I Bought 10 BROKEN Nintendo Games - Let's Fix Them!

I Bought 10 BROKEN Nintendo Games - Let's Fix Them! I bought all these game cartridges for $200 from Goodwill so I could take them apart and see if I can get them all working. Of course I'll be cleaning lots of dirty pins and taking care of some corrosion. I'll also be cleaning a "mystery substance" off one circuit board. And then testing to see if they are all working.
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[@Tronicsfix]

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[@davidpryan4341]

Should have showed them not working before "fixing" them

[@freddyking8742]

With the 3DS/NDS carts, you can use a wooden tooth pick with IPA to clean the contacts.

[@asdf8181]

Would you be willing to disclose where you get ds's from? I fully understand if not

[@advoketplaiz5962]

hey man do you have any ps5 scuf controllers for sale?

[@East_Yeast]

5:34 triggered me so bad when u were testing the wrong one lmao

[@rkillalea6706]

I love watching people I don't know fixing stuff I know nothing about!!

[@davidchan7860]

I like how you're thinking "I hope there's something majorly wrong with these games". The rest of us are just crossing our fingers hoping to see a logo. 😂😂

[@azwildcats7842]

Definitely should have tried them before taking them apart. Little disappointing.

[@Thatonefuckinguy]

I love that you take so much e-waste and old classic games and make them usable. It's like preserving history.

[@theblukatlife]

unfortunately there is still too much ewaste, video games are getting recycled for the collective nostalgia but I have been to a lot of swap meets and the amount of electronic stuff that will go to a landfill or a under developed country is astonishing

[@Vermilionaire]

To be fair even though you consider it not as exciting since it’s mainly cleaning - it’s still interesting to see what people consider broken and how easy it is to fix them. Might lead to a few more people trying to fix their own cartridges or picking up some good deals on retro games that just need a bit of IPA

[@fortunateson6070]

On the Gameshark I would super glue it, let the glue dry then bolster the areas that need support with UV resin. I use this often at work for small parts.

[@mattnieves5700]

Thanks for teaching people how to handle these retro games. Not many people have the knowledge. You also make it pretty simple to understand.

[@SplashPhantom]

Playing the Star theme for checking the pins was a nice touch. If you edit that again and find a loose one, I instantly think of a death/lost life sound effect for that problem.

[@MrPhantomPC]

“84 hours… that’s a lot” Them are ROOKIE numbers 😂

[@shady420buddy]

YOOO STOP IT that club overlay had me craxking up

[@Faillord1]

This Video inspired me to take another look at my non functional Diddy Kong Racing Cartridge. While cleaning it I spottet a solder point that didn't have any material on it. So I took my soldering iron and fixed this. Now I have a fully functional Game :D Bought it at a flea market for 7 Euros so good deal In the long run I guess.

[@Tronicsfix]

Love it! Nice work!

[@herekongato]

Its always a treat when you fix old stuff

[@Tronicsfix]

Yeah, I enjoy it too!

[@batluckies]

@TronicsFix the GameShark should be repairable with a paper clip made out of metal and a solder iron. Just bend a few "waves" into the paper clip and melt it into the plastic where the cracks are with the solder iron. I already repaired a few things made out of plastic which weren't glueable.

[@mikeg8367]

Love the classic Mario music while checking the pins good touch. I think your doing a great job on your videos 👍

[@emmettturner9452]

That’s Brasso in Super Mario 64. It’s abrasive and they probably used it regularly which is why it took off the gold plating and caked up on the inside.

[@ianburkard]

Brasso is usually a little yellower, maybe Silvo or toothpaste?

[@damolin77]

ya It looks like Brasso

[@emmettturner9452]

@@ianburkard there are different kinds for stovetops, brass, etc

[@paulghignon4092]

100% brasso, pretty widely used too, I even used it to refurb carts like this years ago. Seems like whoever was using it didn't bother to clean it off afterwards, which imo causes damage long term.

[@emmettturner9452]

@@paulghignon4092 There is a cover that the PCB extends through with the exposed contacts. Brasso gets pushed up through the cover where it can’t be cleaned without disassembling the cart. Too bad it doesn’t just evaporate like isopropyl alcohol.

