Clean your Carts

[Sean_1970]

2 minutes ago, Kal said:

How do you get to the connectors inside 2600 carts🤔 I’m in the UK so can’t buy the wizard piece of plastics from the link above. 

I’m assuming you’re talking about carts with the plastic panel? Use a small screwdriver in one of the slots next to the pegs and you can press it down with your finger, exposing the PCB edge connector.

 

One of my first posts when I joined 😁

Edited January 12 by Sean_1970

[Kal]

I can’t get the white label megamania to load so think I may need to clean it- however that doesn’t have the plastic cover. I’m just thinking ahead for other carts. Thanks for the reply though. 

[Video]

Yeah if your cart has the door, anything you can stick in the hole to the side of the card edge will unlock it and allow you to slide the cover in. Those covers were a great idea imo as I'm sure it somewhat protects the carts card edge. Sure is a pain to clean though.

 

If your cart has no cover (Activision and some others) then its easy access like ant other carts. Just use a good quality qtip and 90+% alcohol to clean it. You'd be surprised how much crap comes off what looks like a clean cart.

 

Fun fact, many early Activision carts actually had a sponge rubber plug in them that did the same as the plastic sliding door. Of course, it rotted over the years and fell out on most, and I'm sure later carts skipped it anyways.

[tradyblix]

21 hours ago, Kal said:

I can’t get the white label megamania to load so think I may need to clean it- however that doesn’t have the plastic cover. I’m just thinking ahead for other carts. Thanks for the reply though. 

Activision carts are also more problematic than others. Like way more. 

Edited January 13 by tradyblix

[2LTIME6100]

This year I started building an Atari collection. Since games are rarely available cheaply here in Germany, I usually bought games that were described as working but were not in a good-looking condition at reasonable prices and restored them as best I could.

 

I completely dismantled the modules, cleaned the housings with water and cleaning agent, cleaned and polished the contacts and finally stuck on new reprint labels that match the original labels. I discovered that the modules can be dismantled differently.

 

With Activision the old labels can be easily removed, if necessary you can heat them a little with a hairdryer to loosen the adhesive. The housing is easy to open and reassemble with two screws. CBS is similar, and so is Parker. Here only the labels are difficult to remove.

 

The Atari games with the spring lock are a little more difficult. Here I had difficulty getting everything back together again. Some Atari modules have a clip instead of a screw. which makes it difficult to open the case.

 

I cleaned the contacts with Brunox Turbo Spray, a contact spray available in Germany, and cotton swabs. I carefully polished heavily soiled contacts using an electric multitool and a polishing attachment. With this I got every game running again.

 

Have fun collecting and cleaning your games.

 

Greetings from Germany 👋😊

Edited January 13 by 2LTIME6100

[susy]

30 minutes ago, 2LTIME6100 said:

Quest'anno ho iniziato a costruire una collezione Atari. Dato che qui in Germania i giochi sono raramente disponibili a buon mercato, di solito compravo giochi che venivano descritti come funzionanti ma non erano in buone condizioni a prezzi ragionevoli e li restauravo come meglio potevo.

 

Ho smontato completamente i moduli, pulito gli alloggiamenti con acqua e detergente, pulito e lucidato i contatti e infine ho applicato nuove etichette di ristampa che corrispondono alle etichette originali. Ho scoperto che i moduli possono essere smontati in modo diverso.

 

Con Activision le vecchie etichette si rimuovono facilmente, se necessario potete scaldarle un po' con un asciugacapelli per allentare l'adesivo. L'alloggiamento è facile da aprire e rimontare con due viti. La CBS è simile, così come lo è Parker. Qui solo le etichette sono difficili da rimuovere.

 

I giochi Atari con chiusura a molla sono un po' più difficili. Qui ho avuto difficoltà a rimettere tutto insieme. Alcuni moduli Atari hanno una clip invece di una vite. il che rende difficile l'apertura della custodia.

 

Ho pulito i contatti con Brunox Turbo Spray, uno spray per contatti disponibile in Germania, e dei bastoncini di cotone. Ho lucidato con cura i contatti molto sporchi utilizzando un multiutensile elettrico e un accessorio per lucidatura. Con questo ho riavviato tutti i giochi.

 

Ho disegnato le nuove etichette con il freeware GIMP e le ho stampate su pellicola adesiva in vinile. Sono molto soddisfatto del risultato e ho giochi che sembrano nuovi. Naturalmente ci saranno collezionisti che preferiranno mantenere le etichette originali. Le opinioni variano, ma preferisco che fosse restaurato in questo modo.

