Can We Rescue a Fire Damaged Game Cartridge from 1982? I don't know...

[@casperleeberg]

This channel deserves to be a lot bigger!

[@frazzleface753]

Don't we all. 😂

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thank you Casper! Feel free to share 😉

[@pwissink1]

Totally agree

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thank you too!

[@frankowalker4662]

Perfect resurection, Mark. I would love to see you do more of these.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Noted!

[@PaulinesPastimes]

Agree!

[@Sentinel_UK]

Definitely do more episodes restoring these cartridges and other fire damaged things, it’s great to see you reclaim that which was lost.

[@EugeneLychany]

I'm happy to see that some things are still salvageable from that fire. I myself have lost both my whole collection of 34 years and my house due to my hometown being occupied and ransacked during the war two years ago. Things like that make me smile, keep it up man.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I’m so sorry for your loss and hoping for better times for you.

[@DaveVelociraptor]

I find these restoration videos very peaceful. Things being put right. 🦈

[@MarkFixesStuff]

You are a peaceful guy dave!

[@mwk1]

Szanuję za wszystko! Za wideo, za audio, za tekst, za naprawę, ale chyba najbardziej za to, że po raz pierwszy widzę, żeby ktokolwiek (z "naprawiaczy") na youtube użył gumki do czyszczenia pinów kartridża - podczas gdy ja robię to od zawsze 😎 Serdeczne Pozdrowienia z Polski, Mark! Trzymaj się Chłop 🍻

[@stevvieb]

A cartridge restoration episode, yes please

[@MarkFixesStuff]

WhooHoo! Thanks for watching Stevvie!

[@josephnealescratchcards]

i want to see a cartridge restoration episode too

[@MaggieKeizai]

I love when you bring things back from the fire. It's always fun and interesting, and I know it has to feel mighty good for you. More, please!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@johneygd]

And what could be better if we could also recycle all that plastic of those damaged cartride shells and 3D print back those cartride shells,that would be awesome to see that happen, Same those with those damaged paper labels by recycling them into new paper and print back those labels,this way we save those retro stuff from the ashes🙏🙏

[@BrunoDPO]

Please, show us more of these games resurrecting from the ashes! I am pretty sure that you will be able to repair them all and give us some pleasant videos! All the best, Mark!

[@joshpayne4015]

I love seeing these resurrection videos!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thank you Josh!

[@interghost]

Great stuff Mark, loved that. - And, you are in a great place once again!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Dizzy_Hites]

Love these videos, Mark. Would love to see the other cartridges rescued and a deep clean and refurb of the console.

[@mitchyk]

I remember when you had the fire and my heart sank. Reminded me of when I lost my "personal museum". But at the end of the day you're doing well to recover things like this. Keep it up!

[@74bobby]

I would Love to see a whole series of you Restoring all those Carts...

[@Michael500ca]

I had a Colecovision back in the day. Glowing cartridges would be awesome. You could say "Does yours glow? Well mine does!"

[@carledwards9477]

Absolutely resurrect the melted masses! I am not only certain it would help you but it is great content. Thank you for sharing what must be very difficult moments. Nothing shows character more than a person who can overcome difficult times, and you have done that amazingly well. I will repeat here what I have said before: your close-up camera work puts many other "big" channels to shame - outstanding work.

[@SophieFeet]

The resurrection episodes are an emotional journey for us as well as you. Loved both replacement cart styles.

[@rorykelly8275]

Yes please do a full restore on the console. Also, please restore the cartridges to as near factory as possible. Great video.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I'll do some as close to factory as I can, but others will be "reimaginings" I think. Some of the label elements are hard to find.

[@rorykelly8275]

@@MarkFixesStuff ok so if you leave the reimagining to those particular ones maybe Mark?

[@cassiel1970]

I vote for more cartridge restoration videos and one for the Colecovision console too! 👍🏻

[@FrankEBailey]

Yes! Restore the console in a future episode, and do at least a couple more cartridge resurrections, please! And keep making videos, you're super relaxing to watch 😊

[@davidretrogamesplayedbadly3533]

Everything does look better when it glows in the dark, even me. Nice to see something saved mate.

[@kirbyyasha]

Wow beautiful so glad to see them restored and will watch any restoration you do!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

More to come!

[@tonelander9534]

I like how shiny it turned out after you giving a good old rub.

[@Monkey_SK]

This was a great video Mark! Let's have another video going through the rest of them and bring them back from the ash heap. Plus a Deep clean and refurbish of the console would be a good watch for those looking to do the same or thinking of picking one up.

