Odd connector slot problem

[carpets]

Hi everybody!

So I got ahold of a 2600+ second hand. I think it was an amazon return someone flipped on marketplace. My 2600+ only loves to give me the failure  loading game message. Assuming some crud got on the pins from a game that  hadn't been cleaned well enough by me or whoever tried it first, I cleaned the cartridge slot with a microfiber cloth wrapped around a card and 91% ISP. Long story short, I can get most of my games working, but only after cleaning them out this way and only if I insert the game fairly shortly after. This leads me to believe the games are only connecting correctly because of added moisture, which is not great.  Also, if I leave the game inserted it seems to load up without failure until I try to replace it. I've scrubbed the pins out as thoroughly as I can with ISP and a little bit of fine grit sandpaper. The teeth of the thing look ok as far as I can tell, none appear as obviously bent back as other posters have had problems with. Any tips for getting a better, more consistent connection? Is there a way I could bend those pins out more so they touch better? Is there some way of cleaning that I overlooked? It's SO close to working correctly. My next step would be swapping out the slot with a new one (if I can find something compatible) or one from a 7800. Any info or tips are greatly appreciated.  

[Bakasama]

I’d say you could insert the cart and pull it out a little bit. Its because some games don’t fit correctly.

[MikeM_]

I’ve found Activision and some red label carts work best when inserted part-way. It’s a universally experienced pattern for us. 
 

I believe it’s in part caused because it’s trying to hit the pins in the spot on the games themselves that have been making contact the most over the decades so there is way more wear on the carts themselves. Deoxit has shown to be better than just straight isopropyl alcohol on carts. 
 

I call it a side effect of combining a brand new console with 40 year old carts. 
 

do you see the same issue with any of the new releases? Mr. Run and Jump, Bezerk Enhanced, or the 10 in 1?

[carpets]

14 minutes ago, Bakasama said:

I’d say you could insert the cart and pull it out a little bit. Its because some games don’t fit correctly.

It does seem to help a bit and my chances of success increase, but no matter how I orient or jiggle the cart I can not get it to successfully load without first cleaning with ISP.

[carpets]

3 minutes ago, MikeM_ said:

I’ve found Activision and some red label carts work best when inserted part-way. It’s a universally experienced pattern for us. 
 

I believe it’s in part caused because it’s trying to hit the pins in the spot on the games themselves that have been making contact the most over the decades so there is way more wear on the carts themselves. Deoxit has shown to be better than just straight isopropyl alcohol on carts. 
 

I call it a side effect of combining a brand new console with 40 year old carts. 
 

do you see the same issue with any of the new releases? Mr. Run and Jump, Bezerk Enhanced, or the 10 in 1?

The 10 in 1 is the only new cart I currently own. It too only loads after wiping out the pins. I should have mentioned that in my original post, I really wasn't messing too much with older carts until I got that working (and quite a few rounds of Yar's Revenge in) 

[Video]

Activision seems more problematic with their thinner boards. I was going to suggest the one up cart you can buy from Amazon and others. I actually gutted a common pacman to use as a dust cover (no actual card causing stress on pins, potentially) looking for a nice artwork to put on it, maybe "dust, the video game" instead of pacman with a hole in the label.

 

Could be the carts need more love than just alcohol, maybe deoxit or something? I have little issue with most my games, but a few Activision carts still give issues, could be the cart slot isn't all that tight?

[carpets]

3 minutes ago, Video said:

Activision seems more problematic with their thinner boards. I was going to suggest the one up cart you can buy from Amazon and others. I actually gutted a common pacman to use as a dust cover (no actual card causing stress on pins, potentially) looking for a nice artwork to put on it, maybe "dust, the video game" instead of pacman with a hole in the label.

 

Could be the carts need more love than just alcohol, maybe deoxit or something? I have little issue with most my games, but a few Activision carts still give issues, could be the cart slot isn't all that tight?

2nd recommendation for Deoxit, I think that's my next step. But even my new 10 in one game gives me the same trouble, so I believe it's not just grime and oxidation causing issues. 

I love the idea of a custom gutted dust cover game. Next broken cart I come across I want to make one for myself.  

[+Intellivision Master]

14 hours ago, Bakasama said:

I’d say you could insert the cart and pull it out a little bit. Its because some games don’t fit correctly.

I had to do that with my Dark Carvern cart.  It's the only cart in my collection that has to be inserted and pulled back a little for it to work.  Otherwise the image is all distorted.

[Spanner]

Have you tried puting a piece of cardboard under the card when you slot it in, as big as the slot...?

[shane857]

I don't think it's your 2600+ that's the problem. Different carts sometimes need to be inserted at slightly different angles.

I have had issues with lots of carts not loading first time. Clean the cart well and just try and find the sweet spot for the problematic cartridges. 

[carpets]

1 hour ago, Spanner said:

Have you tried puting a piece of cardboard under the card when you slot it in, as big as the slot...?

That's an interesting idea! If there's a sweet spot of being not quite inserted that would help get it there.

