If my old cartridge doesnt work, what to do?

[old2600guy]

So i got myself the 2600+ for Christmas, and dug out my old cartridges and paddles from the box they have been in since, late 80s maybe.  Jedi Arena does not load and Space Invaders only has 2 games to select instead of the 100+.
Does anyone have any suggestions to fix that, both are listed as supported, although technically space invaders does work sorta
Original cartridges  of Empire Strikes Back, Night Driver, Combat work fine 

[MysticSword]

Did you try giving the contacts of those cartridges a good cleaning yet?

In many cases that can get non-working game cartridges to work.

Here's a little video I did that shows as example of how to clean a couple different-styled 2600 game cartridges (one with contacts already exposed, and another with the protective enclosure such as Space Invaders has):

 Good luck.

[Sean_1970]

%100 cleaning. Even if they look clean as mine did they’re probably having some kind of corrosion/build-up. My TV testimonial: I had carts I had all but written off, but thanks to cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol bought off Amazon I’m able to play my games like they just came out of the box! Thank you isopropyl alcohol!

[+LS650]

I have had a couple of stubborn carts that loaded on my original 2600, but wouldn't on my Plus until I spent a good 10 minutes or more cleaning them repeatedly.

[Gamma Ray]

Deoxit D5, a toothbrush, and a small flathead to pop the dust shield does wonders. If you've got a Guitar Center near you, you might be able to buy it without having to buy it online. It's in their pro audio department.

[The21zonz]

Blow on it, then clean it with isopropyl. That always works. (I’m so glad our Centipede cart from the 1980s worked flawlessly first try with just a blow…)

[old2600guy]

Thanks everyone.  Space invaders took just one clean, and thanks for the video with the pen top trick.
Jedi Arena took a half dozen cleans but its working now and is still just as frustrating as it was 40 years ago, lol 

[Spanner]

If you having contact problems after cleaning then one way of sorting it is putting solder on the contacts teeth and then the teeth will connect properly, they can wear down over time because your pushing and pulling the cartridge in and out all the time. it happens to SD cards too, especially the SD Card Adapters.

Edited January 4 by Spanner

[Ben from Plaion]

1 hour ago, Spanner said:

If you having contact problems after cleaning then one way of sorting it is putting solder on the contacts teeth and then the teeth will connect properly, they can wear down over time because your pushing and pulling the cartridge in and out all the time. it happens to SD cards too, especially the SD Card Adapters.

you always cracking out the MacGyver techniques

[Slider271]

I genuinely think it’s brilliant how these carts from the late 70s still work after being cleaned

 

CDs and old computer tapes degrade so much faster, it’s nice that we can still use so many of the original hardware/software for these games whereas we’re having to rely more mad more on SD card players for floppy disc and cassette games. 

[Sean_1970]

10 hours ago, Slider271 said:

I genuinely think it’s brilliant how these carts from the late 70s still work after being cleaned

 

CDs and old computer tapes degrade so much faster, it’s nice that we can still use so many of the original hardware/software for these games whereas we’re having to rely more mad more on SD card players for floppy disc and cassette games. 

It is pretty awesome. I know some folk swear by physical media in the optical disc space as well, but I’ll be quite surprised if my Wii games and GameCube games still work in 20 years (assuming I’m still around to play them 😅).