Hello, I recently ordered a Famicom off of Ebay, and the seller claimed to have cleaned and tested the system. Sure enough, it works, although I do have one minor concern: having never owned a Famicom prior, I have no clue if the eject lever is supposed to be so difficult to pop out a game. It's nothing too terrible, it just requires a good bit of force, and is also a bit squeaky. Just wanted to know if that was a normal thing or not, and if there's anyway to fix it if not. Thanks in advance. ;D
The eject mech is never particularly great, I don't think many people actually use it.
How stiff it is depends on how greatly the cart connector grips the cart. In one way it's good being stiff, as this suggests a tight fit of the cart in the connector which may suggest less use/fatigue and is prone to creating a better connection. There seems to be different types of cart connectors used in various revisions of Famicoms, some tight and some loose. Some with a metal shroud and others without.
Regarding squeeking, dismantle the console and apply a little lubricant to the spring and moving parts of the eject mechanism. I always do this after a dismantle and wash.
Alright, thank you for the confirmation. I was just a tad worried that I had a bad Eject Lever or something, but if you say that's just a normal thing that some variants have, then i'm at ease.
Usually if there's to much tension on the screws it can cause the lever to become very stiff.
I wouldn't use the lever because it scrapes the bottom of the carts. Besides, it's kind of fun to pull the carts out manually
It's perfectly normal. I've found the eject mechanism only works good if you are pulling up on cart as you use the lever with other hand. I like having it because it does make it easy to eject games and it allows the game to be ejected in a uniform manner as well.
Famicom eject mechanism should never be used to be honest. Sometimes if the cart is stiff then you are risking breaking the mechanism inside, the console or the eject button (this one breaks VERY often). Bottom line, eject mechanism is completely unnecessary in consoles (N64 didn't have any and they finally got it right)