[All Systems?] Cleaning/Maintenance Tip: Electric Erasers

[mechanized]

I decided to take out an old Atari 5200 controller today to familiarize myself with how it is built before I attempted the paddle conversion.

 

(As many of you know, the Atari 5200 Joysticks were pretty horrible; non-self-centering analog joysticks were a mixed blessing in that they were useful for some games, but many more became less-than-playable. On top of that, they malfunctioned frequently and as they age they become even more unresponsive. Like other gamers, I wanted to take an almost useless controller and turn it into something more useful: a paddle controller.)

 

While I was in the controller, I remembered another forum visitor mentioning how he used a simple eraser to clean the connections on game carts. I had followed with a post of my own on how electric erasers are useful in a lot of ways, and if erasers are useful to clean a cartridge then surely an electric eraser is, too. Today, I think I proved that mild hypothesis.

 

I opened this nearly 20 year old controller and found, not surprisingly, that the sensors were all dull grey with mild oxidation. Mild, sure, but it was sufficient enough to make the controller non-functional. After toying with the insides, I remembered the eraser post and pulled out my electric eraser. Within literally minutes, the sensors on the 5200 keypad were stripped of their dull grey and returned to a fairly shiny, 95% cleaner version of their former selves.

 

Next, I grabbed a TurboGrafx16 card, and gave it a quick erasing. In about fifteen seconds, the connections gleamed like new.

 

THEN.... a Frogger cartridge! It had the stripey look that you see on most games, from the connecting pins. After some erasing, it still looked stripey (they're going to stay) but they were not as dark and had a more metallic tone to them.

 

Then, an NES game. I was unable to open up the cartridge, so I did not clean the connects (See NOTES below). Instead, I focused on a permanent marker initialing (hate these!) on the back. I had previously tried some rubbing alcohol and hand sanitizer (...) to do something to the mark and had little success. With the electric eraser, I attached an Ink eraser to the end and, after some work, removed MOST of the marking.

For this particular cartridge, it was well-marked with a permanent marker of some sort, and it did not come out entirely. The marking was so strong, in fact, that I would not recommend a total erasure attempt on such a marking if it is not coming off well at the start. It'd be better to just replace the back of the cartridge entirely and save yourself from spending the time on an incomplete erasure.

For a marking on the front, though, the erasure is highly advisable since it is the labeled side and will only leave a faint ghost of the marking in a worst-case scenario. If the marking is on the Label itself, there's a great chance it will come off entirely. I took a black Sharpie and made a small mark on the label of the cartridge, let it set for a few minutes, and... eh... I just rubbed it off with my thumb. Disregard. The eraser will probably handle any marking on a label, just be careful not to over-erase and remove the graphic.

CAUTION: do not use the eraser on metallic games (Legend of Zelda, Adventure of Link, a handful of unlicensed games, the Game Genie). The metallic coat will very likely be damaged by the eraser.

 

In all, it would be fairly effective against certain markers, maybe even erasing them entirely with significant work depending on how strongly written the marking is.

 

It will handle minor markings, scuffs and the like with great success.

The eraser will strip oxidation from sensors, connections, and other fun electronic parts.

It can clean up game labels effectively and with ease. (See NOTES)

 

Usage will save time, require less effort, facilitate more precise movements, and ultimately be more effective than manually erasing.

 

These electric erasers are available at most art supplies stores and are inexpensive and extremely useful.

(I got mine, a low-powered battery-operated Helix from Michael's)

 

 

Additional NOTES and CAUTIONS:

It iadvisable to erase in the direction of the pin/connection/circuit when possible. The eraser is not likely to cause any damage, but if it were to happen then it would likely happen when erasing 'against the grain' of the item. Pins in particular could be bent when erasing 'against the grain' due to the eraser's spinning or occillation. On top of all these 'Better Safe Than Sorry' precautions, erasing 'against the grain' will cause more wear to the eraser itself, making more frequent replacement of the eraser necessary.

 

Always do test runs on an expendable cartridge or system to make sure an erasure will not adversely affect the quality of a valued item.

 

Always do test runs on an expendable cartridge or system to familiarize yourself with the construction and functioning of the device, how to manipulate the eraser, and get a feel for what it can do.

 

When cleaning game labels, be careful not to over-erase and remove the graphic. As advised before, try a test cartridge to see if erasure is viable.

 

When cleaning cartridges' connections, it is advisable to open them up when feasible so you can erase with the pin, rather than awkwardly pushing the erasing head into the cartridge and erasing 'against the grain.'

[mechanized]

An additional Note, for those who read this thread (such as it is)....

 

There are different versions of Atari 5200 Controllers. If you open up a 5200 controller and find the circuit sheet is BLUE, then exercise extreme caution if you use an electric eraser to clean it, or do not use the eraser at all.

 

The Blue circuit sheets have really thin circuitry, and as they age it becomes more brittle than the typical green circuit sheets' circuits. I would even say the blue sheets are inferior to the green, more cheaply produced.