 

Divertiti a collezionare e pulire i tuoi giochi.

 

Saluti dalla Germania,

Holger

Hello and congratulations.

It would be interesting to see a video where you polish the Electric contacts. It could be useful to many players.

Edited January 13 by susy

[shane857]

Yes most definately. Clean your carts 👍

[2LTIME6100]

17 minutes ago, susy said:

Hello and congratulations.

It would be interesting to see a video where you polish the contacts. It could be useful to many players.

 

Sorry, I don't have a video, but I use a multitool like the one in the photo. If it is very dirty, I carefully use the brass brush and then the polishing attachment. However, cleaning with q tips is often enough and cleaning with the multitool is only possible if the housing is opened and the circuit board can be removed.

 

Edited January 13 by 2LTIME6100

[shane857]

isopropyl alcohol on a cotton bud/q-tip is the best way to clean carts. Fixes most if not all game loading problems on the atari 2600+ . And also try putting carts in at different angles. Had the same issues on my actual atari 👍

[tradyblix]

So I noticed today when I put "Seaquest" in that it can wobble after the initial "connection" is made. The cart actually moves a bit. You can kind of feel this through vibrations in the cart that reach your hand.

Not all carts do this.

 

On a hunch I tried just inserting and not "moving" it up or down carefully as soon as it was in there, and sure enough it loaded first time.

 

So this might be one of the issues on activision carts. 

 

Previously I had thought that by "moving" them I was helping the connections, but I might have been doing the wrong thing. 

Edited January 20 by tradyblix

[fluxit]

1 hour ago, tradyblix said:

So I noticed today when I put "Seaquest" in that it can wobble after the initial "connection" is made. The cart actually moves a bit. You can kind of feel this through vibrations in the cart that reach your hand.

Not all carts do this.

 

On a hunch I tried just inserting and not "moving" it up or down carefully as soon as it was in there, and sure enough it loaded first time.

 

So this might be one of the issues on activision carts. 

 

Previously I had thought that by "moving" them I was helping the connections, but I might have been doing the wrong thing. 

Comparing an old picture label Atari "Outlaw" cart to an Activision "Grand Prix" cart, the Activision cart case is  ~.20mm thinner, and ~.6mm narrower than the Atari cart.  I wonder if the shape of the 2600+'s cart guide causes some cart cases to deform slightly when inserted.  Of course there are also the spring-loaded alignment pegs on (some?)Activision carts, that don't always immediately settle into the holes in the cart guide when the cart is inserted.

[Glorkbot]

On 1/13/2024 at 12:25 PM, tradyblix said:

Activision carts are also more problematic than others. Like way more. 

Yeah. With some Activision carts it really isn’t a matter of cleaning them, it’s about inserting them “just right” into the Atari 2600+. Centered, and not too deep. If you put them all the way in, some of them won’t run.

[shane857]

On 1/20/2024 at 2:17 AM, Glorkbot said:

Yeah. With some Activision carts it really isn’t a matter of cleaning them, it’s about inserting them “just right” into the Atari 2600+. Centered, and not too deep. If you put them all the way in, some of them won’t run.

With a lot of atari carts. You can clean them until daybreak and some may not work. Find the right angle thou... work every time 👍

[Peloquin17]

Ive picked up a bunch of carts and have been meticulously cleaning them. 
 

first with qtips and alcohol

then with a pencil eraser

back to the qtips

and a final time with the 1up cartridge cleaners. 
 

I still have a small handful of games that aren’t working. 
 

gotta get a new bottle of contact cleaner and my dremel. 
 

I really want to play megamania

[Glorkbot]

1 hour ago, Peloquin17 said:

I still have a small handful of games that aren’t working. 
 

gotta get a new bottle of contact cleaner and my dremel. 
 

I really want to play megamania

I know I sound like a broken record but sometimes with Activision carts the problem is not that they need additional cleaning, they just need to be inserted "just right". I've found that they work if you center them but don't push them all the way into the cartridge slot. Just push it in far enough that the pins grip it, and stop there.

 

So maybe try that before you knock yourself out re-cleaning it a million times.

Edited January 23 by Glorkbot

[scifidude79]

I don't have this issue with Activision carts on my 2600+ that others have reported. At least, I don't have any more issues with them running the first time than I do with carts by other manufacturers. I have maybe 5-7 Activision carts and they all work with minimal fuss, as long as they're clean.

 

  

3 hours ago, Peloquin17 said:

Ive picked up a bunch of carts and have been meticulously cleaning them. 
 

first with qtips and alcohol

then with a pencil eraser

back to the qtips

and a final time with the 1up cartridge cleaners. 
 