[@MaxSxB]

7:40 holy crap that transition is soooooo smooth ! Right hand so on point between the 2 shots it almost looks like a glitch

[@mrcrunch8000]

A normal toothbrush is also very good at cleaning the contacts on 3ds games. At least it’s something I have had great success with. A stiff bristle brush seems to be just abrasive enough to get most corrosion off using nothing but alcohol.

[@kevincelis4051]

Back in the day, we really got quality products for our money, not like the trash we have today...

[@Alt_Aly]

I used to always blow into the cartridge 😂

[@Tronicsfix]

Lol, that usually worked!

[@TheMikeDaibess]

😂😂😂

[@MarioSalasEspinoza]

For the game genie I would use UV resin to fix and reinforce the sides of the broken plastic, it would work wonders if there is enough space for a little reinforcement

[@nicholasfiala6205]

Doh, at 5:28 I noticed you were testing the wrong solder joint. lol

[@Tronicsfix]

Lol

[@davidanthony862]

My ocd kicks in aggressively every time you poke the cartridges with your metal picking tool 😂😆. I have to laugh at myself for it. I still enjoy the repair and cleaning videos you do.

[@poisonousphoenix2466]

Everytime he says "this corrosion", I immediately have the Sisters Of Mercy stuck in my head 😅

[@CAR912b]

Hey hey hey a-hey now now-now now.

[@Tobywan83]

20:35 you can use a har nylon brush (in hardware stores they're labeled as wheel cleaning brushes or break cleaning brushes) to get corrosion of. I've used that on many project of mine though not as tiny as circuit boards.

[@sadmac356]

I've heard people have used gun cleaning brushes as well on computer motherboards (at least, I heard about it from The House of Moth channel). I haven't tried it myself, but it seems to work well for that

[@rafaelvillar7735]

I think it would be interesting to see you giving a try on the Gameshark adaptador, great video tho

[@emmettturner9452]

Indeed. I fixed the connector on a Mega Memory Card which uses the exact same design for the shell and connector but my issue was a mangled pin. It seems they used a different kind of plastic to make it clear on the GameShark which must be why it cracked. In my case I had to relocate an unused pin (Audio In).

[@roadrunner2324]

This channel inspired me to learn how to repair my things (mice, keyboard, headphones etc) maybe about 3-4 years ago, instead of throwing them away or keeping them in a closet. I'm not anywhere near your level but I really appreciate these videos.

[@justincredible6327]

Watching you turn on that TMNT SNES game really hit long lost memories of playing that game with old friends. Thank you.

[@randolph5401]

So satisfying to watch you fix these games, I wish I knew how to do the same. 👍

[@elscarface1]

Playstation portal teardown pls 🙏 I want to see how easy is to fix analog sticks

Cleaning those seem so satisfying

[@emmettturner9452]

Ocarina of Time may still need a battery.

[@ReinMixTape]

Great videos recently, I esp. liked the Dreamcast colab videos.

[@fish_bacon]

I used to use pencil erasers on dirty contacts, and they seem to do quite a decent job rubbing off the oxidation. Works great on RAM modules. Ever tried that?

[@bes03c]

He has in past videos.

[@Tronicsfix]

Yep, tried it. Works good but I do like De Ox It better

[@paulghignon4092]

Erasers are great if you're looking for a chemical free alternative, but they never get as far down as chemicals do. That's mostly due to microscopic scratches that the eraser can't reach.

[@moc5541]

I read years ago--- take this with a grain of salt because I didn't check--- that "rubber" got it's name because the first use of it was in erasers... and only erasers because "vulcanization" had not yet been invented. So evidently what we now call erasers were called "rubbers." And rubber alone wasn't especially good even for that. So... pumice was added! Abrasive stuff from volcanoes. Now I'm talking about those erasers that come attached to wooden pencils, of a bandaid-like skin-color color. More modern erasers don't seem to have the pumice. And that's the moral of this story: You should pick erasers for cleaning electronics in the same way that you would select one grade of sandpaper out of several available.

