The purpose of this guide is to help the reader keep his or her video games and systems in good working order.  It has come about because of the number of responses I have received when selling games that sometimes would not work on the buyer's system.  Since I clean and guarantee my games, I know they work.  However, I started having to walk people through how to clean their systems and then reclean their games so that they would work.  The problem 99% of the time is nothing but dirt.  Dirty systems make for dirty games, and dirty games contaminate clean systems.

You will need:

• Denatured or Isoprophyl Rubbing Alcohol
• Q-tips
• Old toothbrush
• 3 rags--one to wash, one to dry, one to polish
• Armor All protectant
• Small Phillips head screwdriver
• Nintendo game and system bits
• Magic Eraser or generic equivalent
• System cleaning tool or equivalent
• Optional:  glasses screwdriver, Windex, whitening toothpaste, baking soda, peroxide, vinegar 

All cartridges from Atari to Nintendo 64 can be cleaned with denatured alcohol or rubbing alcohol.  I prefer denatured, as it does not leave the residue build up that rubbing alcohol can.  Simply get a Q-tip, dip it in the alcohol, and SCRUB the metal contacts with it.  Repeat until the Q-tip comes out clean.  You should also clean around the inside of the plastic where the metal contacts are located to get any gunk out of there.  Don't be afraid to scrub firmly--it's almost impossible to break a cartridge.

Many times I use alcohol to also remove price sticker residue from the cartridge.  It also takes off a great deal of permanent marker or paint marker that everyone loves to write with on their cartridges for some reason.  Don't use paint remover or acetone, or any thing like that on the cartridge as it can sometimes discolor the cartridge itelf.  Goo Gone is okay, if it is the orange kind, but not the heavy duty stuff.  Also, I've found that Nintendo 64 labels are more delicate than Super Nintendo labels, probably because SNES labels have a plastic sheath and N64 games don't.  So, watch the water and chemicals especially around N64 labels.  What works really well, especially on N64 plastic, is a Magic Eraser.  Again, don't scrub the label, but you can get the marker off really easily with Magic Eraser or the Wal-Mart generic equivalent. 

To clean the outside of a cartridge, simply use a soft washcloth, dish soap, and wipe gently.  You want to wring your rag out well so you don't soak the label and ruin it.  You can use an old toothbrush to remove stubborn stains, as long as you're careful not to scrub on the label, of course.  These are also good for getting in the grooves on the cartridges.  Be very careful if you use a green scrubby or any other abrasive, as it can gouge the plastic of the cartridge--it's pretty soft plastic.  Again, the N64 is softer than the SNES and older cartridges, so be careful with scrubbing with abrasives.

To Clean Your Systems:

Okay, now here comes the harder part.

UNPLUG YOUR SYSTEM BEFORE CLEANING.  (If you needed to be told that, go shoot yourself in the head NOW, preferably before you breed.)

For Ataris:  Remove the four or 6 screws that are holding the system together.  Then thread the RF cable out of the plastic and take the 2 pieces that are now not attached to the circuit board, and wash them in the dishpan.  Q-tips again come in handy for those little grooves in the console.  For the interior part with the circuit board, get a can of compressed air and fire away.  Once all of the dust is out, you need to clean the cartridge reader itself.  If you use a Q-tip, it can catch in the teeth and rip cotton shreds all over the place, which you will have to get out so it can read the games properly.  Instead, use a game cleaning tool from any game store, or something else very thin that you can insert in the teeth without jamming it in to fit and bending them.  Put the alcohol on your cleaning tool, stick it in the teeth, and that should be sufficient unless you've spilled maple syrup in there or something.  Let the plastic pieces thoroughly dry before reassembling.  Use some Armor All and a soft cloth to make the system all shiny and new looking, being careful to spray on the rag, not the console itself. (DUH)

For NES:  Take out the 6 screws holding the case together and the 2 small screws holding the black plastic piece where the controllers plug in.  Those can be washed in the sink as with the Atari.  Get out your compressed air again, and go to work.  Try not to touch the circuit board with anything that may be holding a static charge.  Dry, reassemble, polish with Armor All.

To change or repair the 72 pin, you need to remove the screws holding the silver plastic cover and the black cartridge carrier.  I think there are 8 or 9.  They are all identical except for 2 longer screws on the black cartridge loader.  Make a note of where these 2 go.  Take off the cover and cartridge holder and clean them.  Grasp the black plastic 72-pin by the edges and push it off the circuit board with your thumbs.  It will be tough.You can blow out the system some more with your air after this step.