I still have a small handful of games that aren’t working. 
 

gotta get a new bottle of contact cleaner and my dremel. 
 

I really want to play megamania

Yeah, unfortunately, some games can take a LOT of cleaning to get working. It can lead to you doubting if the cartridge even works. 🙄

[DEANJIMMY]

2 hours ago, Glorkbot said:

I know I sound like a broken record but sometimes with Activision carts the problem is not that they need additional cleaning, they just need to be inserted "just right". I've found that they work if you center them but don't push them all the way into the cartridge slot. Just push it in far enough that the pins grip it, and stop there.

 

So maybe try that before you knock yourself out re-cleaning it a million times.

Same with some Telegames.

If you push them full in, they never work.

Frogs and Flies works even full pushed in but it does not have additional parts soldered at the end of the contacts...

[Glorkbot]

1 hour ago, scifidude79 said:

I have maybe 5-7 Activision carts and they all work with minimal fuss, as long as they're clean.

All of my Activision carts work fully inserted except for Freeway, which doesn't work unless I only partway insert it. So it's certainly not a universal problem with all Activision carts, but it is definitely the reason why some of them are so hard to get working.

[Sean_1970]

6 hours ago, scifidude79 said:

I don't have this issue with Activision carts on my 2600+ that others have reported. At least, I don't have any more issues with them running the first time than I do with carts by other manufacturers. I have maybe 5-7 Activision carts and they all work with minimal fuss, as long as they're clean.

 

  

Yeah, unfortunately, some games can take a LOT of cleaning to get working. It can lead to you doubting if the cartridge even works. 🙄

Starmaster is my “problem” Activision cart. Works most of the time, but sometimes I have to re-seat it 🤷‍♂️

[scifidude79]

See, I don't have Freeway or Starmaster. Maybe that's why I don't have any problems. I have Pitfall, River Raid, Fishing Derby, Barnstorming, Grand Prix, Kaboom!, Decathlon, Dolphin, and Chopper Command. (more than I thought) In fact, Decathlon was the first cartridge I tried on my 2600+ because I got it in a game lot of untested games and it never worked on my Retron 77. Since I don't have a OG 2600, I didn't know if the cart was bad. But, it worked on the first try in the 2600+. 😎

[Glorkbot]

I bought some more Activision carts and I just couldn’t get them to reliably load. It was very frustrating. 

So… cut some pieces of foam (with slots for the contacts and the plastic guides) and inserted them into the carts so that the carts can’t be fully inserted, and that’s working pretty well. Some are Activision carts are still a little iffy on my 2600+ but others that rarely worked before now work every time with the foam inserted.

[Glorkbot]

21 hours ago, scifidude79 said:

See, I don't have Freeway or Starmaster. Maybe that's why I don't have any problems. I have Pitfall, River Raid, Fishing Derby, Barnstorming, Grand Prix, Kaboom!, Decathlon, Dolphin, and Chopper Command. 

I have Pitfall, Grand Prix, Kaboom, Stampede, and Chopper Command and they all load great. My copies of Freeway, Starmaster, and Enduro only work if they’re only partly inserted.

Edited January 25 by Glorkbot

[Video]

11 hours ago, Glorkbot said:

I bought some more Activision carts and I just couldn’t get them to reliably load. It was very frustrating. 

 

So… cut some pieces of foam (with slots for the contacts and the plastic guides) and inserted them into the carts so that the carts can’t be fully inserted, and that’s working pretty well. Some are Activision carts are still a little iffy on my 2600+ but others that rarely worked before now work every time with the foam inserted.

Interesting. Some early Activision titles actually had a foam plug originally, but Activision discontinued that on later carts. I always assumed they were pseudo dust covers, but perhaps they originally served double duty as insert limiters as well?

 

Wonder how hard it would be to have these foam plugs mass produced, I mean, if they actually help in some way, it could be worth a shot.

Edited January 25 by Video

[+LS650]

I have to think that there are different 2600+ production runs using slightly different connectors.  My 2600+ never has these issues with loading Activision (or other carts).  I have more than a dozen Activision carts.  While some did need an initial cleaning, once they were cleaned they fire up perfectly on almost every insert.  

[Glorkbot]

1 hour ago, LS650 said:

I have to think that there are different 2600+ production runs using slightly different connectors.  My 2600+ never has these issues with loading Activision (or other carts).  I have more than a dozen Activision carts.  While some did need an initial cleaning, once they were cleaned they fire up perfectly on almost every insert.  

I agree. That must be the reason.