[@paulghignon4092]

@@moc5541 I fact checked this, and seems correct from a cursory glance.

[@patasverdes6678]

Nice touch with the Star sound! 🤣

[@cosmos8569]

Was taking a sip of my drink when you said unless somebody blows into the cartridge spit my drink out laughing remembering how many times as a kid I would turn red in the face trying to use that technique.

[@revengenerd1]

I refreshed thinking its time for a video and it said uploaded 5 seconds ago, wow.

[@fliprod5958]

Thanks for outbidding me 😂😂 love the video and content!

[@Tronicsfix]

Lol, sorry about that.

[@forestw785]

Wish you attempted the GameShark! Would have been neat to see it under the microscope and all. Some wires from a donor cartridge to see if it even booted at all. Lots of neat stuff to try. Worth the time for resell? Probably not. Would be good content, though.

[@amberazurescale5617]

Yeah, actually the GameShark was the only really interesting thing in the bunch. All the rest was not broken, just dirty. Wouldn't call that 'repair' tbh.

[@bradclapp4022]

I don't think it would have made a difference with getting the 3DS cart working but they do make pointy tipped qtips. I have a pack of bamboo ones from Amazon and they are awesome!

[@nicknonamenobody]

I think i have hundreds of cartridges and only a single one was unrepairable (defective ROM chip). The others mostly just needed cleaning and one needed a trace repaired, but that was it. This video is a good showcase that most of the time, a cartridge isn't broken, it's just dirty.

[@martinmillar7137]

Absolutely loved taking cartridges apart as a kid lol this video is very nostalgic.. kinda wished I'd kept all my old gaming stuff from the 80's/90's had sooooo many from almost all consoles.

[@penguinjay]

Good job, I love fixing carts myself. I got a tournament fighters I fixed as well haha! I swapped boards w a nice Bulls vs Blazers for that one, but the original cart is in dead condition. Sucks bc you wanna put a nice label on it, but you also don't want to contribute to the fake stuff out there. Also, It's actually kinda insane what prices for broken games go for on ebay sometimes. People want stuff to fix, to make content, to resell or collect, or to just learn to fix on themselves etc. I've seen people basically pay pricecharting prices for broken games as long as the shells are looking nice. Freaking nuts haha, but I love it. I love what you're doing. I bet you've fixed a Grindstormer in your day. You got a sub from me!

[@penguinjay]

dang, it was pin cleaning, the experience, for this video. Haha. Nothing real interesting, but oh well, that just means you're buying smart lots. Nice fixin

[@insaneapples1559]

Actually a very interesting video! Please do more of these.

[@drake_sapphire]

Hello hello! I have started watching your videos lately and it's begun to inspire me to want to try to repair game cartridges. I was wondering though if you have a link of some sort to the type of wire you use to solder traces on the boards. It looks like some sort of blue wire. I really appreciate your time and thank you very much for the videos

[@Toast_Points]

To clean the pins of a DS/3DS cart, I take a cotton swab and pull some of the cotton at the tip up from the swab, then twist it into a little point that fits down between the bars well.

[@DavidSankey-vj5sg]

I love watching stuff on how to fix video games and love stuff on how to fix video game systems.

[@MyrkulBoneLord]

Hi, thanks for videos. For gameshark i think you can use a small piece of fiberglass cloth an epoxy it on each side, it should hold veey well.

[@frieddata]

@tronicsfix a fiberglass pen is great for cleaning the pins on a ds and 3ds game. The strands of the fiberglass goes in-between the raised guides.

[@nickolaswilcox425]

some of the 3ds era pokemon games had issues with cold solder joints meaning you have to open the shell up to fix those ones, it was initially thought to be dying chips, but found to not be the case

[@rabi0ne]

You should know that those cartridges were never broken at the first place... their seller didnt have the console to test them; Nintendo cartridges are immortal.

[@JoshuaKirtley]

It's kind of wild that Goodwill sold what they thought were broken games for $200, when the potential profit if they're all working is like $35.

