Cleaning Intellivision carts & cart connector

[nightglider1]

Some of my carts use screws that use a triangular bit. Any idea where I can obtain a triangular screwdriver bit in order to open those carts for cleaning?

 

Also, I have been advised to use a thin piece of cardboard, spray with contact cleaner, and insert and remove from the cartridge connector. How well does this work?

[Rev]

you are cleaning the inside of the carts too? i always just cleaned the outside and the contacts. you go the extra mile!

 

i also use classic clean,ever use that?

[edintv]

Some of my carts use screws that use a triangular bit. Any idea where I can obtain a triangular screwdriver bit in order to open those carts for cleaning?

 

Also, I have been advised to use a thin piece of cardboard, spray with contact cleaner, and insert and remove from the cartridge connector. How well does this work?

 

Hi,

 

I Find that bit in a Chinese-Made set, with 40 bites of any kind and very cheap. Try to find any place who sells variety of chinese imports (Sorry, that will be 99% of U.S ).

 

For the Contact cleaner, I use instead oil in spray, who dissolves the dirt and then, use the cardboard to remove the oil and the dirt. Of course we live in different countries and the products may be different, The oil I use i an standard for Mechanical work (Spray very hard to loose bolts with it) my friends and I use that trick with a large variety of systems and they revive from the dead.

 

That trick is not mine, I laerned from a guy whoa had worked with video games 30 years and was trained in mattel (to cover warranties)

[nightglider1]

you are cleaning the inside of the carts too? i always just cleaned the outside and the contacts. you go the extra mile!

 

i also use classic clean,ever use that?

Well, when I say that I'm opening the carts, it's so that I can more easily access the pins. I can stick a cleaning swab in the open end of the cart, but it's tough to make sure I get all the crud off of the pins. I'm not (yet) to the point where I clean the chips and circuit board.

 

I'm not familiar with Classic Clean. I'll have to Google it.

[dooglehead]

I just took a nail (a metal nail, not a fingernail) and filed the end down into the shape of a triangle, and it works!

Edited September 3, 2010 by dooglehead

[edintv]

you are cleaning the inside of the carts too? i always just cleaned the outside and the contacts. you go the extra mile!

 

i also use classic clean,ever use that?

Well, when I say that I'm opening the carts, it's so that I can more easily access the pins. I can stick a cleaning swab in the open end of the cart, but it's tough to make sure I get all the crud off of the pins. I'm not (yet) to the point where I clean the chips and circuit board.

 

I'm not familiar with Classic Clean. I'll have to Google it.

 

I do open the carts and apply and ink erasor, the contacts shine like new! and you can forget about cleaning for several years! also i have recovered tons of carts who normally people think they are bad beyond repair..

[nightglider1]

I came up with what seems to be a good method of cleaning the cart connector. I purchased a foam rubber paintbrush, soaked the end of it in contact cleaner, and then inserted it into the console slot. The foam is malleable, so it pushes into the cart connector and makes contact with the pins. Hopefully this, along with plenty of compressed air, will get things nice and clean.

[oldjd]

Some of my carts use screws that use a triangular bit. Any idea where I can obtain a triangular screwdriver bit in order to open those carts for cleaning?

 

Also, I have been advised to use a thin piece of cardboard, spray with contact cleaner, and insert and remove from the cartridge connector. How well does this work?

 

Hi,

 

I Find that bit in a Chinese-Made set, with 40 bites of any kind and very cheap. Try to find any place who sells variety of chinese imports (Sorry, that will be 99% of U.S ).

 

For the Contact cleaner, I use instead oil in spray, who dissolves the dirt and then, use the cardboard to remove the oil and the dirt. Of course we live in different countries and the products may be different, The oil I use i an standard for Mechanical work (Spray very hard to loose bolts with it) my friends and I use that trick with a large variety of systems and they revive from the dead.

 

That trick is not mine, I laerned from a guy whoa had worked with video games 30 years and was trained in mattel (to cover warranties)

 

Sounds like your using WD-40,or something similar????/Cant see how that would be good for the contacts long term/wouldnt that attract more dirt?