 

When I used the electric eraser to clean a blue sheet, I found that, even before I had started cleaning, there was some flaking of the circuit metal around the sensor areas. It was coming off like cheap paint, really. I even freed the sheet of its wiring and found it had been corroded to a point where it looked like it would not work again, and removing it from the wiring pulled some of the circuits' metal from the sheet. Since these circuits were useless (the controller was already not working and it certainly wasn't going to work now) I experimented with the eraser anyway, and found that the circuits would not hold up to a firm erasure.

 

An erasure on these blue circuit sheets is highly unadvisable for these reasons:

 

1) The circuits are of poor quality, and if your controller does not work then it probably will continue to not work.

 

2) The circuits can be further damaged by erasure.

 

It is recommended that, if you find your controller has a blue circuit sheet, you just replace it instead of trying to restore it. I would say with some comfort that a blue circuit sheet is inevitably going to fail.

[ElephantStyle]

Wow, i've never heard of an electric eraser. I've always used a pink eraser to do the contact cleaning job on my nes carts. I'll look out for one of those, great tip!

[JB]

An additional Note, for those who read this thread (such as it is)....

 

There are different versions of Atari 5200 Controllers.  If you open up a 5200 controller and find the circuit sheet is BLUE, then exercise extreme caution if you use an electric eraser to clean it, or do not use the eraser at all.

 

The Blue circuit sheets have really thin circuitry, and as they age it becomes more brittle than the typical green circuit sheets' circuits.  I would even say the blue sheets are inferior to the green, more cheaply produced.

 

When I used the electric eraser to clean a blue sheet, I found that, even before I had started cleaning, there was some flaking of the circuit metal around the sensor areas.  It was coming off like cheap paint, really.  I even freed the sheet of its wiring and found it had been corroded to a point where it looked like it would not work again, and removing it from the wiring pulled some of the circuits' metal from the sheet.  Since these circuits were useless (the controller was already not working and it certainly wasn't going to work now) I experimented with the eraser anyway, and found that the circuits would not hold up to a firm erasure.  

 

An erasure on these blue circuit sheets is highly unadvisable for these reasons:

 

1) The circuits are of poor quality, and if your controller does not work then it probably will continue to not work.

 

2) The circuits can be further damaged by erasure.

 

It is recommended that, if you find your controller has a blue circuit sheet, you just replace it instead of trying to restore it.  I would say with some comfort that a blue circuit sheet is inevitably going to fail.

Are the "blue" circuits the Rev. 9s with black traces?

 

I got 2 of those with a box of stuff recently(for chirstmas actually) and yah, they suck. Not what I'd consider an improvement over the rev. 6 controllers I've got. I mean, they don't work very well, but they at least hold up to a little cleaning.

Hell, the breaks in the traces on my Rev.7 are only due to blatant abuse(someone opened the controller wrong, and wadded the start/select/reset strip up when they closed it, causing about a dozen breaks across the strip).

 

 

Of course, nothing beats a green rev. 9.

...

Except the gold-trace circuits.

[mechanized]

I'm honestly not familiar with the circuitry enough to distinguish the the Rev grades/revisions.

 

I can say that the controller I found the blue circuit in had red buttons (rather than orange) and red potentiometers. The bottom of the controller was unmarked (as far as place of manufacture, serial number and such) and the controller's label was entirely metallic, with no multicolored underlining.

 

Hope that's something to go on.

[JB]

I'm honestly not familiar with the circuitry enough to distinguish the the Rev grades/revisions.

Which is why Atari put it at the bottom of the phonepad area.

It's a little line of text tucked up under the *0#.

[mechanized]

Ungh... I'd have to open it up again.

 

I *will* look into it, I promise, just not right this moment. I'm going to be getting some new circuits from another AAer in the very near future, so when I open it up again to install those I'll look.

 

Right now, I'm getting myself psyched up to go into my 4 Port 5200 to do the retrofitting conversion so I can use my 2600VCS Adapter. That's going to take a bit of mental preparation, since on one hand I'm sure I can do it, but on the other I've never messed with circuitry to that extent (however minor) before.

[Dones]

I have used normal pencil erasers to clean most of my NES/SNES/N64 carts with excellent results. It helps to have the security bit to open the carts because it gives you full access to the cart's connector pins. The eraser removes most, if not all of the black dirt that accumulates in that area.

 

To clean labels I usually use a product called "Goo Gone". It's an orangy looking liquid that removes glue scum and most pen mark stains from carts. It's excellent for removing the "void" metallic labels from old video rental carts (you know, the silver security labels that leave the word "void" when you try to peel them off). Water based pen marks can be completely removed with this cleaning liquid. Permanent marker stains are harder but can be at least be dulled out. It's also effective to remove stickers placed on top of labels, like some rentals (like Blockbuster) did with their N64 carts.

[mechanized]

I swear by Goo Gone. Some of the most effective cleaner I've ever used, and in particular it's a great at its primary function as an ashesive remover.

 

Goo Gone makes buying used games and movies so much better.