Magnavox Odyssey 2 won't read carts

[SnackRelatedMishap]

Hi everyone, I'm having a little trouble with an Odyssey2 that was found at an auction... it had clearly been sitting in a garage for 15 years or so, so it was filthy. Got it pretty cleaned up, used Brasso on the cart slot pins, then dry buff, then alcohol to clear remnants of polish. Pins are nice and shiny, but it doesn't seem to be reading carts at all. Carts were cleaned, (and even tried carts from my personal collection) but no good. Also tried the power cord from my personal (working) console, but that didn't change anything. Attached is a photo of the screen it gives me- it's the same whether or not there is a cart inserted in the slot. looks like I'm probably going to have to open it up. Any ideas on where to start troubleshooting?

 

Many thanks to any help you can throw my way. :-)

Edited May 22, 2015 by SnackRelatedMishap

[LS_Dracon]

Press reset on keyboard.

I have this problem sometimes and reset works to me.

Edited May 22, 2015 by LS_Dracon

[SnackRelatedMishap]

Thanks, Dragonstomper. I gave that a try, but it didn't do much. I can see some of the characters go away while I'm holding the reset button, but that's about the only difference it made.

[LS_Dracon]

That's a bios screen, displayed if the cart is not properly inserted.

The problem should be on cartridge connector, probably dust.

I would open the console and remove the dust from the board and connectors.

 

Check this video for some tips about console restoration : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJC6TWlgGaQ

[LS_Dracon]

double post.

Edited May 24, 2015 by LS_Dracon

[Rolo]

Any progress?

Maybe you check the contacts of the cartridge connector very closely. I once had an Intellivision with all contacts clean, but one of them bent back just a little, little bit. So most of the time it just did not make any contact at all and cartridges were dead. I was cleaning and cleaning with no effect, until I found the reason. I carefully pulled it back into its proper position with a small screwdriver and everything was fine.

Otherwise standard program: open console, check voltages, check solder joints, check ICs seating in sockets, swap ICs... I'm sure, you know all of that.