[@me-jv8ji]

thats goodwill for you now days their a reseller no longer a donation place for poor people

[@sergeleon1163]

The white dried out residue looks a lot like Belgom Chroom polish which I've seen people use. For the DS game you could also have used isopropyl alcohol together with a toothbrush to clean the contacts.

[@jessesmusicmanor]

as always great video!

[@solidsnakeandgrayfox]

I rewatched your video on the series x cloning SSD. I do have a question, would it be possible to use the SSD from an expansion card as an internal SSD?

[@Evergreen64]

DeOxit does make a specific formulation for cleaning gold plated connectors.

[@unish25]

Isn't it ironic that the label in the back specifically tells you not to clean with "alcohol" and/or other such solvents...

[@oOignignoktOo1]

I believe back in the day it was because over the counter alcohol was typically 70% rubbing. Isopropyl alcohol is more available today and that's most effective for cleaning electronics without causing risk of corrosion from water.

[@emmettturner9452]

⁠@@oOignignoktOo1Rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alcohol. What’s even more ironic is that the Official Nintendo Cleaning Kit for the NES tells you to use distilled water first then 50/50 “distilled water and isopropyl” if that doesn’t work. Most people didn’t even know what that meant back then and they couldn’t just look it up online. “Where do I get this ‘isopropyl’ stuff?” Guess it was harder to notice the contradiction too. ;)

[@Dwedit]

Supposedly the warning against cleaning with alcohol was because Nintendo was concerned about children and safety, and not because of alcohol being ineffective.

[@NsaneHOG]

I recently used rubbing alcohol and a eraser on NES and SNES games pins that were VERY dirty (the eraser did most of the work for sure) and they turned out fantastic rather quickly!

[@Thrawn.]

TMNT Tournament Fighters was fantastic!! Lots of hours spent on that one!

[@alex13stone]

So glad you are saving stuff that would go in the trash and giving them a new life.

[@cej2499]

dude just wanted to say thank you that method for cleaning ds carts just fixed my childhood copy of pokemon diamond which was my first pokemon game and has been not working for a long time

[@Felix24148]

I recently transplanted a board from a generic USB SNES controller into the shell of a Hyperkin USB SNES controller using nothing but a screwdriver and hot glue. It worked beautifully

[@TV-ew8pe]

Don’t forget to enter the menu on ocarina of time. I’ve had a yellow bar and black screen. Had to really clean the crap out of the cart and replace the battery. Also clean the contacts.

[@Huckleberry93393]

I don't care what you're doing whether your cleaning or repairing or replacing i enjoy watching you work your magic

[@CapitalNick]

Should have tested some of them first to see what was actually a repair vs a misdiagnosis as broken.

[@suzisaintjames]

7:30 that "sw" written on the Donkey Kong cartridge... Try some isopropyl alcohol to remove it. Fun fact: the only thing that makes permanent marker permanent is the the solvent is alcohol and not water. 💖🌞🌵😷

[@yelidinero]

Do you have a video displaying the soldering setup you prefer to use? Or maybe something you’ve explained over numerous videos??? I’m a decent DIYer and experienced handyman.. and I’m about to get into soldering as a hobby and tactic to save money & I would like to know what microscope and lead or lead free solder.. flux or rosin or no rosin.. kind of equipment etc…. 🙏🏽

[@user-id9ou2np8g]

For cleaning pads, I highly recommend the extendable fiberglass brushes. I use them often for repairs that gives them a nice polish. You do need to use a light touch on them because a hard scrub can eventually start sanding off the copper.

[@user-id9ou2np8g]

I also want to add that a little harder scrub will take off loose solder-mask to see the traces, but you can touch them up with a conformal coating pen.

[@bajexe]

Cartridges are great for 'repairs'. So often faulty games (or even consoles) are perfectly fine and just needed the pins/contacts cleaned.

[@GenghisClaus]

This channel has inspired me to break all of my electronics so maybe one day I will get around to learning how to fix them

[@Doctrtony]

I'm just here to chill and watch some games get cleaned lol 😁

[@brianbingham5152]

Hey Brian I need some advice or maybe see if you would be able to help me out. I have a ps2 and it stopped working. I don't know what to do I had bought another one but that one doesn't work either. I was wondering if you work on ps2 or you only work on the newer systems?

