Cartridge blowing

[ClassicBoy]

I have an N64 that won't boot up games unless I blow in the cartridge pretty hard just before inserting it into the deck. I've cleaned both the cartridges and the cart port on the N64. They have all been well cared for over the years, as well. However, it still won't boot up most of the time without blowing in the cartridge.

 

What is it about blowing into a cartridge (on any system) that makes it work? Anyone know? I'd love to know what this simple act is doing to make it work when the contacts are already plenty clean? Magic?

 

Also, any ideas how to make the system work without having to blow cartridges every time?

[joeybastard]

Blowing into them is bad in the long run. You are just blowing moisture that will add to the corrosion over time. My N64 carts need to be cleaned pretty much every time I use them, they just seem to attract grime. 91% isopropal alcohol and q-tip always works for me.

Edited September 30, 2005 by joeybastard

[keilbaca]

Ok do this. First, get a toothbrush or q-tip and get windex. Soak the toothbrush or q-tip with windex, and clean the cartridge. Insert the cart 20 or so times. Clean the cart again, insert another 20 or so times. Repeat until it works perfectly every time.

 

Or, if you're daring you can do this, I did this with a NES and SNES and I have had zero problems for months. Take some sandpaper. Fold in half, open up N64 cart slot. Carefully take a corner inside and sand the cart slot, until you can see a metallic shine on all the contacts. Take canned air, blow out the inside, then play.

 

Oh and a little note, you can do the same trick with N64 carts like you can with super nintendo carts, to play imports. A friend of mine bought super smash brothers for the japanese n64 and said, it won't fit! I go yeah, that's how nintendo does their protection for their cart systems, give me the n64 i'll fix that problem. I took a dremel, put on a sanding bit, and sanded both tabs off until it was flush with the back. Put in super smash brothers, and enjoyed smashing each other to no end.

Edited September 30, 2005 by keilbaca

[hex65000]

Another way to clean cart slots is to get a plastic card (credit card like) that is pretty stiff and cut it to a bit less than the slot width, use a Paper towel and windex like you mention, and fold the towel over the card, insert and remove with a bit of care and don't use cheap paper towels. If it starts disintegrating on you, stop and replace the towel. As soon as you said sandpaper and contacts I got scared.

 

Hex.

[ The outsider in the window . . . ]

[keilbaca]

Another way to clean cart slots is to get a plastic card (credit card like) that is pretty stiff and cut it to a bit less than the slot width, use a Paper towel and windex like you mention, and fold the towel over the card, insert and remove with a bit of care and don't use cheap paper towels. If it starts disintegrating on you, stop and replace the towel. As soon as you said sandpaper and contacts I got scared.

 

Hex.

[ The outsider in the window . . . ]

940690[/snapback]

 

Why? Sandpaper works great in cleaning carts, as well as cartridge slots.

[AtariAger]

Why? Sandpaper works great in cleaning carts, as well as cartridge slots.

940786[/snapback]

 

What (#/type) paper do you use?

[+remowilliams]

Why? Sandpaper works great in cleaning carts, as well as cartridge slots.

940786[/snapback]

It will work no doubt. But you've got to be real careful with that for a number of reasons. Further abrasion may actually increase future oxidation, not to mention wearing the already thin contacts thinner. Also micro sillica from the abrasion can become embedded in the conductors causing further erosion (and possibly bimetallic corrosion depending on the type of sandpaper) You've got to be real careful what type and composition of paper is used.

 

Can be OK in the hands of those who know what they're doing. But the rest should stick to contact cleaner and pencil erasers

Edited October 1, 2005 by remowilliams

[keilbaca]

Why? Sandpaper works great in cleaning carts, as well as cartridge slots.

940786[/snapback]

 

What (#/type) paper do you use?

940810[/snapback]

 

800 grit metal sandpaper.

[AtariAger]

800 grit metal sandpaper.

940830[/snapback]

 

That is very fine...but...I don't think I'd ever let myself use it though.

[Room 34]

No one's addressed the question yet, though: why does blowing work?

 

Yeah yeah, you "shouldn't" do it. I know. Whatever. But I've cleaned all of the contacts on my NES carts (NES seems to be the worst in this regard), and they still sometimes need this before they'll work.

[Rockin' Kat]

Another way to clean cart slots is to get a plastic card (credit card like) that is pretty stiff and cut it to a bit less than the slot width, use a Paper towel and windex like you mention, and fold the towel over the card, insert and remove with a bit of care and don't use cheap paper towels. If it starts disintegrating on you, stop and replace the towel. As soon as you said sandpaper and contacts I got scared.

 

Hex.

[ The outsider in the window . . . ]

940690[/snapback]

 

Why? Sandpaper works great in cleaning carts, as well as cartridge slots.

940786[/snapback]

 

Sandpaper should be a last resort.. if it's not needed then you're needlessly scrapping away at the contacts them selves... that's a good way to kill a cart if you do that everytime it doesn't work. Regaurdless of how fine it is.

 

Personally, I'd replace paper towel with old cotton t-shirt/thin terry cloth... since paper towel can turn into paper bits stuck to contacts.

