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Anyone have experience with NES repair kits?


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I don't know if you really need a whole kit to do it, but replacing the pin connector does work wonders. If you've ever replaced anything in your computer you can easily swap out a pin connector on your own without directions. It's also good, though not as essential, to get some electrical-connector cleaning solution and apply it to the pins of your cartridges with a q-tip.

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I don't know anything about the repair kits, but I have repaired a NES in the past without replacing the 72-pin connector. It's a bit tedious (you have to manually bend half the connector pins back into shape), but the results were successful: my brother's NES now works with every game; no flashing blue screens, no cartridge blowing. It makes the games harder to put in (I've heard a new connector does this as well), but it's well worth it.

EDIT: Using a bit of generic electronics contact cleaner goes a long way as well.

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It is very simple to resurrect your NES by just bending your pins back in place. It's not that hard, just a small pain. It's much more worth it to do it this way, otherwise you're going through someone else to buy product (which means money) and waiting for it to arrive. All of this isn't necessary. So, just crack it open and bend the pins.

After you do this, your NES should work even if you don't push the game down. This benefits you in the way that it lasts much longer than it originally did.

When you bend the game down, it bends those pins. Game Genies were also designed in such a manner that because you can't press the game down, it had to put more pressure on the pins to make the connection. So, that's why using them would give you a higher rate of success, but would also wear your NES down much faster.

Not to worry though, because this fix will do you for many years to come, even if you have to perform this fix many times. When it actually becomes so weak that it makes no sense to keep doing it (a month between) then *that's* when you need to go buy a 72-pin connector.

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I don't know anything about the repair kits, but I have repaired a NES in the past without replacing the 72-pin connector. It's a bit tedious (you have to manually bend half the connector pins back into shape), but the results were successful: my brother's NES now works with every game; no flashing blue screens, no cartridge blowing. It makes the games harder to put in (I've heard a new connector does this as well), but it's well worth it.

EDIT: Using a bit of generic electronics contact cleaner goes a long way as well.

Oh man, this is how I fixed my friend's NES. First, there was a spider and its little nest of eggs smooshed inside the machine itself. Even after I cleaned it out it still didn't work. Bending all those pins back was frustrating but it really does work. A little nerve-wracking, though.

My NES is 23 years old and still going strong. For a period of years, Super Mario Bros 3 would freeze at the ending for me but after I gave my NES a good cleaning with compressed air and rubbing alcohol, it worked like a dream.

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I got my new 72-pin connector and replaced it. Everything works great (well the NES games that I owned as a kid work, some of the ones that have been given to me later on, not so much) with one little quirk. The games typically don't work if I push the spring loader down into the locked position. Instead, I just push the cartridge in and leave the loader up. I assume this isn't really a problem, it just makes me wonder if I put the NES back together slightly wrong or something.

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Instead, I just push the cartridge in and leave the loader up. I assume this isn't really a problem, it just makes me wonder if I put the NES back together slightly wrong or something.
I noticed the same thing with my brother's NES after I fixed the connector, so most likely you put everything together correctly.

On my brother's NES, you can load the cartridges normally, but sometimes you have to jiggle it around a little before it works properly. Usually pressing the cartridge down and moving it as far forward as possible does the trick.

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