[@technickuk]

Great to see the cartridge working after what it's been through. And after what you've been through, thank you for not giving up on your channel and continuing to make us great videos like this one. Sorry it's taken me 3 weeks to get around to watching it!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks Nick!

[@trevorboys9140]

Great work - I was half expecting the game to be Phoenix!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

That would be a bit too on the nose hahah!

[@BottIsNotABot]

Nice job Mark, would love to see a restoration video on the Coleco and cartridges!

[@lindoran]

I like your restoration videos a whole lot!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thank you!!

[@massdrivermusic]

Really good that You got so much support after the fire, really happy that You didn't give up. Happy for the support people gave You, and that some of the stuff are still salvageable. I both feel sad for the incident, and feel happy for the recovery ...I'ts almost like I feel empathy or something, OMG! :O

[@steven-vn9ui]

Nicely done Mark, very neat label that as well.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thank you Steven!

[@chris_hertford]

Looking at the burn cartridge sent chills, the story of the fire sounds devastating!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

It was a bit rubbish!!

[@b.o.4492]

Really enjoyed this video. Sad for your lost stuff but that cart has history to it now.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Glad you enjoyed it. I think it's time to bring the past into the future now.

[@joseernunes]

Great video, Great job, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

[@kins749]

Makes me sad to think of what you went through, but glad to see how you've got through it

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I appreciate that Kins!

[@retro_reflections]

Add my vote to the 'cart resto episode' list - reckon you've got a couple of vids worth there at least, as well as the console clean-up!

[@Midcon77]

Absolutely resurrect those carts Mark! I would love to see them!

[@FinnleysAudioAdventures]

That carbon fiber case looked amazing. The glow in the dark was cool as well. With the number of carts that need to be cleaned, would an ultrasonic cleaner work to get the soot off of these?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Oh definitely and I have one here that I just need to set up. It's a big beast though, so needs a good reason to fill alll of it's 42 litres!

[@corty1980]

Great to see you restore that cartridge Mark, and would like to see more of the same.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

More to come I think Corty!

[@lmfsilva3000]

If I had to guess, cartridges are a bit more resilient to this sort of accident because the space between the board and chips and the plastic shell provides some insulation, so unless the plastic is all burned up or the contacts were too exposed, you might be able to save quite a few of them.

[@danielkerryann]

Resto vids are great... we'll watch them all... and that console is crying out for a restoration!! Do it do it do it...

[@MarkFixesStuff]

OK!

[@Geckofingers]

Great video Mark, loved this episode. Please try and resurrect the other cartridges..would love to see if they are salvageable. Your geological neighbour John Grant 👍🏻

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Will do John! Wouldn't be neighbourly otherwise!

[@frazzleface753]

So weird to see Made in England on that label, by CBS of all people. What a different world! Lovely recreation, Mark.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Plus, Woodley is about 20 mins from here.

[@darrenhunter2324]

Nice work resurecting that catrage, would love to see some more of the same. Also got a question was there any dry joints caused by the fire.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I think the solder joints were pretty bad but it’s more likely from the factory. I didn’t reflow them because I wanted to see if it worked first

[@UpLateGeek]

Good job on those 3D prints, I hope they feel as good inserting them into the cart slot as they look. I'm always surprised how well contacts clean up just using an eraser. That Colecovision really is in a state, I wouldn't even want to touch it wearing gloves! Definitely need to clean it up. I think it would make a good video cleaning up the console and doing a resurrect-a-thon (would you call that a "rapture"?) on those other cartridges.

[@charlesjmouse]

Something positive from the flames. Very well done! A thought: I wonder if any unrecoverable cartridges could be set in epoxy as something of a memento... if not too maudlin.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I'm thinking now...

[@sheep1ewe]

I realy love this video!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I'm so glad!

[@boredwithusernames]

I would add my voice to the masses of viewers that are crying out across the world... "yes please, let's see more of these restoration videos" 😁 I would also like to see that console restored and cleaned up as well in a future video if possible, that would be a nice project and would complete this project perfectly.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Well said! I think I might do a simple AV mod on the console too. The RF is OK, but tends to drift I've since found.

[@boredwithusernames]

@@MarkFixesStuffGreat idea, you will get a much better picture quality with t his mod 👍

[@grahamclayton1110]

Would 100% Emily seeing some more carts being rescued!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Cheers Graham. I'll ask Emily if she's free! 😉

[@grahamclayton1110]

lol, arguing with daughter while dictating comment, recipe for disaster!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

@@grahamclayton1110😂😂

[@dieterbuschbaum6904]

Its so good to see this kind of video..relax and get a coffee and some tissues

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Perfect! Beware of chafing!