[edintv]

Some of my carts use screws that use a triangular bit. Any idea where I can obtain a triangular screwdriver bit in order to open those carts for cleaning?

 

Also, I have been advised to use a thin piece of cardboard, spray with contact cleaner, and insert and remove from the cartridge connector. How well does this work?

 

Hi,

 

I Find that bit in a Chinese-Made set, with 40 bites of any kind and very cheap. Try to find any place who sells variety of chinese imports (Sorry, that will be 99% of U.S ).

 

For the Contact cleaner, I use instead oil in spray, who dissolves the dirt and then, use the cardboard to remove the oil and the dirt. Of course we live in different countries and the products may be different, The oil I use i an standard for Mechanical work (Spray very hard to loose bolts with it) my friends and I use that trick with a large variety of systems and they revive from the dead.

 

That trick is not mine, I laerned from a guy whoa had worked with video games 30 years and was trained in mattel (to cover warranties)

 

Sounds like your using WD-40,or something similar????/Cant see how that would be good for the contacts long term/wouldnt that attract more dirt?

 

I´m in Venezuela, so the brands are very different. Sometimes (for a quick fix) I just, spray the oil and insert a common cart, and just insert and reinsert a few times (and move to the sides) and the system work again.

 

For the systems long term, I remove the oil with a cardboard the size of a cart, until is clean. I Also clean the carts very carefully, open the cart when is possible and apply the ink erasor, my rate for bad cart are only 1% (I recover like 30 from the dead with this method). In other post of the same subject, I posted some Pics of before and after the cleaning, maybe later i can post a pic of the erasor..

 

Here´s the post:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/168109-games-crashing-to-green-screen/page__p__2079018__fromsearch__1#entry2079018

[SRG]

I use ClassiClean and so far have only 2 games that I have not been able to get to work after cleaning, they were Coleco games for what it is worth... I like ClassiClean because you can use it on the carts, on the system, on the joysticks, everything. I have even used it to get sticker price gunk off a label and it did a pretty good job removing some sharpie on a label of a pretty valuable Genesis cart.

[jasonbar]

I just took a nail (a metal nail, not a fingernail) and filed the end down into the shape of a triangle, and it works!

 

Dooglehead, you rock so much.

 

I've been working all weekend on setting up my Cuttle Cart 3 & getting the menu all tuned in how I like it & testing out all the games, etc.

 

When it came time to house the PCB, I gasped when I saw those funky triangle fasteners. 5 minutes with a file & a nail & I got them out with ease.

 

Thanks for the great tip!

 

-Jason

[dooglehead]

I just took a nail (a metal nail, not a fingernail) and filed the end down into the shape of a triangle, and it works!

 

Dooglehead, you rock so much.

 

I've been working all weekend on setting up my Cuttle Cart 3 & getting the menu all tuned in how I like it & testing out all the games, etc.

 

When it came time to house the PCB, I gasped when I saw those funky triangle fasteners. 5 minutes with a file & a nail & I got them out with ease.

 

Thanks for the great tip!

 

-Jason

 

Glad to hear that my technique works with other people too.

[tz101]

For the cart connector slot in the console, use fine sandpaper folded in half, then run it back and forth a few times in the slot. Follow this by using an old toothbrush soaked in 91% isopropyl alcohol, again back and forth in the slot a few times. This should make your INTV cart slot good as new.

[SlowCoder]

I tried the sandpaper method, but hated hearing the sound as it scraped back and forth in the slot. I just know it does damage. URGH.

 

My solution is to clean up a cart's connectors really well. Then I will douse that cart's connectors in alcohol, and use it to show some good love to my system's slot. In and out. Yeah, baby. You like that, don'tcha?

 

Wait, was that a bit more than you wanted?

 

Anyway, it seems to work without scratching the heck out of the machine. And I think with normal maintenance it'll stay clean.

 

I don't yet have an intv, but this is the method I've used on all my atariage and my CV. All working great. And as recommended, always clean any newly received carts BEFORE inserting them into your console the first time. This will help prevent foreign particles entering your console.

Edited November 1, 2010 by SlowCoder