Loose cart connection in a Famicom AV

[satopunch89]

Not much to say here. My Famicom AV seems to struggle when reading games. It usually turns on to just a blank white screen (although sometimes it's another cover). If I continuously remove and re-insert the cart, and keep moving it about while resetting, I can eventually get it working, but obviously this is quite a lot of hassle.

I have a couple of games which I recently bought from some stores in Japan which have been thoroughly cleaned, and these only take a couple of tries at most to get working. This leads me to believe the cause of the problem might be the consoles' cartridge connector being dirty. That being said, the carts are *very* loose in the cartridge slot, so it's possible they're just not positioned right?

Anyway, if anyone could help me further diagnose what the problem might be, or can tell me any ways to fix it, that would be really helpful. In any case, I'd like to know what the best way to go about cleaning the console's cartridge slot might be? Some sort of rubbing alcohol I assume, but which type/strength?

Thanks a lot!

[krzy]

Replace cartridge slot (impossible without special electronic vacuum solder sucker)

[P]

How much is *very* though? I have a Famicom I suspect had its cartridge connector been replaced on and while it's tight and has no problems connecting (as long as the games are clean) there are still some wiggle room compared to a Super Famicom for example.

[satopunch89]

Replace cartridge slot (impossible without special electronic vacuum solder sucker)

Is it not possible to just clean the existing slot/connector out?

How much is *very* though? I have a Famicom I suspect had its cartridge connector been replaced on and while it's tight and has no problems connecting (as long as the games are clean) there are still some wiggle room compared to a Super Famicom for example.

Fair enough, I might have overstated it slightly. The cartridge wobbles without much resistance, however usually once the cart is in and actually working it's totally fine. Definitely looser than, say, my PAL SNES though.

[krzy]

From my experience, best way of cleaning connector (of a consoles that were not used for many years) is just to put in and out the cartridge around 20 times. After that test if during game, slightly pushing cartridge makes game to freeze/show broken graphics. If yes, probably connector needs replacement. They can be bought for 2$ on aliexpress.

[P]

There are also cartridge cleaning tools especially made for video games.

Or you could try the t-shirt credit card trick. Cover a t-shirt or other thin cloth soaked in isopropyl alcohol over a credit card-sized plastic card that you don't need and slide it in the slot over and over. Other people use a toothbrush soaked in isopropyl alcohol.

[satopunch89]

From my experience, best way of cleaning connector (of a consoles that were not used for many years) is just to put in and out the cartridge around 20 times. After that test if during game, slightly pushing cartridge makes game to freeze/show broken graphics. If yes, probably connector needs replacement. They can be bought for 2$ on aliexpress.

Hey, this actually worked! I don't know if it's a permanent solution, but even my dirtiest cart (Dragon Quest) works just fine once I've pulled a cleaner cart in and out about 20 times. Thanks for the tip.

There are also cartridge cleaning tools especially made for video games.

Or you could try the t-shirt credit card trick. Cover a t-shirt or other thin cloth soaked in isopropyl alcohol over a credit card-sized plastic card that you don't need and slide it in the slot over and over. Other people use a toothbrush soaked in isopropyl alcohol.

I might try this actually. I need to get some isopropyl to clean my carts anyway (I believe that's safe? I could be wrong) so might as well try and sort the connector as well.

[P]

Yeah high alcohol content (90%+) is the least bad thing as it evaporates fast which minimizes oxidation of the metal pins. But it's still water-based so make sure to let it dry properly (I wait at least an hour) before you turn on power. On badly oxidised carts you need to scrape off old oxidised metal then clean again with isopropyl. This can be done with fine sandpaper, sand-eraser or a fiberglass brush.