[@linuxjedivideo]

If you need these kind of labels printed in future, I have a Primera LX610, which is basically like a printer and Cricuit in one device.

[@djdoo]

Great! And yes remake them with different styles, colors, so they will be the unique "ΦΟΙΝΙΞ" Mark's cartridges and I also bet they will all work! Cheers from Greece and I am glad you are on your feet for good now! Jim.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Cool idea! Thanks Jim!

[@electricadventures]

I love the glow in the dark shell, very cool. The 3d design for the shell I am using has the indent for the label. Been getting good (if slow) result on fine with my existing Flashforge Adventurer 3. But have a Crealty F1 Pro Max arriving in a day or so hoping I still get decent quality but the speed is improved. NB: I print my shells vertically, a few at a time on a raft.

[@IRecordEverythingLA]

If you have a stripped out screw that turns otherwise you can sometimes get it out if you can get something to give some lift in the direction for extraction that should be all you need. Doesn't even take much force either just a little something to assist the threads with what little remains and less chance of damage from forcing something that may not otherwise be needed.

[@johneymute]

Just when i was releaved that you did not damaged that 3D printed cartride, but then you decided to go for a white glowing in the dark one, albeit cool but i would,ve just appreciated if you just did still go for that black cartride,still trough it’s a great restoration, Now i really can’t wait till you gonna restore the colecovision, Now to somewhat justify that burned down stuff of your retro collection, not only do those pcb boards from those games needs to be rescued but even those damaged plastic shells by recycling them and use that recycled plastic for 3D printing back all cartride shells, while all the damaged paper needs to be rescued too by reciycling them into new for for printing back those labels, in simple terms ‘we must rescue and save those damaged retro stuff and make them raise from the ashes to be alive again,it’s rescue time😁

[@stephenpalmer9375]

there's something just lovely about seeing something like a cartridge rising like a phoenix like this. I was wondering if you were going to desolder the chips and use your Ultrasonic Cleaner on the board... but I guess sometimes it's just elbow grease and a rubber that's required*. (*insert behind the bike sheds joke here)

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I was expecting to have to do that, but this one suprised me. I suspect some more advanced cleaning will be required on some others I film.

[@pascalharris1]

Rescue! Rescue! Rescue!

[@grantm902]

When I got my PAT testing certificate in 2013 or so, unsleeved plugs in old, in-use appliances were deemed acceptable, but not new ones.

[@PaulinesPastimes]

One little step at a time, that's all it takes. 👍

[@RonHelton]

👍👍🦆🦆🔥🔥🧯🧯🕹🕹🏁🏁🏁🏁 Nice Save!!!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks 👍

[@n.h.s.a.d.m.]

As a CV fan I say do all the carts!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I will do my best!

[@adilsongoliveira]

"Brute force and ignorance" The universal problem solver since the beginning of time 😂

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I have a hammer. You are correct.

[@dieterbuschbaum6904]

My Coleco console suffers with a fluffy and dirty crevice too....

[@MarkFixesStuff]

They've really been around the block...

[@TheDanaAddams]

Love seeing these extreme restorations/resurrections - would love to see ever more of them! It breaks my heart to see retro games and things get broken, but seeing them saved is always so uplifting!

[@stevencarlson5422]

yes please restore those other carts, maybe with a total restore on the system also

[@JenniferinIllinois]

One resurrected cartridge complete. 👍

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Yes indeed!

[@dominikschutz6300]

The ColecoVision is very desirable to restore and restore for. IntelliVision an VideoPac, too :)

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I have all three of those!

[@paulward2076]

You could do a cartridge Fix-A-Thon...or something like that! 🙂

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Not got the stamina at my age heheheh.

[@paulward2076]

@@MarkFixesStuff i get you. All that malarkey is a young mans game 😉. I think it would ge good to see a series of these games rescued and restored with a theme, possibly, for the new cases.

[@CliveMcCabe]

i love glo in the dark stuff myself :-)

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Really makes me think of the 80s, and I really LOVE the 80s!

