Anyone have a suggestion to how to clean my carts?
Do I need a special product of some kind or?

Most people here clean their games with diluted rubbing alchool and a q-tip.
I usually use 1 part water to 4 parts alchohol and it seems to work great.

alcohool as in vodka or can I use something else?

Use cleaning alcohol, but check that it doesn't contain more then 80% alcohol.

I've used hand sanitizer before.

ils wrote on 10. Dec 2006 at 21:05:

alcohool as in vodka or can I use something else?

LoL! -are you kidding me?  :D

Qtip + Windex = Clean!

No liquid needed.  Scotch-brite scour pad...It's the only thing that actually removes the oxidation.

Ken

I use easy-off glass cook top cleaner I found it works great :)

I use a eraser and a cleaner called Versatile  works great.

Heck, someone even said running it under the tap worked.  Stupid warnings on the back don't even know what they're talking about. http://tintsshades.port5.com/images/hmph.gif

I open the cartridge and spray the contact pads with a spray for cleaning electric contact surfaces (Got it at an elctronics store for 50 SEK ~6 euro) and just wipe it off. Works like a charm.

I tried the eraser once, but didn't like the results I got from it.

..seemed to make it even more dirty... :(

Widar wrote on 11. Dec 2006 at 16:31:

I open the cartridge and spray the contact pads with a spray for cleaning electric contact surfaces (Got it at an elctronics store for 50 SEK ~6 euro) and just wipe it off. Works like a charm.

you dont happen to know what its called.. I might get hold of it Norway..

ils wrote on 12. Dec 2006 at 15:27:

you dont happen to know what its called.. I might get hold of it Norway..

This is it; and I dunno if they raised the price or if my memory failed me... Probably my memory. :)

http://www.kjell.com/?item=18316&path=

Cheers,

Tnx!
What do you  use to open the games? Is it an official screw driver or something? Also what do you use to whipe off after cleaned:)

You shouldn't need to open the games if you are just trying to clean the contacts on the bottom of the cart where it plugs in.  Just spray your stuff and take a cotton swab and rub it back and forth to cause some friction.  When the cotton swab comes out looking all black you'll know it's working. :)

Don't use plain water or diluted alcohol folks. The more pure the better.

NES contacts are made from copper. Copper oxidation is not conductive and makes the games error and eventually cease to function without a "traumatic" cleaning (scouring pad).

The statue of liberty is made from copper. The rain has made her green with oxidation.

The copper begins to oxidize the moment it's in touch with a liquid. Alcohol dries more quickly and therefore the more pure, the less damage to your contacts. Alcohol will not damage, dissolve or otherwise harm copper any more than tap water, except for the corrosion.

Most of what you clean off of contacts is dirt, stuck to it by static electricity. This is why water "works" but is not the best for long-term use; you'll replace the dirt with the verdigris.

dang evin you know your stuff lol. Whatta ya mean by scouring pad? Also do you know anything about that copper cleaner stuff?

If alcohol works so well, why does the back of every cartridge say not to use alcohol?  Not saying you're wrong, just a general question.

The later releases have stickers on the back that say "THIS GAME PAK MUST BE CLEANED REGULARLY" ...

&, of course, "USE THE NES CLEANING KIT™ ONLY." http://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/geno/rofl.gif

mewithoutYou52 wrote on 14. Dec 2006 at 23:44:

You shouldn't need to open the games if you are just trying to clean the contacts on the bottom of the cart where it plugs in.  Just spray your stuff and take a cotton swab and rub it back and forth to cause some friction.  When the cotton swab comes out looking all black you'll know it's working. :)

It's a LOT easier to get all and the whole pads clean by opening it! I did the cotton swab before i got my 3.8 mm bit and i re-cleaned those games afterwards... They needed it. Much easier to apply a little preasure to the pads if the cart is opened! :)

mewithoutYou52 wrote on 22. Dec 2006 at 00:13:

If alcohol works so well, why does the back of every cartridge say not to use alcohol?  Not saying you're wrong, just a general question.

Most likely for liability reasons. Nintendo games were targeted at kids ages 6-15. Kids that young should only be using any sort of alcohol with supervision, like in a chemistry classroom, or with their parent's help to dress a wound.

My dad used to have a jug of pure ethanol for cleaning contacts in the field, he used to work in radio comm in the army. Won't chemically do a thing to copper. Cooktop cleaners are a good alternative because many of them include alcohol as their suspension medium, and also include detergents. The advantage is it smells a lot better than the purer forms of alcohol, and the detergent cleans up the dust in the cart like a cinch. At Dain's recommendation, I use Weiman's Cooktop Cleaner because it's easy to find (Wal-Mart cleaning aisle). But anything with alcohol and detergent is fine.

Over long-term use oxidation will happen between any electronic connection that's not soldered/airtight. Thing is, NES carts don't stay in the unit long-term, and if they do they're in storage and not plugged in the whole time. The kind of oxidation you may have read about in numerous FAQ's simply doesn't have time to set in on an NES cart. Probably 99% of the crud on a cart's connection is dust, dirt so the surfactants in detergent literally pull the filth off and it redeposits on your q-tip. I've had relatively clean-looking carts produce q-tips that look like they were dipped in motor oil after using Weiman's.

Pinball machines, arcade machines where the chip/rom is soft-plugged into the board, or the boards are plugged into one another will develop true oxidation over time as they're left on for days, months, years on end. Then you can use the scotch-brite, or pencil erasers, or whatever. Otherwise, q-tips require a lot less elbow grease, are cheaper and more disposable. :)

I just picked up an Automatic Game Cartridge Cleaner made by PROCARE.  
Cleans NES, Super NES, SEGA, GAMEBOY, and SEGA GAME GEAR carts.  Runs on 2 AA batteries or a 3v DC cord.    Doesnt clean games very good but its pretty cool.  Ill snap pics later for those interested.   Andy http://i11.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/81/67/b8b7_1_b.JPG