Cart repair

[nd2003grad]

I recently got a big lot of Coleco stuff locally. It's all pristine, original owners who never let kids play with their stuff (cruel, eh?). One thing I was most interested in was a Frogger 2 cart, but it won't play. I can't figure it out...I can start to get sounds and what look like correct colors, but no game. Any hints? I've tried all I know without disassembly...I don't know what I'm doing at that point.

 

If anyone knows how to repair a wheel unit as well, that would be great.

[Hannacek]

Cleaning the cart with q tips and alcohol is the only thing you can do without opening it.

 

Frogger is a common game. If it doesn't work, you have nothing to lose by opening it up and trying to fix it.

 

 

 

The steering wheel module is also common and worth $20-$30. I would open that up too, and see if you can find the problem.

[nd2003grad]

I think you missed the part where it was Frogger II--Threedeeeep........I tried cleaning it, no luck.

[Crystallas]

Tan label, not gray right? Oh yeah, you said it played sound. Without opening it and inspecting the PCB, it's going to be a guessing game. You could brasso/weiman polish the fingers too. Just clean it off real good before you dump that crud into your CV cart slot.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Crystallas

[nd2003grad]

It's a gray label.

 

***Edit...I should really post a picture, because I'd mostly call it gray but it has a little bit of a tan hue.

Edited November 22, 2016 by nd2003grad

[Crystallas]

Well my Frogger 2 TD is a tan label, always has been.

 

The 2600 Frogger 2 is a gray label. Parker Bros have been screwy with carts, but you might be trying to play a VCS game on a CV.

[eightbit]

Sometimes just cleaning doesn't help. You have to VIGOROUSLY clean it. Use Q-tips and 91% (or better if you can find it) alcohol and really rub the crap out of the contacts. Do it multiple times. Even when it looks clean it probably isn't. I can't tell you how many CV carts I had to do this to, but I haven't come across one that didn't work

[nd2003grad]

I'll try with the alcohol. It's frustrating! I wish it were as simple as it being a 2600 cart, but def. a CV one.

[Crystallas]

Yep, definitely a CV cart.

 

If Alcohol doesn't work Weimans will, or brasso. Alcohol cleans up gunk, polish knocks off that surface corrosion.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Crystallas

[eightbit]

I guess you can try brasso if you dare, but I can tell you I have *never* had to do that to any cart to get it to work...even in the roughest condition. I personally do not like the idea using any abrasives on my carts...ever. Nope, alcohol and a lot of tough rubbing with Q-Tips will do the trick. Trust me on this...I have only been cleaning them for about 30 years Don't worry if you get it saturated. If you use 91% like I said it will dry in minutes. When you rub hard (that doesn't sound right...) and see the blackness on that Q-Tip you'll know your on your way to a perfectly playable cart.

 

Ohh, and on a side note opening these is a BAD idea. You have to ruin the label to open Colecovision carts and that is something you never want to do

Edited November 23, 2016 by eightbit

[Crystallas]

I lived in Hawaii for a few years. That high humidity and salty air corrodes contact surfaces in ways that need real buffing power and not a degrease. The midwest weather has it's own tricks on electronics that also benefit from an occasional polish in the right places. While I much prefer Weimans, I would use brasso in the 70s to clean contacts and that gear still works today, just be smart about it and use it when other methods fail. Do we need a good write-up on label removal for screw access? CV carts are tricky, I give you that, but not that bad if you know what you're doing. I'm new to the site, not new to the game.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Crystallas

[chart45]

parker brother carts dont have screew you need to bang on each side to break in two parts than you can remove the pcb from it no need to remove the lable.... if you destroy your labke just ask phil for a new one

[eightbit]

I can see how the location you are in can certainly affect contacts. I am on the east coast so my carts have not been exposed to the humidity or salt that you would get in a place like Hawaii as you said, but I still have to discourage use of abrasives. Just one mans opinion and to each their own of course I think most of us know how to remove labels for screw access (although if you would like to do a write-up you can...if someone has not done so already) but there is no need to cause potential damage to a cart label in almost all cases. I would say that would be a last resort type of thing. These labels are decades old and I would have to advise against it unless you really feel like you have to do this to get the cart to function.

[NIAD]

Well my Frogger 2 TD is a tan label, always has been.

 

The 2600 Frogger 2 is a gray label. Parker Bros have been screwy with carts, but you might be trying to play a VCS game on a CV.

Most of the Parker Bros. games released for the ColecoVision were supplied with a tan colored label, but from time to time you will run across a grey label... mainly with Q*bert and Frogger. My copy of Frogger II: Threeedeep is a tan label as well.

 

@nd2003grad... try all methods of cleaning the cartridge PCB contacts (Eraser, Q-tip and 90+% Alcohol, De-oxit, etc.) before possibly ruining the label to separate the two halves of the case seeing as Frogger II: TD is a rarer game, especially in CIB form. If cleaning the contacts doesn't work, open up the cart and clean everything else and if that doesn't work there is probably a cold solder joint or the cart was fried by a bad system, electrical surge, etc. I have run across a good number of carts that could not be saved over the years.

 

Also, Atari 2600 carts will not insert into the ColecoVision or ADAM seeing as they are squared-off at all the corners and the CV or ADAM cart slot is tappered at the two front corners... easiest way to identify a 2600 game from a CV game when it's been released for both systems.

Edited November 25, 2016 by NIAD

[nd2003grad]

Thanks guys...I'll get to it when I have a chance. Label damage is definitely something I've been trying to avoid at all costs as this is a real nice specimen as well.