So i had an extra NES toaster console that i received a while back while purchasing some other games and items but it absolutely refused to work no matter how clean the games were. I had mulled over getting a new 72 pin, but my experience in the past with one i purchased for another unit left me with a bad impression due to the low quality of the one i received which paled in comparison to the OEM Nintendo connector.
We are going to clean/refurb the original connector by boiling it in water. Yes, water. Thanks to ZoOmer over at nintendo age for bringing the idea to my attention. NA thread is here: boil NES 72 pin
Ok ! Lets do this !
first thing you need is an NES and a place to work. I like to use a clean towel to help keep any screws or parts from rolling away.
Now flip that thing over and take out the six screws that hold the top of the unit to the base.
Once those are removed turn the unit back over and gently lift the topcover off.
Underneath the topcover you will find the RF shielding metal cover. There are 7 screws around the perimeter that you will need to remove.
Once those have been removed carefully lift the RF shield off the unit. It can sometimes catch on the projection on the ride side where the power supply unit is, and may take a bit of wiggling to come loose.
Next remove the 6 screws that hold the cartridge tray to the mainboard. Note that two of the screws are longer than the other 4 and need to be placed back in the correct spot for everything to fit back together correctly. These 2 longer screws are the second from the top on the back of the cartridge tray looking down on it from the front of the NES.
Now there are two last screws that need to be removed and are located on the top left of the power supply (in right rear corner of the NES next to the RF jack) and the far right front of the power supply (next to the red audio RCA jack). With the mainboard free you can now slide the cartridge tray out the front.
Now carefully lift the entire mainboard assembly from the bottom case plastic. Be wary of any of the controller port wires or power/reset switches getting caught on anything.
Now you should be able to gently wiggle the 72 pin connector off the main board with gentle upward pressure (mine was a bit stuck after 28+ years).
Now take the 72 pin connector and head to the kitchen to find a small saucepan that it will fit in and will allow it to be completely submerged with an inch or two of water above it. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat a bit (careful not to boil over), drop your connector in and let the whole thing boil for 10 minutes or so. Don't worry about the plastic melting as long as there is water in the pan the temperature of the pan will never get hot enough to melt the connector.
After 10 minutes, take the pan to the sink and dump the water out (careful not to scald yourself) and place the connector on a towel to dry. After an hour or so you should be ready for reinstall, just verify that the connector is completely dry.
Some people take an extra step here and use a piece of cardboard (cereal box thickness) or an NES cleaning kit to work the pins a bit and polish up the contacts. I did not do this as after boiling the contacts looked fine so depending on the condition of your connector this extra step may be useful.
To reinstall, carefully slide the 72 pin back onto the mainboard making sure that it is fully and firmly seated. place the mainboad back into its correct position making sure the bottom RF heatshield is laying flat and that none of the controller or power button wires are being pinched between the bottom mounting posts and mainboard.
The tricky part here is to make sure the cartridge tray is correctly reinstalled as there is a small plastic tab at the front (behind the white piece in picture below) and needs to slide over the bottom of the mainboard. If this is not installed correctly you make damage your mainboard or cartridge tray or at the very least your tray will not operate correctly.
Now reinstall the six screws holding the cartridge tray to the mainboard ensuring the two longer screws are in the second from the back holes.
Put the RF shield back over the top of the cartridge tray and mainboard and reinstall the seven screws that hold it down. Once those are snug, reinstall the topcover and put your six screws back in and you are done ! Enjoy a much more reliable first try game startup experience ! (provided your games are clean).
When i first read about this on Nintendo Age, i was pretty skeptical that it would actually work, but i had a toaster unit that would absolutely not work under any circumstances and decided to give it a shot. Low and behold, upon reinstalling i slapped a tetris cart in (not bothering to put it back together in case it didn't work) it fired up on the first try and i became a believer. I have since done this to all my NES units and am a firm believer that this really works.
Happy Gaming !!
No comments:
Post a Comment