how often do the cartridges give you problems?

[awsomo3000]

for the longest time i only had about 10 games for my atari and they all worked great and never gave me any problems. But i recently went to the same game store i got my other ones and bought about 10 more. The new ones i got dont work all that well.Somtimes you need to try them several times before they work, even then a few still give me problem, like glitching in the middle of a game. Since im reletivly new to the 2600 i was wondering how common these sorts of problem are on it. Did i get lucky with my first 10 game? should i take these games back. Am i overreacting? tune in next week to find out, i mean any help would be appricaiated.

[keilbaca]

Easy. Take rubbing alcohol and clean the carts with a q-tip. Or my favorite way of cleaning, and a more pernament solution, a fine grain piece of sandpaper. Does wonders on Atari, NES and SNES games!

 

Back at japan there was a store called hard off. There were "not working" games for like 30 cents apiece, for both famicom and super famicom. I scooped them up, took the light grain sandpaper to em, works perfect to this day (that was a good 5-6 months ago) and they still work every time, the first time.

[awsomo3000]

Easy. Take rubbing alcohol and clean the carts with a q-tip. Or my favorite way of cleaning, and a more pernament solution, a fine grain piece of sandpaper. Does wonders on Atari, NES and SNES games!

 

Back at japan there was a store called hard off. There were "not working" games for like 30 cents apiece, for both famicom and super famicom. I scooped them up, took the light grain sandpaper to em, works perfect to this day (that was a good 5-6 months ago) and they still work every time, the first time.

838509[/snapback]

i did use achohol, but not with a q tip, i used a napkin. Would that realy make any difference?

sand paper realy?

[Mindfield]

Napkins would be more coarse, and would probably leave behind paper fibers. Probably not a big deal in the short term but it may decrease the life of the carts by wearing down the contacts a little more quickly. Q-Tips are gentler and still work very well for removing dust and dirt. I've used 'em on even absurdly filthy carts and it hasn't failed me yet.

[ATARIPITBULL]

You bought 10 carts fpr your 2600 and all have given you problems, what games did you buy?

 

[caleiam]

I wish i could find a store that sold 2600 games All my local stores go as far back as my NES, and they charge way too much for them.

[bloodreptile]

Thats why ebay is so good.

[awsomo3000]

You bought 10 carts fpr your 2600 and all have given you problems, what games did you buy?

 

     

838631[/snapback]

 

actualy it was 11, they all did give me problems, but after a good cleaning only about 4 of them do. If there realy that bad i can take them back. im gonna try a q tip on the bad ones when i get around to it.

[taxman]

If a couple good cleanings don't do the trick, then I resort to using a pencil eraser and that has helped too.

[AlexKIDD]

I have about 50 games and they all work fine except the Activision ones. Those work eventually but have to be tried a few times and moved around a bit. The only one I can't get to work at all is Kaboom.

[awsomo3000]

I have about 50 games and they all work fine except the Activision ones. Those work eventually but have to be tried a few times and moved around a bit. The only one I can't get to work at all is Kaboom.

838754[/snapback]

 

yup thats the same way with mine. My kaboom works,but very rarly and badly, the other one i have problems with is river raid.

[keilbaca]

Also do this. You stuck all your dirty carts in there, now its time to clean the console.

 

Take a known clean good game. Soak the q-tip with rubbing alcohol. Insert the cartridge 10 times at least. Clean the cart again, Insert 10 or so times again. Repeat a few more tries, and you shouldn't have any problems.

[gospeedde]

Sometimes the Activision carts like it if you don't quite insert them all the way and will only work if you pull them out slightly before turning the system on.

[ApolloBoy]

I've found that this stuff works well.

[AtariAger]

I found this site a while ago...Very nice write-up! He suggests 90% alcohol to clean carts & I agree. I actually use 91%... ...I one up'd him!

 

http://tomheroes.com/Video%20Games%20FS/collecti.htm

 

...It must have been written some time ago! Check out his cart prices... ?

[Lord Helmet]

I've found that this stuff works well.

838881[/snapback]

 

I swore that this link was going to be for Armor All...

 

 

 

 

 

...a really over used AA joke...

[jsoper]

Out of 400+ 2600 carts I've tried the only dead one was a Cosmic Commuter off Ebay, never did bring it back to life, grumble-grumble.

[davepesc]

Out of almost 600 carts that have passed through my hands in the last couple years, I have found three that I can't make work, Missile command and Video chess for the 2600 and Street Fighter 2 for the Genny. I still have the three carts because I just can't believe they are really dead.

[awsomo3000]

after several good cleaning, all exept one of the carts is working good. And thats kaboom. For some reason it only works about one is thirty tries.

o well

[Kroko]

after several good cleaning, all exept one of the carts is working good. And thats kaboom. For some reason it only works about one is thirty tries.

  o well

839411[/snapback]

 

Hm.... Do you have any idea why Kaboom makes more trouble than the ordinary 2K cart ? Bad contacts ? Bad PCB or bad chip ?

[awsomo3000]

after several good cleaning, all exept one of the carts is working good. And thats kaboom. For some reason it only works about one is thirty tries.

  o well

839411[/snapback]

 

Hm.... Do you have any idea why Kaboom makes more trouble than the ordinary 2K cart ? Bad contacts ? Bad PCB or bad chip ?

839473[/snapback]

 

no i have no idea, but it is kinda weird isn't it.....

[wildman]

i actually use sandpaper on all my nintendo games. well not sand paper but a sanding sponge for sanding drywall mud.. its the only way to get an old tengen game to work. i dont even screw around with alchohol anymore wast of my time. if you do use this method i would make sure the sponge of fine grit and well used. takes the green copper oxide right off.then the carts work every time.

[keilbaca]

I made me a magic stick (thats what i call it) with a few swipes will make any NES or Atari game work! You need the following:

 

A durable stick (I used a flathead screwdriver).

Tape.

very fine grit sandpaper (I am using 800 grit).

 

1. Take (in my case) the screwdriver, and wrap it with tape. The reason is so the metal doesn't cut the sandpaper.

 

2. Cut a piece of sandpaper, and wrap it around several times.

 

3. About an inch and ahalf down (this will reach most games) use your tape, and start wrapping it together. Wrap it all the way down until you get to the metal.

 

Now, all you do, is swipe the magic stick over the contacts a few times on both sides, and it works.

 

Now, back at japan, there was a place called Hard Off. I think it means hardware offprice but whatever. They had a Junk section, that they had LOTS of super famicom and famicom games (this is where most of my collection came from). They had these games listed for say, 30-40 cents apiece, and they're "not working". So I buy all of these up. Used my magic stick (had to replace the sandpaper a couple times because I was cleaning in upwards of at least 30-50 carts), and every single game worked.

 

And yes, this also works on Tengen carts, made a dead Gauntlet working again.

Edited April 18, 2005 by keilbaca

[Cobra Commander]

this is some good stuff I spray it in the bottom of a little glass jar (baby food or relish) with my hand over the top to keep it from shooting out the top, and dip a swab in and scrub a little. its also a lube witch is great too.

[Big Player]

My rule of thumb is to clean every cart I find in the wild with alcohol and Q-tips before it ever touches my 2600--even if the contacts look clean.