.  I just have been turned off it because they're bare and look like what you're getting where they'd wobble easily.

[bradhig1]

I tried several Famicom game and when I wobbled then in the slot they crashed except Super Mario Bros 1.  I have an NES cleaning kit but it won't fit in the Famicom cartridge slot. Is there a cleaning kit for the Famicom.

[Tanooki]

Nope, not that I'm aware of.

 

I don't like suggesting overpriced products but the 1UP card some YT shills love to push has a Famicom style one you could use.  Personally if you have a spare semi-used up system cleaner pad for the NES, SNES or Genesis, you could just cut the thing to fit and give it a good in-out cleaning with some 91% alcohol or make your own with a credit card(or like it) with a glasses wipe tightly wrapped around the thing to get the same effect.

 

I'm not sure it's dirty if it's the wobble, you could have some lazy pins.

 

I went about a week (due to double shifts for 3 days, then tired...then needing time to investigate) thinking my PVM was dying as the audio dropped cold almost entirely.  I went through trying to diag the tv, resoldering chips and parts, reflowing other contact points, cleaning, and rarely it worked any better.  Then I got this genius idea to pull my bose speakers off my computer since they really didn't add any audio depth from the speaker on this thing anyway and ran the audio cables from that to a N64 and sound on that, and then I tried the TV, strange, sound on that too.  Tried the FC then on the Bose, NO sound, the TV again NO sound... then I realized my AV Famicom I just got was having problems.  During this process I had it down to the bare board lying on the wood surface the TV is on, and frustrated I pushed my parodius cart back, audio kicked on... a real WTF moment.  Wobbled it forward, audio off, wobbled it back, audio on (never crashed.)  At that rate powered down and got my eyes on the connector didn't see it at first, reflowed that damn thing entirely, twice, caps too...still no change.  At this rate lost, I was about to try re-capping the thing, but then got the idea to look at the pin connector again, closer.

 

Of all the dumb unlikely shit.

 

The ONE and only pin that passes audio calls from the game to the system didn't look right.  Somehow, and how I have no idea, it was compressed down just enough to either barely contact or really just utterly miss any game touching it as it was under the blue plastic frame comb each pin sits on.  I tried my electrical pic(dental pic) and couldn't get at it, went with a very fine tipped safety pin, and I dug that thing out, got slightly warped on the left half(each pin has 2 pins, no idea why) but pulled both parts well out to touch the other side, did this 3 times.  SInce then, audio has been back online 100%.

 

The point?  Showing you how stupid stuff can be with pin connectors.  Get a magnifier and look at yours, it maybe just not making good contact and being dirty isn't the issue.