[@southernflatland]

Back in 2006, we had a customer bring in his desktop computer after a house fire. The case was a goner of course, but we had a spare case from a cousin model computer that everything would fit in. The thing stunk like all holy hell, but we went ahead and tested it. Bad PSU to start with, so we got out our trusty spare testing PSU and hooked it up. Much to our surprise, other than a bad connection on the mouse port, this half melted stinking PC actually booted up! Our shop's boss didn't want to be liable for however it might or might not come out, but he also knew that I had a knack for salvaging some of the worst case scenarios, but those were usually flood damage or drink spills or the like. Anyways, the boss told me that if I wanted to take on the job off the clock, just between me and the customer, that I had his blessing. And so I did. What did I do to clean all the soot off of an entire motherboard? I pressure washed it of course! Using tire cleaner at first to break loose the greasy soot, then a plain water pressure wash to rinse. Then I accelerated drying time with an air compressor, and finished fully drying it by leaving it on the roof of my car in the sun for like an hour. I actually had to go back and wash it the same way a second time, as it didn't work after the first wash, but it worked perfectly after the second wash. Craziest thing is even his original DVD burner still worked! That was probably more dumb luck than anything though, I'm sure it wouldn't have worked if there hadn't been a DVD in the drive blocking the soot from the lens during the fire. Customer was happy, I was happy, and I managed to reduce the stink level by like 98%. Dude paid me fairly as well.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Oh wow! What a great rescue! House fire soot is the WORST because it's so greasy and toxic. Well done!

[@southernflatland]

@@MarkFixesStuff Another trick I did with the flood damaged systems was to spray soak them with WD-40 for a day or two before pressure washing. I didn't bother with WD-40 on the fire salvage system, but I'm sure it wouldn't have hurt a bit, prolly would have helped actually. I'm sorry about your smoke/fire damaged items, but if I were in your shoes, I'd probably take all those game cartridge boards out and spray the boards down with WD-40 until you can get to each one individually.

[@420.........]

My house burnt down and I lost everything besides my prototype collection but the heat changed the colour of a engineering sample console. ​@@MarkFixesStuff

[@CelentAle]

Carnival , Coleco. Preview: June 1980 Genre: Shoot 'em up Developers: Gremlin Industries, Coleco, Sega 👍😉

[@MarkFixesStuff]

First game to have a bonus stage I read!

[@razvanmazilu6284]

I'd watch more videos if you have more stuff that looks like it could be saved. What happened to your house was terrible, but at least now I don't think too many people can say 'I restored this semi-melted piece of consumer electronics from my house fire.'

[@epremeaux]

Id love to see an X-ray of your Frankenstein cartridge mess.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Alas no xray machines here

[@FelinoAnticomunista]

Spectacular 😺

[@brianm6337]

I've had tooth surgery, I'm on painkillers, so ignore what ya want. I'm gonna babble. 😄 The label- since you went with glow in the dark plastic- why not make a custom label? Instead of a black background- transparent. Make the white text black (contrast). What sort of acrobatics would need to be done to stick a small UV LED in the cartridge? And just for rank, drug fuelled curiosity... I always wondered- if a PCB no longer works, but the main components are salvageable... what are the odds PCB Way couldn't reverse engineer the boards so you can just do a direct transplant to a new board? I'm gonna go lay down now, and wait for the numbing to wear off. trying to get food in me- milkshakes for now- is hell. 😜 Oooh! One last thought. I dunno what you have for printer filament... but wouldn't it be something if say, you had a block breaking game, and could make it out of say, 'brick and mortar'? Or dump the label, and do 3d colored 'labels'?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

The pcb has already been recreated so I think we’re good. The rest of the stuff you said are nice suggestions. Thank you!

[@AFourEyedGeek]

When Activision first started they wanted their Atari 2600 cases to stand out, so they used bright, almost garish colours on their boxes. What about different colours for all of your saved / repaired Colecovision cartridges.

[@frankurmom8741]

I would watch your videos recovering your house fire stuff! Do it!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Some of it is onlty really good for salvaging sparesm but I think some of the things can be at least "made to work".

[@frankurmom8741]

@@MarkFixesStuff salvage what you can, I'm also pretty sure soot is mildly corrosive and combustable so remember to be thorough

[@mindthreatx]

Those cartridges are indestructible! I ran over 2600 combat with a car and it still worked

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Don't doubt it. I do have some much worse examples here so I'll be working through them.

[@XxRaidenxXminecraft]

@@MarkFixesStuffi will maybe reflow the solder point you can see some are really dry one on the 2 chip this will maybe cause some problem in the future but yeah theese are indestructible

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Yeah. really I wanted to see how well it survived the fire without my intervention, but that is a good point! Thank you!

[@mathiasnilsson7996]

what did start the fire ???

