Hello World

Chances are if you’ve ever owned or played a NES, you’ve experienced the blinking screen or have had trouble playing your games. The cause for all these problems is bad electrical connections between your game cartridges and the NES console caused by dirt, corrosion or broken copper contacts.

With a little patience, you can restore your NES and game cartridges to a like-new condition. This guide will help you disassemble your Nintendo console and show you the areas you need to focus on for cleaning and reconditioning. No electronics skills are needed to follow this guide. The only caution I would advise is to take it slow and make sure not to pull too hard on PCB boards or connector wires.

Required Tools

• Phillips Screwdriver
• Metal Polish or Rubbing Alchohol
• Small Prying Tool (flathead jeweler’s screwdriver or strong toothpick)
• Dry Cloth
• New 72-pin Connector (Optional, but recommended)

You can find metal polish at WalMart or any department store in the cleaning detergent section.

NES Disassembly

Turn your NES upside down. Remove the 6 screws indicated by the red arrows in the picture. Once the screws are loose, flip your console over again and you should be able to pull the top half of the case up. Be careful not to loose any screws!

With the top half of the case off, remove the RF shield. This is the big metal thing that covers most of the NES internals. Remove the 7 screws and you will be able to pull it up and out of the way.

Remove the 8 screws holding the NES mainboard down and pull it out of the case. Be careful not to pull it too far because there are connectors still attached to the mainboard.

Remove the 3 connectors for the controllers and switch assembly. You will then be able to remove the mainboard completely out of the case. With the mainboard out, you can remove the lower metal RF shield.

Remove the 72 Pin cartridge connector from the mainboard. Simply pull away from the mainboard as indicated by the arrows. It might require a little force to get it out.

Cleaning Contacts

The contacts connecting the 72 pin connector often get dirty and corroded which prevents the connector from making good electrical connection to the mainboard. We can fix this by cleaning the contacts with rubbing alcohol or a metal polish. I recommend using a metal polish to clean the contacts, it will get rid of all the dirt and corrosion and bring back the contact to a smooth shiny surface. Using the polish, apply a small amount on a dry cloth and rub across all the contacts. Let the polish dry to a white paste. After the polish has completely dried, buff it with a dry cloth and remove all the white substance. Remember to do both sides of the contacts by flipping the mainboard over and repeating the process.

72 Pin Connector

This is the main trouble spot for the NES because the pins that connect the game cartridges get bent up with time and no longer retain their spring tension they used to have when the connector was new. The simplest and often best solution is to buy a new 72 pin connector. You can find the connectors on ebay, or video game shops for $8-$15 dollars.

Another solution is to try and bend the pins on the connector to their original position. If you look at the 72 pin connector, the row that connects to the cartridge has pins with a small slit in them. The goal is to use a small prying tool such as a toothpick or small jeweler’s flathead screwdriver to bend these pins so that the pin sits higher in the middle of the connector. You do not need to bend the pins by much. Only apply minimal force on the pins to flex them up. You should only bend the pins by 1 mm or so. You must also try to put your prying tool under both sides of the pin to bend each side of the slit uniformly.

When you’re done, assembly is done in reverse order.

Still not having luck playing your games? Your cartridges probably need to be cleaned too!