What to do with damaged atari 2600 cartridges?

[Greendude]

I have like 20 cartridges that refuse to work even after cleaning them with 90% isopropyl alcohol and swabs. At first I thought it was my retron 77 but when I got a atari 2600 jr the same result. Some nothing show up on screen and when something shows up on screen the controls do not work. I bought these untested something I am bound not to repeat. Now I am stuck with them.Is there any hope of a fix? Or is it a toss out?

[Wyluli Wolf]

It's odd you would come across that many that do not work. Maybe the seller knew it... If you have thoroughly cleaned and they still do not work you may be out of luck. Don't toss them out though. There are folks here that will buy them for the shells (if they are in good shape) to use for homebrews.

[Greendude]

I wouldn't mind. Just pay the shipping. I am in Florida. Or a ebay free just pay shipping.

[+sixersfan105]

That's very unusual that you can't get any of the 20 working. I agree with the earlier reply that quite possibly the seller grouped a known lot of bad carts and sold them as "untested." It's extremely rare for me to come across when one unworking cart in a lot.

 

That said, have you only tried isopropyl? Occasionally, you'll need to use a little dab of brass cleaner (Brasso or Weiman's will do the trick) applied by q-tip, followed by a dry q-tip, followed by isopropyl on q-tip, then let dry. It wouldn't surprise me if 18 out of your 20 are back to working condition after that. Seriously.

 

If all else fails, sell the carts to AtariAge. Al will pay you for the shells and also reimburse your shipping costs, all in the form of AtariAge store credit. If you're into that, it's well worth it. Some carts fetch more than others, too. Check this out for more info:

 

https://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?l=page_view&p=atariage_buying

 

Recently he was low on 7800 carts (some 2600 carts are identical to 7800 and also qualify) and I want to say he was offering $4 or $5 per cart on those, but not sure if that still is an area of need or not.

[Greendude]

I didn't have brasso at hand but decided to use a thin sand paper on the contact points after opening the cartridge. To my amazement they came to life on the screen but yet the controls did not work. For some reason some had the video lined up to the right or even broken up. One thing is sure, dirt and grime accumulated over the years on the contacts and also affected the chip itself. Weird that controllers don't work. I gave up. The ones that worked might had been people who had them in storage were humidity and exposure did not ruin them.