[@NoCodeFilmmaker]

A great way to get those stripped screws off with minimal damage is to fill the screw hole with solder. Then press the bit against the solder and heat it up so the bit slips in. I let it harden and and pull the bit out and it literally rebuilds the screw hole. Super easy to remove afterwards.

[@user-mp1mm9xe8g]

have you ever tried that plastic fix stuff where you put a little liquid on it then zap it with some kind of blue light... I saw it on some info-mercials... I always wondered how well that works...

[@cindyjurgens1392]

I was wondering, do you service PS3 60gb backwards compatible consoles? I'm looking at buying one from eBay and I would need it opened and cleaned and checked, also new thermal paste on CPU-GPU. Please let me know. Thank you

[@PurpleSanz]

14:32 WHAT? You've never played Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga??? Steve, do yourself a favour and play it, it's awesome! You will have a wonderful time. You can thank me later.

[@Tronicsfix]

I played very few games when I was younger and now I don't have much time to but it sounds like I need to carve out some time for this one

[@urdnal]

You can try solvent bonding that crack in the game shark slot. Get some acetone or MEK, dip in something thin like a toothpick or small metal tube like what's on the deoxit bottle. Then run the drops along the crack (not too much but wet crack faces) and squeeze it firmly for a few hours. With rubber bands for example. If it's the right kind of plastic (ABS, ASA, acrylic) and you do it right, it'll be as strong as new.

[@ToddNZMTB]

That Christmas t-shirt ha ha 😄

[@InternetListener]

0:18 such detailed Warranty Voids and precautions that I wonder how many 80's child though those were challenging instruction to destroy cartridges... I don't remember having read any of them as a child... they were precious objects for me as my friends as I remember but what a fear to have such wide variety of bully or experiments to be done... thanks to emulation and preservation... surviving the 80s as a human being or a material thing, was not as easy as it can ressemble...

[@dodgydruid]

I only have eyes for two NES games, one being SMB3 just spent so many weeks of my life taming that one including going round the worlds with full P wing racks after completion to find all the secrets. The other is a rare one, Solstice... incredibly complex game with awesome graphics and a busting soundtrack, oh yeah baby :)

[@Null_Experis]

I've found that for cleaning old ENIG or HASL contacts like on game carts (cheaper tin colored or gold contacts without the conductor trace sticking out at the bottom), that a simple white pencil eraser works great. It's non-destructive to the plating treatment and removes all but the worst of grime. You can get away with Magic Eraser on Hard Gold contacts like on the NES carts, but the pencil eraser works great too. You may also want to lay down some fresh conformal coating, or even nail polish on the corroded lines. Atmospheric humidity WILL degrade the exposed copper over time.

[@AllTheNamesWereInUse]

Can you take the plastic off the game shark thing easily? If so, you might be able to 3d print a new one and replace the broken one. Good video btw.

[@fusionsct3999]

The white powder is dried Brasso, Brightboy or whatever metal polish they decided to use. I know this because I had to tell my local game shop to stop using it. It will always creep past the case and into the inside. Funny enough I told them to use that Deoxit D100L like you have there. Read the bottle. It says to leave a thin layer on. It will protect from future oxidation and will not damage plastic or metal. Also, please stop using the magic eraser. A Q-tip is plenty with Deoxit. It melts oxidation away. Very little effort is needed. I can't imagine repairing electronics without it. Seriously magical stuff. Ever struggle with the xbox one controllers that have d-pads that rapid press? Not even 99% IPA could get the pads clean enough to stop it. Only Deoxit has solved literally any and all connectivity issues I have had repairing hundreds upon hundreds of consoles, controllers and games.

[@_Thorsten]

The ice blue N64 console ist a beauty!

[@stazeII]

FWIW, believe the instructions for d100 do say to remove after applying/cleaning. D5 (the spray can deoxit) you can leave on.

[@CrazyRobitz]

Love the NES👍 i remember having a expansion cartridge with 15 games on it. You had to plug any game into it for it to work. The only problem was it stuck out and was easily hit.

