Cleaning cartridges

[+atari2600land]

I just bought a copy of Crystal Castles, and found that it was really messed up. Would cleaning it make it better, and if so, how would I do that? Just break it open and clean the chip or what?

[holygrailvideogames.com]

Do other games work on your Atari? It looks to me like your cable to the TV or your TV game box might be messed up.

[Philflound]

If you find the game is not working, you can clean it via a couple of methods.

 

1. If you have a locking circuit board protector, get a thin object, I find a toe nail scissor will do the trick, and slide it one of the two holes on the side of the circuit board to unlock the cover and push it back.

 

2. While holding the cover back, or if you have a sliding/missing cover, once you expose the circuit board, you can either use a pencil eraser, but I like to use a diluted solution of water/rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. Or if you have one of those cartridge cleaning kits like they made for nintendo with the already made brush, use that. The solution is pretty much diluted alcohol. They just try and make money off of you.

 

3. Consider using a thin piece of cardboard and the solution to clean the contacts of your atari unit too.

 

Phil

[+atari2600land]

All the other games seem to be working. I tried the pencil eraser and that didn't help. We don't seem to have any rubbing alcohol, which is weird. I'll get some tomorrow. Would I clean the tip that goes into the console, or the whole chip?

[shadow460]

Clean just the tip. You won't be able to access the whole chip without removing the label or breaking the cartridge.

I think mcgrail is closer to your solution, though. How many of your other games display a black background? That's where you'll notice RF interference a little more.

Also, how is your 2600 hooked up? Are you using the official Atari switchbox? That thing acts like it was designed in the 70's or something. The AtariAge store sells a very small adaptor that goes on the end of your 2600's RF cable and screws into the RF jack on an older TV. Those switchboxes, even the Radio Shack ones, just don't have enough RF shielding to keep the interference out. (Even my PS2 RF unit gets a lot of interference).

 

If you'd like to go a more modern route, holler at keilbaca. He can fix your 2600 right up with RCA outputs, and he's good to deal with.

[+atari2600land]

Here's a snapshot of my Asteroids game to compare to. You'll see that the Crystal Castles one is way worse in picture quality. And yes, I am using the official Atari switchbox, and why it acts like it was made in the '70s is probably because it *was* made in the '70s

[shadow460]

Although Crystal Castles is worse, I see RF interference in both pictures.

Cleaning Crystal Castles may help that game out some. Once you get that done, try an adaptor instead of the RF switchbox. Radio Shack sells them, too, if you'd like to buy it locally instead of waiting for one to be shipped.

 

It made a world of difference in my 7800.

[Philflound]

Yes, definitely looks like your having problems with Asteroids too. If the switch box doesn't work, like I said, try cleaning the system.

 

Phil

[+atari2600land]

Once you get that done, try an adaptor instead of the RF switchbox. Radio Shack sells them, too, if you'd like to buy it locally instead of waiting for one to be shipped.

 

I don't mean to sound stupid or anything, but what's an adaptor, and why would they still make stuff for the 2600? What am I looking for and how much will it cost?