My poor Defender cart - apparent wood/glue fix

[digdugnate]

I got a Defender cart via eBay some time ago, but was really not thrilled to see that it had been sloppily glued on the outside and a piece of electrical tape on the top to cover where it was broken.

 

I ended up finding a NiB copy to replace it so finally got around to taking the busted one apart. I figured maybe i could salvage the chip out of the cart- I don't think I'll be able to.

[+mizapf]

Reminds me of my own Defender cartridge ... when I recently opened it again, I saw what I seem to have completely flushed out of my memory: Obviously, I had the well-known trouble after opening the cartridge that nothing stayed in its place anymore.

 

The bricks at the end of the cartridge are from Fischertechnik. I'm nor sure whether they are known outside of Germany, but they were and are still pretty popular for building models of machines or buildings. Also, a wrapped piece of paper provides some support for the PCB.

[digdugnate]

yours looks much cleaner to me than the one that i got. I realized first-hand after getting a couple of these broken Atarisoft carts that they were not really intended to be disassembled, lol.

 

I have a pet project where a friend is going to 3D-print a replacement shell for Centipede, but it's fairly low-priority for us.

 

Of course.. I guess the argument could be made as well that they didn't expect people to be messing with this stuff 30+ years later, either.

[+jedimatt42]

I can remember being told as a kid, "DO NOT take apart an Atari cartridge".

 

These photos are good reminders!

 

-M@

[PeBo]

Those are unbelievable. I can't believe I've had such massive luck with my purchases...well except for the one that took two years to get here, but that was not intentional on the part of the seller.

 

Fishertechnik kinda looks like a modern day Mechano (except made of plastic)

 

And Digdugnate, perhaps the seller was just trying for a "green" cartridge replacing the broken plastic with environmentally-friendly wood replacement parts (and what could be more retro than a wood trim cartridge...kinda like a '72 Pinto).

 

(Mighty stupid using electrical tape to hold it together though. Everyone knows that ductape fixes ANYTHING!

 

I've never tried to open an Atari cart because of what I've read, but has anyone ever opened a Parker Bros cart? I know there's a hole under the label, is there a screw or a tab in there? Can they be easily re-assembled. I ask because I would really like to make a correct shell/label for Tutankham (or what WOULD have been the correct shell/label, had it ever been released).While I would be willing to open one of the three originals if I could find a cheap one (they do show up label-less from time to time), but I'd sure hate to destroy one for no reason.

Edited July 29, 2017 by PeBo

[+Ksarul]

Opening the PB cases is a real pain. They are glued closed. That said, a dremel with a very fine circular blade attachment can be used to cut through the edges. You'd still have the center posts possibly breaking, but sone ov the UC-sensitive plastic glue you can get now works great to fix any problems that might cause. Then you just need to do some inside trimming to get an UberGROM board to fit in there (Mantadoc did that with one, IIRC), glue the case shut with the UC glue, and voila, the game is encased. I have some vinyl labels that will fit on there too (though they will need to be trimmed a little to get the right rhomboidal shape).

[cbmeeks]

You young whippersnappers and your modern plastic cases! In my day all of our computer cartridges were made from wood! Oak like a real man would use.

 

Now get off my lawn!

 

Lol

[PeBo]

You young whippersnappers and your modern plastic cases! In my day all of our computer cartridges were made from wood! Oak like a real man would use.

 

Now get off my lawn!

 

Lol

But weren't computers called "Abaci" back then.

 

Problem with them was that you could erase the previous nights calculations if your abacus gotten shaken around too much on your 40 mile walk up hill in a snowstorm to school each morning.