Green corrosion on atari cartridge contact pins

[rhindlethereddragon]

I got a cart off Ebay a while back and when I got it, there seems to be this strange green "corrosion" on the pins. What is this, how do I get rid of it, and is it OK to put into my Atari machine?

[iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin]

It sounds like green rust to me! Clean it with fine sandpaper.......

[+GroovyBee]

Its the result of copper oxidation. Copper is used to form the tracks on the PCB and is gold coated for the cart's contacts. Try removing it with ultra fine grit sandpaper e.g. 800 or 1000 grit.

[Keatah]

Its the result of copper oxidation. Copper is used to form the tracks on the PCB and is gold coated for the cart's contacts. Try removing it with ultra fine grit sandpaper e.g. 800 or 1000 grit.

 

In some cases I've seen the green stuff in powder form. And it takes nothing more than some toilet paper to remove it.

[Rik]

I use emery board nail files for extremely dirty contacts that wont come clean from the usual Isopropyl Alcohol/Q-tip treatment.

[CGQuarterly]

Emory boards seem like they would be a lot more rough than needed and would remove more metal than neccesary. As GroovyBee suggested, I would use 1000+ grit sand paper.

 

Chris

[Rik]

Well there's different grit for nail files also.Yeah, i'm going to stop using any type of sandpaper and just scrub away with alcohol.I think repeated sanding with any grit number paper will chew away the contacts and make loose connections?, that's what i figure.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Rik

[A.J. Franzman]

The gold plating on the contacts is rather thin and if you sand through it, you'll have more problems than you started with.

[Charlie_]

The gold plating on the contacts is rather thin and if you sand through it, you'll have more problems than you started with.

 

Scotch-brite works great. I don't use the home cleaning version. I use a red type we have here in the machine shop.

[Galeforcerm]

I use a pencil eraser. The pink ones work well.

[Dittohead Servbot #24]

Oh yes, when I was cleaning my NES carts, I got not only the expected black on the cotton swabs/rubbing alcohol, but I sometimes got icky green like the OP described (ewww...). Clearly the carts were quite dirty but I kept at it and now they all work first try every time like they should.

[cybercylon]

I use emery board nail files for extremely dirty contacts that wont come clean from the usual Isopropyl Alcohol/Q-tip treatment.

 

I would try the cleaning with alcohol first before doing anything else.

[GreenDayRlz]

If you get most of it all, use this. This will clean EVERYTHING else off it, even some corrosion with a little more elbow grease.

 

http://reviews.ebay.com/The-SECRET-to-Cleaning-NES-Nintendo-Game-Connectors_W0QQugidZ10000000001205863