[@MarkFixesStuff]

An electrical fault in the garage Mathias.

[@ravuya]

Glow in the dark cartridges are a great idea.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I love it. It makes me grin every time I turn off the light!!!

[@Zhixalom]

A duck's derriere, Mark? - That's worryingly specific. 😬

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I can only speak from experience !

[@Zhixalom]

@@MarkFixesStuff Yeah, that's not always necessarily a good thing, you know. 😆

[@Elshiem]

Instead of a restoration this was only a case swap with some cleaning of the board. In the next one you can try to remove the label and put it in the in the new case, as a reminder of the origin of the cardtridge and to at least conserve something of the original case

[@hardlyworgen71]

Do we want to know how MFS is familiar with the tightness of a duck's derriere?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

How many fingers am I holding up?

[@xeriland]

Carnival is one of ColecoVision's best. Why not save the rest?

[@countzer0408]

Hey Mark, restore the lot of them.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

How can I say no to a Count?

[@markwrightrf]

#oohmatron Great stuff. Just disappointed that the real Rod Hull didn't manufacture his rubbers* in red or green flavou*... I mean colour. *Obscure references for UK viewers.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

“I’m the REAL Rod Hull!!”

[@markwrightrf]

@@MarkFixesStuff Yes Rod, no-one said you weren't. I don't know why you even bought that up. Is there another Colecovision in the pipeline!? Maybe made of jelly?

[@markwrightrf]

Search Rod Hull Curious Orange for anyone who gets it... hilariously not work safe as this was broadcast on a major terrestrial TV channel way back when live at *lunchtime*. Some flowery language. Sorry Mark, but I know your sense of humour and while watching a vid involving you recouping things from an horrific life-changing event, just thought I'd throw in my Emu-based bull. I AM HIM.

[@Hellwyck]

@@MarkFixesStuffI AM ROD HULL!!!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Green Jelly!

[@thefamouseccles1827]

Who are you, who is so wise is the way of ducks' bottoms?

[@yukatoshi]

what caused that horrendous fire?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

An electrical fault in the garage.

[@Boyer316]

Did you ever find out what caused the fire in the first place?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

An electrical fault in the garage.

[@cherzo71]

yes please do more

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Cool! I will Cherzo!

[@Mistasparkaru]

If brute force isn’t working… your not using enough

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Agreed!

[@ajdothack]

Fix'em all!

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Thanks AJ! I’ll try!

[@Lhawk2107]

👍👍

[@stephenoliveau]

MOAR plz

[@MarkFixesStuff]

Shure Steve!

[@andrewcooling2756]

You’ve damaged the label digging at it with a scalpel

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I know. I have regrets.

[@UberAlphaSirus]

You good job.

[@themightyimp08]

Surely it's Patreons.. not patrons

[@MarkFixesStuff]

They are my Patrons who support the channel on Patreon.

[@GeorgeZ213]

7 minutes in, and not once did you try it in a known good console

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I knew the console worked. I just forgot how dirty it was from the seller. Plus, we need a bit of drama, right?? 😉

[@derekjc777]

We are amazing, so don't you forget it! And you're amazing too, Mark.

[@MarkFixesStuff]

I'll never forget how amazing you are Derek! Thank you!

[@derekjc777]

@@MarkFixesStuff Don’t make me blush…

[@googleboughtmee]

Sega Enterises?

[@MarkFixesStuff]

First person to spot it. Well done. (including me)

[@johneygd]

This is sooo fucking frustrating to me to hear that your house along with your retro stuff and other collections went down by a fire,i fucking hate to hear that because i want to see that retro stuff get’s preserved on a save place since it no longer getting produced, if a ps5 with no data on it will ever get burned down, it shouldn’t be all that dramatic since that consoles does getting produced,but hearing about retro stuff getting destroyed by fire or a bombing, really makes me getting fucking pissed off, take for example that retro museum in ukrain wich was getting destroyed by a russian bombing campaign,you hate to see,hear or read about it,why o fucking why??? I can imagine that once retro collectors seeing their stuff getting burned down or stolen, will feel like to wanna commit suicide, am mean i just can’t get on top of this, i wouldn’t even wish this to my worst enemy, Well i hope you will be able to recollect all your stuff as soon as possible along with support from many donators, now i do sonder, when did your house got burned down, what was the cause of it? either way, it’s frustrating to hear about it and i probably will get sleepless nights with the feeling that those retro stuff getting more rarer and rarer each time shit will happen, am mean OUCH🥲🥲🥲🥲