[@teamafot3001]

Hi i have a ps4 white light problem and need advice. So i traded a faulty xbox one original for a supposed faulty ps4 original from a person that fixes consoles that wanted the Xbox for spares. So on the day i got home with the ps4 i used my ps3 cables to power it on and it miraculously powered on which surprised me as the controller was connected properly using the usb cable. But i saw the screen flash black then back to the home screen which i didn't know what is was then it did it once more and was displaying perfectly. After about 5 mins of waiting for it too show some errors or switching off because i did not expect it to work i plugged in my usb speakers to the other usb port on the front while the controller was plugged in. That was when the screen went black instantly. I didn't know what happened and pressed the eject button and a copy of GTA 5 came out which means the console was still powered on. When i plug the controller and speakers in on my ps3 super slim at the same time is says too many devices drawing power something like that. So i think it drew too much power on the ps4 and caused a wlod on the ps4. Im trying to do a home repair with minimal tools and if you could give me some idea of what the usb ports could have shorted eg a transistor or fuses or something. It still powers on and everything but that was the defining factor i think that contributed to the white light of death. Any recommendations would help as ive watched a lot of KZbin videos and most are the ic chip or some transistor . Its a original ps4 with wlod

[@Mampersand]

I use a fiberglass pen on 3ds and ds carts. Gets in there really easily and it’s not too abrasive. I find it to be a much more effective solution than q tips or cotton swabs.

[@Thri11craft]

Just wondering if you made sure the batteries in the games with batteries were still good? (Test if the game actually saves the save file)

[@yavuzyilmaz28]

That was the question I was looking for.

[@OldSchoolGamerandCollector]

Cool! Use solder mask for safe PCB trace Nes games!)

[@spideybra]

Have you tested the games before attempting the repairs? I´d expect quite a few to work even before cleaning.

[@zelvin5147]

10:26 My favorite nintendo console XD THE NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT *BOY*

[@Tobywan83]

I'm learning a lot from your videos. One day I hope I can something similar where I live. (Sweden)

[@Tronicsfix]

I hope so too!

[@1kreature]

Gold plated contacts pretty much can't tarnish. If there is grime and dirt on them it will be easily removed. No need to start rubbing away gold. What can happen is tin-smear which then oxidizes and leaves tin oxide. This non conductive material can be mechanically pressed into the gold but should be possible to clean off.

[@teh_supar_hackr]

Once I got a copy of Kirby's Dream Land that was not working. I opened it and saw a layer of what I assume was grape soda under the board on the back half of the cartridge shell. After some cleaning it somehow worked.

[@Ashenshugura]

"Unless people are blowing into their cartridges" *80s me slowly removes cart from lips.

[@dodgydruid]

What I use for my small boards, is a baby sized all steel AIPIO ultrasonic which is quite powerful for its size and has a useful degas function not seen on many USC's, I use a good electronics safe solution added to distilled water and every time a dirty cruddy board goes in, pristine board comes out. I paid £20 for the machine off Ali and it just tears through grime, oil, dirt, corrosion but doesn't destroy soft stuff.

[@suzisaintjames]

I understand that testing the games ahead of time maybe boring... But you could test them and tell us that you did... here's the reason... We want to know if the people who sold the broken objects, tested them before selling or just put some stuff together to sell without testing. If they do, there's hope for us novices to get something and immediately turn it around (with some minor cleaning) for profit. I watch your videos for the hope for the positive out come in every phase of this process... Including buying a broken object and getting something that works! That's why there's at least one comment in every video: did you test it beforehand. Sending lots of love 💖 from sunny 🌞 Arizona 🌵. Take care of yourself and each other 😷.

[@jakeg6865]

Did you check the capacity of the CR2032 save data battery on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time? I'd be surprised if it still had capacity.

[@ImminentStorm]

If that is still the original battery I would have just swapped it anyway. They are cheap and the replacement is easy. I can do it and I don't know a soldering iron from a hole in the ground.

[@user-ve1er3sc8j]

Game Shark? Could you just slap some thin adhesive foam stripping on the inside of the case to keep the break from splitting when the cart is installed? Or even better, adhere it along the break.