[Glorkbot]

For a few of my Activision carts that wouldn’t load I cut pieces of foam (the size of the mouth of the cart, with slits for the contacts and guideposts) and fit them inside the cart. It keeps the cart from being fully inserted when put in the 2600+.
 

I haven’t had any problem with them not loading since doing this simple fix. Best part is that it’s an easily reversible non-destructive fix. (I saw another fix that involved scrapping the green protective stuff off the board. I knew I didn’t want to do that.)

Edited March 10 by Glorkbot

[MikeM_]

33 minutes ago, Glorkbot said:

For a few of my Activision carts that wouldn’t load I cut pieces of foam (the size of the mouth of the cart, with slits for the contacts and guideposts) and fit them inside the cart. It keeps the cart from being fully inserted when put in the 2600+.
 

I haven’t had any problem with them not loading since doing this simple fix. Best part is that it’s an easily reversible non-destructive fix. (I saw another fix that involved scrapping the green protective stuff off the board. I knew I didn’t want to do that.)

What kind of foam did you use?

[Glorkbot]

On 3/9/2024 at 11:27 PM, MikeM_ said:

What kind of foam did you use?

It was like a sheet of plastic foam that was put into a package I received, as padding. I had to double it up, and for one game I had to triple it. I think the tripled one ended up being a 1/4 inch thick or a little less, but it does compress when you insert the cart.

[shane857]

On 3/10/2024 at 3:53 AM, Glorkbot said:

For a few of my Activision carts that wouldn’t load I cut pieces of foam (the size of the mouth of the cart, with slits for the contacts and guideposts) and fit them inside the cart. It keeps the cart from being fully inserted when put in the 2600+.
 

I haven’t had any problem with them not loading since doing this simple fix. Best part is that it’s an easily reversible non-destructive fix. (I saw another fix that involved scrapping the green protective stuff off the board. I knew I didn’t want to do that.)

Personally I wouldn't go putting stuff into carts or the cartridge slot... If it works for you thou 👍

[Glorkbot]

3 hours ago, shane857 said:

Personally I wouldn't go putting stuff into carts or the cartridge slot... If it works for you thou 👍

The reason I tried it is because I learned that activision carts originally came with foam in the cartridge slot, in their earliest production runs.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

@carpets I actually did replace the cart slot on my 2600+ with one from an actual 7800 donor main board. However, it was NOT a drop in replacement. The 2600+ cart slot uses thinner/smaller pins that solder into the board. As a result the original pins on the 7800 cart slot won't fit. I ended up having to shave away some of the plastic on the bottom of the 7800 slot so that the spacer from the 2600+ would fit (As it is needed to get the right height and support). And then ended up having to cut the pins on the 7800 slot about halfway up. From there I used clipped leads off caps and resistors I've replaced out over the years into the PCB vias as those would fit. And then just soldered each of those clipped leads back to the clipped pins on the actual 7800 slot. It does work though however, I've not actually had any difference between what would or wouldn't load easily doing this. So in the end I've simply voided the warranty on m 2600+ and it now has an actual 7800 cartridge port on it, but yeah... doesn't work any differently as a result.

 

[carpets]

10 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

@carpets I actually did replace the cart slot on my 2600+ with one from an actual 7800 donor main board. However, it was NOT a drop in replacement. The 2600+ cart slot uses thinner/smaller pins that solder into the board. As a result the original pins on the 7800 cart slot won't fit. I ended up having to shave away some of the plastic on the bottom of the 7800 slot so that the spacer from the 2600+ would fit (As it is needed to get the right height and support). And then ended up having to cut the pins on the 7800 slot about halfway up. From there I used clipped leads off caps and resistors I've replaced out over the years into the PCB vias as those would fit. And then just soldered each of those clipped leads back to the clipped pins on the actual 7800 slot. It does work though however, I've not actually had any difference between what would or wouldn't load easily doing this. So in the end I've simply voided the warranty on m 2600+ and it now has an actual 7800 cartridge port on it, but yeah... doesn't work any differently as a result.

 

I came across your post about that while trying to figure out what i should do to fix things. It's dismaying to hear it didn't improve things for you but good to know it'll still run with a different cartridge port. I'd love to know why you replaced your original. Like, how bad are your loading issues? Also I'd love to see any pics you might have from this project!

[Spanner]

Here is the card I use under the cartridge, MS. PACMAN cart wobbles in the slot, I stick the card under it and it stops wobbling, it keeps the cart at the right angle in the slot and loads the cart ok...
Just noticed something, MS. PACMAN has `P` after its name on the top of the cartridge, what's that for... `P for PAL version`, does it have a `N` on it for `NTSC version` if its a US cart, my cart is a UK cartridge, all my carts are PAL...?

Edited March 18 by Spanner

[MikeM_]

3 hours ago, Spanner said:

…
Just noticed something, MS. PACMAN has `P` after its name on the top of the cartridge, what's that for... `P for PAL version`, does it have a `N` on it for `NTSC version` if its a US cart, my cart is a UK cartridge, all my carts are PAL...?

Yes, P on the label means PAL. 
 

NTSC carts do not have any identification as such and just have the name of the game.