Archive for Repair

5 March, 2009 | No comments

Revisiting RetroRepairs: Tengen Carts

This week on Digital Press forum member NES Rules asked how to open a Tengen Cart. Tengen was a company known for releasing titles for the NES without a licence. Without a licence Tengen had more liberties with cartridge design, and ended up with odd looking fellows like Gauntlet here.

Not being an official NES cart also means that the screws holding the thing together are not the security bits you would expect to see, but instead they used Torx screws. Torx screws are like a 6 pointed star. They can be purchased as magnet bits like the security bits or they can be bought in a key set like the one I have here.

All you need to open a Tengen cart is a T10 which is fairly small. There are 3 screws in the back of the cart. 2 are easy to see, but the third is hidden in the middle of the label. There are 2 dips near the middle of the sticker, the upper one is just part of the plastic molding, the other is the actual screw. I tried to use a razor blade to remove the sticker without damaging it, but here is what I got for the trouble.

So I could not get the label to come up kindly (let me know if anyone knows a nice way to lift this kind of label). I ended up slicing around the circle of the screw just partially so that I could get to the screw but still push that bit of the label back down afterwards. Here is where it is in the label.

To open the cart just remove the 3 screws and list from the bottom as the top of the cart has tabs similar to a regular NES cart. Opening this cart up we can see that even the inside is quite different from a standard NES cart. The chipset is larger and even the board has a different style to it. Check it out!

Well you know how to clean the cart so I will leave you here. As for the cut, these are tools I can recommend for that.

Good Night!

22 February, 2009 | 1 comment

RetroRepairs 101 : Cartridge Cleaning

Welcome to the first RetroRepairs 101. While I will delve deeper as classes continue I think a good foundation is important. Cartridge cleaning is something that anyone playing older games will need to do from time to time. For those afraid of messing with electronics on even the most basic level this is a repair that can be done with no knowledge and with a standard cleaning you will rarely need any tools. Still scared? Pick a sacrificial lamb from you game stack. here is my victim for today.

Normally you know that a game needs cleaning when it will not load on the console. Things such as the power light blinking and odd colors on the screen are a pretty good sign. Other things can cause these symptoms, but a dirty cart is the most common and easiest to rectify.  The normal tools you will need are Alcohol and cotton swabs.  In addition to that I also have security bits and a toothbrush (I will explain these in a bit).

Quite simply you are going to dampen an end of the cotton swab with the alcohol. I am using 91% Isopropyl alcohol which can be found in any drug store. It is best to use alcohol with the higher percentages of purity because the purpose of using it in the first place is quick evaporation and a higher percentage on the bottle means it will dry that much quicker. You will not be completely soaking the cotton swab, you just want it moist to the touch without any drippage.  You will be inserting the cotton swab into the cart here.

You will be moving the cotton swab from left to right cleaning the contacts. Be sure to do this to both sides of the contacts (the board in the middle of the slot). You should end up with some vauge funk on the cotton swab.

Continue doing this until the cotton swab comes out white. For a really dirty cartridge this could take several cotton swabs.  Once your done give the cart just a few moments for it to completely dry before inserting it back in your console. You can dry with a fresh cotton swab, but you will have to be very careful of it leaving strands of cotton behind in the cart. Now lets assume that this simply was not enough, and the cart continues to malfunction. Perhaps it was kept is some seriously squalor conditions. If so, then it is time to move to open heart surgery. On a cart this will require security bits. They can be picked up anywhere, you will be looking for 3.8 mm. Just type security bit for Nintendo into Google and you will have a wealth of options. Here is what these bits look like.

The security bit is used to open the cart. The three screws are easy to see on the back of the cart, just turn them counter-clockwise to take them out.

The cartridge has little plastic tabs at the top, so once you get the screws out open it by lifting from the bottom and it should come right off. Try not to be shocked by the small size of the actual board.

You can lift the board right out of the cartridge casing and examine it. If something is actually damaged you will probably see it right away. If not this gives us a chance to clean things really good with a toothbrush. (They say the green bits are good for the gums)

Be sure you are using soft bristles. You will dip the tooth brush in the alcohol and simply scrub the contacts on the board. Be sure you are only brushing the copper colored part. Now you have some really shiny contacts. I also take this opportunity to clean the inside of the casing and wipe down the whole board too.

Once this is done, just lay the board back in the cart casing and close it. Be sure to insert the tabs at the top of the cart first.

Be sure that when putting the security screws back in you do not over tighten them. They can be easy to strip. Once they are holding everything firmly it comes time for the moment of truth.

Now we can play Deadly Towers again….yay.

If you have any questions, concerns, or additional suggestions on cartridge cleaning leave it here in the comments.