[holygrailvideogames.com]

I thought that maybe NE146 had started this thread.

[Rockin' Kat]

No one's addressed the question yet, though: why does blowing work?

 

Yeah yeah, you "shouldn't" do it. I know. Whatever. But I've cleaned all of the contacts on my NES carts (NES seems to be the worst in this regard), and they still sometimes need this before they'll work.

940882[/snapback]

 

Mayby blowing on it probably does blow some dirt out..and the spit that gets in and eventually causes it to corode acts as a bridge for the signal before it dries out.

Edited October 1, 2005 by SuperPsycho

[+remowilliams]

No one's addressed the question yet, though: why does blowing work?

 

Yeah yeah, you "shouldn't" do it. I know. Whatever. But I've cleaned all of the contacts on my NES carts (NES seems to be the worst in this regard), and they still sometimes need this before they'll work.

940882[/snapback]

By blowing on the cart/slot you are moving dust and dirt out of the way and adding moisture to the contacts - which decreases electrical resistance and improves the electrical contact between the surfaces.

[JB]

No one's addressed the question yet, though: why does blowing work?

 

Yeah yeah, you "shouldn't" do it. I know. Whatever. But I've cleaned all of the contacts on my NES carts (NES seems to be the worst in this regard), and they still sometimes need this before they'll work.

940882[/snapback]

By blowing on the cart/slot you are moving dust and dirt out of the way and adding moisture to the contacts - which decreases electrical resistance and improves the electrical contact between the surfaces.

940898[/snapback]

Usually there's not really enough dust and dirt to be electrically relevant, aside from the contamination and corrosion from prior blowjobs.

 

Not on the cart, anyways.

Inside the deck can get fairly grimy. That part of the connector doesn't get cleaned much.

[shadow460]

Once you get it cleaned up, always keep a cart in the N64. Screw the cart cover doors.

My GameShark works really well for this. When I'm playing, it makes a great paperweight.

[A.J. Franzman]

If you leave a cart in all the time, don't actually plug it into the electrical connector; just lightly set it in place. Leaving a cart in the connector all the time will only deform the contacts in the console faster, so they exert less pressure on the cartridge contacts. Insufficient contact pressure is probably the second most common reason for cart port problems after contamination.

[Dones]

No one's addressed the question yet, though: why does blowing work?940882[/snapback]

 

The best answer for that question was made a few years ago by someone with the alias of "Pitfall Harry". Here I dug up the post for you:

 

Your saliva does get in there every time you blow into a cartridge.  This is bad, bad, juju.

 

Glavanic corrosion is an accelerated form of metallic oxidation, which requires three things:

 

1. Two dissimilar metals in contact with one another

2. Oxygen

3. An electrolyte

 

 

Thing #1 - Dissimilar metals in contact

 

As it happens, the cartridge connectors inside game consoles, especially older game consoles, are often made of entirely different metals than the cartridge contacts that are pushed into them. The metallic composition of cartridge contacts varies from one game manufacturer to the next. Even when cartridge contacts are made of the same metal as the console connector they are mated with, the two metals can still differ slightly in their alloy composition or in their present state of oxidation. As long as two metals are not alloyed together in the same batch and oxidation aged in identical environments then they are dissimilar enough to permit galvanic corrosion to occur when they are in physical contact with each other.

 

Thing #2 - Oxygen

 

Oxygen, of course, is in the air.  Unless you play your games in the vacuum of deep space, your console connectors and cartridge contacts are exposed to Oxygen every moment of their lives. The chemical  bonding of oxygen ions to exposed metal ions is called "oxidation," or more commonly known as rust. 

 

Thing #3 - An Electrolyte

 

Human saliva is a spectacularly good electrlyte. Breathe onto cartridge contacts and you will deposit your saliva onto the metal contacts. It may be a very fine mist of saliva, but it's an ocean compared to the size of metal and oxygen ions. Now slap that sucka into the metal connector inside your consoler and bingo! You've got all three ingredients necessary for galvanic corrosion.

 

 

Galvanic corrosion isn't at all like the ordinary, slow rusting of an exposed metal. Galvanic corrosion is "rust on steroids."  That is, it is much, much faster. Dissimilar metals in an electrolyte generate an electrical current all on their own in much the same way that a voltaic cell (battery) does. Like a dime and a penny jambed into a lemon. The tiny current generated creates a watershed of metal ion formation on both the cartridge contacts and on the connector. These ions bond readily with the oxygen in the air, and rust happens.

 

Now this all happens when the cartridge is just sitting there in the console with the power switched off.  Flip the power on and you have supercharged the galvanic corrosion! Two forces are a work now. One: The saliva penetrates deep into the crevices of both metals, maximizing electrical contact, which is what enables the game to play despite the insulating layers of crud which are already there. Two: Those newly penetrated metallic surfaces are undergoing supercharged galvanic corrosion as you play the game. It may even happen fast enough to crash your game in mid-play, requiring you to remove the cart and recontaminate it with a fresh coat of saliva to get it to play a little while longer.

