Stop Blowing on Your Carts and Fix Your NES's 72-Pin Connector | This Old Tech

Blowing into your NES carts is a lousy idea. Thankfully, fixing that dusty old Nintendo Entertainment System is easier and cheaper than ever before. In the inaugural episode of This Old Tech, Seth gives a step-by-step guide on how to fix the 72-pin connector in an NES with a screwdriver, boiling water, and patience.
#NESCarts #ThisOldTech #Tech

[@mistrdevine]

Seth is always entertaining

[@bobhanson1037]

I'm to old to change my ways. Been doing it for 20 years. Don't care if I'm only 28.

[@sippingGerber]

No one touching your spit filled NES

[@raider_reaper_4194]

How about don't tell me what to do when it's been working for 40 years

[@norbitdre7286]

Exactly

[@NextNate03]

"Get off my lawn"

[@corrd3ll]

36 years with no problem😂

[@NextNate03]

🌬 Jobs

[@CowbopBeBoy]

It works even better when you tap your foot three times and say "yippee!"

[@mrbee15]

Next video. Repairing 360s that have red ringed

[@charleskone1446]

Thank you !

[@ben-tendo]

It’s brilliant to see a site as mainstream as yours hopefully encourage people less confident about preserving hardware and software like this. Keep it up! 👏🏻

[@csurammj]

Thank you for posting this video as it is helpful. Is it possible that you might be able to demonstrate a DIY kit for an NES for those of that might have NES games w/out a console?

[@MeItsLiterallyMe]

Please keep this series up!

[@tivokio]

Love this!!! Great video Seth

[@jayray4546]

Great vid, very well done sir 👌

[@carlrichardt6384]

More videos like this, please😄. Awesome video IGN!🤘

[@fatherobama7658]

Blowing on your cartridge is a rite of passage. Don’t ruin tradition.

[@dinxsy8069]

Rambletron engaged!

[@maximummaxiness9958]

Another timely video from ign.

[@iamdmc]

you should have cleaned the contacts and the board too with some kind of alcohol before you put everything back together and if the connector's pins were in any way bent or damaged boiling it wouldn't have done anything. Inspect it and bend pins back up

[@NDahler]

Excellent excuse to get your NES in tip top shape... since we don't have Bionic Commando on Switch, or even WiiU Virtual Console.

[@officialretroshell]

Thanks for sharing this critical part in retro gaming preservation, our latest retro newsletter is number 72 (which is the number of Pins a NES cartridge has) and to celebrate this fact we are going to feature this video. Link in bio.

[@94253474]

Mine is 26 years old & working flawlessly. But, thanks for the hack.

[@NextNate03]

Fixing or replacing the pins is part of the problem. For most people do not want open up the NES. Get or make a cartridge cleaning kit and clean the contacts of the cartridge and clean the pins. Also, buy canned air and use it whenever NES has blinking light of Death. If you are brave enough to replace the pins, still clean the cartridges. You don't want to put a dirty cartridge into a new pins.

[@scottmog]

FYI, you can and in my opinion should take a hook pin and bend the pins back straight as they were when you first bought the system.

[@ZackRToler]

Make sure to ground yourself when handling internals of electronics so you don't short circuit anything from any potential static electricity

[@naptime43x]

@8:20 it looks like you remove 2 more screws, but your hands are covering them and it is never mentioned. sort of important to get the 72 Pin connector out. otherwise pretty decent tutorial, aside from missing that important step.

[@kpb0632]

Any recommendations on which new 72 pin to purchase?

[@kylewilliams3306]

Is there to get 72 pin connector with out un screaming the mother board ?

[@kishengounden1891]

The 20th century was always wrong and we are now in the 21st century.

[@notesonwheels]

More of this content, less cheezit content. Please.

[@CTobin14]

A 15min video that could’ve been fully replicated with a short.

[@FRFFW]

Thank you but i'm still gonna blow the dust off

[@nicktronson2977]

My roms dont need blowing.

[@Banthug]

Awesome vid

[@RDJ134]

Must be cold in that room/basement to wear a vest and a coat.