The 72-pin breaks because it is designed to compress each time a cartridge is loaded, and after being pressed down so many times, it looses it's ability to spring back into shape.  You can simply buy a new 72-pin for about 10.00, or you can get a small eyeglasses flathead screwdriver and fix it.  To fix it yourself, gently place the tip of the screwdriver UNDER the first pin and gently pull or twist up, so the contact is higher.  Be careful-it only needs to move about a millimeter, and if you overdo it, you'll break it.  Continue down the line, clean the contacts with alcohol or Mr. Mettal is better, for good measure, and reassemble as above.

The cartridges will fit in much more firmly now, and you may have to put them in and take them out several times right at first to get the NES to read properly.  After you get a reliable start the first time for several cartridges in a row, your NES should be good to go for the next year or so, depending on how rough you are with it (how much you play it).  Next time it starts blinking, you'll know what to do.

For Super Nintendo, N64, and any other system that needs a security screw bit:

The only reason to take apart a SNES or N64 is if a) there is something rattling in there you want to get out b)you are going to try the yellowing removal trick below OR c) the system is completely dead and you want to play frisbee with the circuit board.  If you spill soda inside or something, you can also take it apart, but make sure you know what you're doing here and make note of every piece or it will be a bear to reassemble.

Clean the outside of the SNES and N64 with a damp soapy cloth, dry well, and polish with Armor All.  Clean the pin like you did for the other systems.  Again, just go get the cleaning tool for 3.00.  It's so much easier than trying to find something that won't damage the system.  Use a dry or very slightly damp Q-tip to clean the edges of the console around the buttons.  When you clean the pin, hold the doors open and clean the area around the pin where the cartridges sit, too, to prevent transfer onto the cartridge or excess junk spilling down inside your system.

A green scrubby is okay on the SNES because it is grained plastic and the scrubby helps get into the grain.  Be carfeul on the N64 not to scratch it.  You can use compressed air to blow out the dust while you're in here.  Follow the directions on the can and don't use excessive spray in any one area to minimize moisture.

For discoloration of the SNES:

Some SNES are made from plastic that turns that ugly yellow two-tone from age and some are all gray, being made with different plastics.  If you have one that is actually nicotine stained (shame on you!) Windex can work wonders.  If you are bound and determined to get those yellow stains off, though, get ready for some serious scrubbing. 

OKAY: To revamp your two-tone SNES, yellowed NES, yellowed cartridges, etc:

You can try Windex, alcohol, white vinegar, baking soda, peroxide, and/or whitening toothpaste.  Believe it or not, the whitening toothpaste acts as a mild abrasive, just like the baking soda, and can help to scub the yellow stains away.

If the system has actually changed color due to discoloration of the plastic, it may be irreversible.  I did find one "expert" who had a method I will tell you about, but I haven't tested it yet myself, so don't hold me to it.

Find a water-tight container with a lid, like a very large plastic dish or storage bin, big enough to hold your plastic pieces and a pot or 2 of water.  Create a mixture of blended whitening toothpaste (pretty much the whole tube) some water, a healthy dose of baking soda, and some high-concentrate hydrogen peroxide. Make this pretty concentrated, as you'll water it down later.

Next, boil 2 pots of water. Set the plastic in the bin and slowly pour the pots of boiling water over it. making sure you evenly warm the plastic with the water. Carefully stir the plastic in the water to make sure every areagets some of the hot water treatment. Once the plastic has had a few minutes to soak up the heat, stir in the toothpaste mixture. Make sure all the plastic is submerged, adding hot tap water to top it off if need be. (If your plastic floats, weight it down.) Now cover the bin and set it aside for at least a few days. You may want to periodically open the bin, pull out the casing parts, rinse them in hot tap water and give them a scrub, then put them back in. 

After a few days, give them a decent scrub and rinse. At this point, the system should look much better, but the process may need to be repeated, or the plastic may have to soak for longer.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO CLEAN YOUR SYSTEMS AND GAMES REGULARLY.  KEEP THEM AWAY FROM MOISTURE AND POWER SURGES.  DON'T SMOKE AROUND YOUR SYSTEMS OR COMPUTER.

Cartridge games and systems will last forever if taken care of.  That's why people are still buying these 25-yr. old systems on Ebay!  The games are much more kid-proof and are virtually indestructible.  No laser reader to get knocked loose, no CD to get scratched, no slim little plastic to break when you look at it wrong.  Since the manufacturers went to CDs, it's  up to us to preserve these old systems if we want to have them around.

Feel free to email with any questions!