 

Flip the power switch to Off, the saliva evaporates and that's the end of your problems, right? Wrong. After the cartridge cools down, moisture from the air rehydrates the dried saliva residue which is now on both the cartridge contacts and on the console's connector.  If you leave your cartridge in the slot (tell me you've NEVER let that happen!) then all the time the cart is left in there, a tiny amount of galvanic corrosion is at work, steadily eroding and rusting the metals of both cartridge and console. Sometimes Nintendos are left in closets with a game carts stuffed in their mouths for a decade.

 

Every time you blow into a cartridge you introduce more and more salavitory electrolyte into your console and your cartridges.  It all adds up to very bad juju.

 

Cleaning your cartridge contacts with alcohol is a much better solution because the OH ion in alcohol is hungry for the O atom in metallic rust. It strips it away, breaking down the oxide layer, which wipes away onto a cotton swab. 

 

Water by itself is not very good at breaking down the oxide layer, unless you rub vigorously. This has the disadvantage of eroding the metal contacts or possibly separating them from the PCB.

 

Cleaning contacts with alcohol and then cleaning them a second time with water is probably the best way to go. Water is very good at flushing out oxide residues left behind by alcohol cleaning. 

 

For best results, allow your freshly cleaned cartridges time to dry thoroughly before inserting them into your console.  Play a different game while you wait if you must. But for god's sake, don't try to help the cartridge drying time along by blowing into it!

 

 

Ben

346913[/snapback]

[ClassicBoy]

Wow. Great explanation. Thanks, that answers it.

[Classic Pac]

But if you actually want a way to get your carts to work 100% of the time. Coat all the contacts with WD-40, I have some I did months ago and I have no problems.

[AtariAger]

But if you actually want a way to get your carts to work 100% of the time. Coat all the contacts with WD-40, I have some I did months ago and I have no problems.

941067[/snapback]

 

[+uosipa llamxew]

I wish Ben came around more often. He always had something witty or funny to say or a great contest to enter. It seems he posts only once or twice every 4 or 5 months these days. He's a good guy with some hard luck.

[+uosipa llamxew]

But if you actually want a way to get your carts to work 100% of the time. Coat all the contacts with WD-40, I have some I did months ago and I have no problems.

941067[/snapback]

 

I thought you were supposed to use Armor All?

 

 

Where's Mock, when you need him?

[MegaManFan]

JUST SAY NO TO BLOWING.

 

No, that's not a pornography reference. I actually wanted to hand out fliers about why this was a bad idea at this year's con in Tulsa, but didn't have time to print them up. Basically though if I've said it once I've said it a thousand times - whatever short term gain you get from a successful "blow" is only going to ruin your cart in the long run. What's giving you contact is not that you're blowing out the dust, it's that you're blowing in moisture - that works short term and destroys them long term. Do it the right way people - get a clean cotton swab and some 70/30 and scrub those contacts. When you see the swab turning black, that's your other reason why blowing doesn't help - years of dust and grime built up on those contacts. Game cartridges work a hell of a lot better when there's no crap between your contact points and the receptor of the console that accepts the game.

[shadow460]

I've blown nearly every cart I've owned. Wups, that sounded bad.

I've blown into every cart I've ever owned. The only ones I ever had trouble with are NES ones--well, trouble I couldn't fix that is.

 

I also clean all the carts I own periodically--soap and warm water on a rag, then wipe the outside--Q tip with isopropanol to the contacts.

 

I clean all incoming carts no matter what the source. I clean em, test em, repair them if needed, repair labels, and then add them to to collection or the small pile of dupes.

 

If you gotta blow 'em, they already needed alchohol cleaning, so do that instead.

 

@ AJ: I wondered about leaving the cart all the way in. I need to get d dummy cart to go in the N64. Right now I use a well fitting GameShark Pro.

My 7800 is protected by a 2600 Ms Pac Man cart case with no circuit board inside. It just sits there in the slot.

If the Game Shark or any cart flexes the pins, I'll just take an hour or so and flex 'em back. That 64 is eight years old and has never given me any trouble.

I wish I still had my first Goldeneye cart. I'd have taken out the broken circuit board and used the casing for a dust cover.

 

Back to one of the original questions:

I read over on GameFaqs that the N64 has a self cleaning device inside the system. What form it takes, I do not know. I don't know if it's electrical, physical, inside or outside the cart port, etc. I kind of think that is not true.

Anyway, the FAQ writer stated that manually cleaning the N64 would damage the auto cleaning device.

If by some remote chance this is true, there could be your trouble.

As stated, I think it's bunk.

Check to see if anything's lodged deep into the cart port. Also check the pins in the port if you like. If any are bent, well, bend 'em back.

I can't think of anything else...is the Jumper/Expansion Pak seated right? Is the Expansion Pak a Nintendo brand one? If not, replace it with one. Ditto with the Controller Paks (Rumble Pak, Transfer Pak, etc.).

 

An alternative to cart blowing: Compressed air cans. Or a Q tip and alcohol (highly recommended, as long as it's not alcohol from a beer).

Edited October 4, 2005 by shadow460