[@CowbopBeBoy]

It's pretty brutal some days, yeah.

[@smkie-hf9pz]

The trick is to not push the cartridge in and leave it as far out as you can where you can still lower the bay

[@Bonesph]

That works to but blowing into them works and it has to be mouth and not keyboard cleaner.

[@smkie-hf9pz]

@@Bonesph the breath moisture probably helps conductivity

[@Deka4891]

But HOW LONG do you boil the pin connector before it’s al dente, Chef Seth? It takes about 20 minutes for eggs. 😝

[@RealMTV1]

They fix it no the n64?

[@EhCloserLook]

Can someone explain what boiling the pin connector actually does?

[@Mister_Fancypants]

You make Nintendo tea

[@slproductions1819]

it contracts the pins until they go back into their original state

[@EhCloserLook]

@@slproductions1819 Heat would cause the pins for contract??? R U sure?

[@DeathScy7he]

The pins on the main board not being cleaned prior to reinstalling the 72-Pin connector imo was a wasted opportunity.

[@johnnydarling8021]

NES is haunted? Who ya gonna call?

[@mrt445]

Nes and SNES are the most durable consoles ever. Most playstations and Xboxes stop working after several years.

[@captaintalon4485]

Look up planned obscelence if you get a chance. In the short definition it's basically designing a product to fail early before its actual lifespan as a way to drive up sales. It's not just a problem with consoles but phones and the like

[@NextNate03]

​@captaintalon4485 It is going to get alot worse when Electric Vehicles are going to be mainstream. Battery replacements cost 25k+ for Vehicles that is worth 10k or less.

[@CowbopBeBoy]

There aren't any moving parts on the NES and Super NES, unless you count the doors. Consoles with disc drives are orders of magnitude more complex and there are way more things to break.

[@markofthewolvessucks8930]

My Xbox 360 still works despite being like six or seven years old.

[@stephensmith7948]

PlayStations, 1, 2, and 3 yes. Pre-Jasper Xbox 360’s, yes. OG Xbox and Xbox One are actually made very well and I’ve had both for years without an issue, other than the Xbox One’s power Brick after 8 years. Also never had an issue with my Xbox 360 either.

[@rdkrussel]

What does boiling it actually do?

[@pavekki]

The pins have bended over the years so boiling the adapter bends the pins back to the original shape.

[@joejones1991]

That's an old wives tale

[@ZackRToler]

Engineering is a form of science

[@CowbopBeBoy]

Thank you for taking my suggestion to the comments!

[@ShoopdaShoop]

No thank you ill keep blowing... Gawk gawk

[@Burnt_Gerbil]

Blowing did nothing, even though we all did it. Removing and reinserting is what cleaned the contacts. There is a better way.

[@lepermessiah9309]

Who has patience?

[@AlexSxntana]

It’s been working all this time sooooooo….🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️

[@Machtimus]

Slow day huh?

[@dmaster342]

Saturday and Sunday are both slow days for IGN. They barely upload.

[@ringoraccoon6349]

💙

[@misterpeanut718]

No!

[@superlbc]

Super mario land 2

[@yauhoang6773]

What kind of heresy is this!!!!!. Its common to blow it ;).

[@BloodFever]

How many people even still have these

[@RealMTV1]

It works xD

[@gamingvibez862]

Lol. This is The Way

[@HipnotikHylian]

No

[@VayKC]

No.

[@noctus1409]

😂

[@uziceuzice]

Worst tut ever. Thanks IGN as always

[@bobdylan1968]

This is DUMB. And WRONG. Blowing on carts will do absolutely zero damage what so ever to the carts. We are talking decades of blowing in those things on a regular basis before the moisture will do any notable damage. Statistically speaking, 99 percent of these issues stem from DIRTY PINS. NOT broken pins. Do not do this unless you absolutely have zero other choice. And EVEN then. It makes far more sense just to buy a new system. It's cheaper even.

[@Rihito990]

Just use emulator dud

[@matthewharris517]

One word Emulators