Imagine this…you just picked up an uncommon title to fill a hole in your collection at a yard sale… and for fifty cents on top of that! Now, to find out if it works…you rush home and dig out everything you need to carefully clean this wondrous and ancient artifact of vintage gaming. Upon closer inspection, you see that this cartridge looks like it had been stored in a basement, attic, shed or storage unit for decades. And ironically, it probably has. Dust, dirt, mold, mouse poop, corrosion, dead bugs and spiderwebs won’t keep you from playing this game. But this one will require more than rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip.
One of the questions that I’ve been asked the most over the years is “how do you clean your game cartridges?” Well, I am going to answer that question right now in this blog, and it is different than your typical answer, because it is a slightly more thorough and aggressive method but has worked consistently and faithfully for me for many, many years. And it has been tried and true over literally THOUSANDS of cartridges. Yes, rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs are involved, but I will also introduce you to my secret sauce. Maybe not so secret to some. But first things first…
The work area and tools. I’m a stickler for preparation, but several things to have on hand here will prove both time saving and frustration reducing. If you are only cleaning the occasional cartridge (like one a month) then this is less critical than if you were sitting down to go through dozens (or more) at a time. I used to set up shop at the kitchen table but soon figured that if I were to be cleaning hundreds of games then I should probably do myself (and my marriage) a favor and set up a more permanent area. So here is what I recommend…
1. A clean and well lit work area, free from distractions or curious kids or pets.
2. Some sort of magnifier. I use a lighted swing arm style desk lamp that clamps to the table edge, portable ones are also available. I’m at the age where this is a necessity.
3. Small flat bladed screwdriver or anything to use to open the Atari cartridge dust covers. Not necessary for other manufacturers that have an open access to the contacts like Nintendo or Sega. We will get to this later and will be included in a blog update.
4. Isopropyl rubbing alcohol, 90% or higher. You can use more watered down stuff (70%) in a pinch but just remember that water mixed with electronics is never good.
5. Cotton swabs. Here’s a tip…don’t cheap out too much on these, make sure they at least have the cardboard stems, the plastic ones are very flimsy and frustrating as they bend easily under very little pressure.
6. Two small containers with lids. One will be for rubbing alcohol, the other for…
7. …the secret sauce. Get a bottle of Barkeepers Friend. This is a very mild abrasive used for copper and works magic on these cartridge contacts. Even on contacts that you think are clean, the amount of tarnish that comes off is, well, disgusting.
I’ve gotten into the habit of always cleaning the contacts first before the outside of the game cartridge. Why? Because it’s no use to waste time and effort cleaning the outside of a game cart if it doesn’t work. “But...but…so many others have said that they have NEVER had a faulty game or have cleaned HUNDREDS with never a failure!” Well, good for them. The reality is that if you clean enough cartridges, especially the gnarly nasty ones that are picked up very cheaply, you will have duds. I also go after the nasty and gnarly ones that everyone else shies away from because I can get them for cheaper. But the caveat is there is a higher fail rate. Yes, old Atari consoles and game cartridges are generally very rugged and resilient. But I’ve had cartridges that literally looked brand new… with not even a scratch on the contacts…that were toast. And then the opposite... a game cartridge that looked like it was buried underground for years that worked after cleaning. It happens, and it happens more often than some would have you believe. But anyway, onward.
I will explain to you the process that I use… it’s by no means the definitive way to do this but seems to work well for me.
1. First, I start out by saturating a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol and cleaning out the dirt, dust and debris from the inside business end of the game cartridge. We don’t want that garbage transferring in any way into our console. This can and usually will take multiple swabs… and you can even use a mild surface cleaner on your cotton swabs to clean out the inside of the plastic shell, all around the board and contacts (but NOT the board and contacts).
2. Second, while only use rubbing alcohol on the board and contacts, go ahead and swipe all of the dirt and dust off of the board and contacts. You can use a side-to-side swiping motion and then change direction to a sawing motion back and forth on the length of the contacts. On Atari cartridges, the ‘backside’ of the board is closer to the shell and more difficult to navigate and see. If you have a cartridge that has a particularly bad label that you don’t care if it gets a little more butchered, you can always feel for where the screw holes are that hold the cartridge together (talking Atari games here) and poke through to extract them and open the cartridge. Makes the cleaning process MUCH simpler and easier.
As you can see from the photo below, just rubbing alcohol on the cotton swab picked up an amazing amount of filth from this game. But the contacts on this particular cartridge are so tarnished, corroded and dirty that we would be here for a long time if we just used rubbing alcohol.
3. So now for the big guns. Take a clean cotton swab and dip the end into the Barkeepers Friend that you have put in a small dish or container. It doesn’t take much, just enough to saturate the swab, and only put a small puddle in your container so as not to waste it. Now repeat the process across the contacts on the game cartridge. Start by swiping side to side, putting pressure down onto the contacts, then switch to a sawing motion across the length of each contact. Repeat on the other side of the circuit board. You may need to rotate the swab 180 degrees to the ‘clean’ side once a side is dirty. Below is a picture of the swab after using the Barkeepers Friend. You can see that it has MORE dirt on it than from alcohol only!
4. Now for the VERY important part of this procedure…you must thoroughly clean off the contacts again with rubbing alcohol. As wonderful as the Barkeepers Friend is, it will leave a residue that will dry to a haze and must be wiped off or your game will have issues loading. So rinse the contacts thoroughly with more clean rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs. Allow to dry before inserting the game cartridge into your console. Below is a photo of the contacts completely cleaned with this entire procedure. Much better!
5. Finally, after everything has dried, test the game for function. Sometimes, with extremely filthy and/or corroded contacts, secondary and tertiary cleanings may be needed. Don't give up too early. If the game works, go ahead and clean the outside of your cartridge. Collectors like to preserve the original label, and this one is in pretty good shape, so don’t use a harsh cleaner or it will take the ink off of the label. I use a VERY mild surface cleaner, sprayed on a paper towel and lightly, oh so lightly, wipe over the labels and cartridges.
Success! This blog will be updated and expanded upon, any questions, commentary and user tips are appreciated. There are some points that I have not covered that will be added soon, stay tuned!
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