Sick of having to blow into the DS cartridge slot

[GSZX1337]

Sorry for the bad advice, then. I've never done it myself, but I could've sworn I saw The 8-Bit Guy do it. I scrubbed through some of his videos but I didn't see any footage of him using baking soda on contacts. Am I crazy? Yeah, probably.

[samsonlonghair]

Sorry for the bad advice, then. I've never done it myself, but I could've sworn I saw The 8-Bit Guy do it. I scrubbed through some of his videos but I didn't see any footage of him using baking soda on contacts. Am I crazy? Yeah, probably.

8-bit guy sometimes uses baking soda to whiten yellowed plastic. Maybe that’s what you’re thinking about.

I personally wouldn’t use baking soda to clean electric contacts.

A lot of people recommend 99% alcohol. I think that’s a good idea, but I never see it for sale at that potency. Maybe it’s regulated differently in different states. I can only seem to find denatured alcohol at 80% concentration here.

I use electric contact cleaner. It’s convenient; it works well; it’s easy to aim; it’s available at most hardware stores and auto part stores.

I’ve also tried windex (or generic ammonia-based cleaning fluid). It does an acceptable job of cleaning cartridge pins, but I think it doesn’t work quite as well as e.c.c. or 80% denatured alcohol. I find that I have to take multiple attempts using Windex. I often have to spray, scrub with a toothbrush, and repeat the process a few times to get my desired results.

I can tell you one gung-ho method of cleaning cartridges. I wouldn’t necessarily say this is a good idea. It strikes me as overkill, but it works. I wouldn’t have thought of it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. I watched the owner of a video game shop clean a severely corroded Super Nintendo cartridge with brasso! He scrubbed the brasso across the contacts with a toothbrush, and then he followed up with generic cleaning fluid on a paper towel just to wipe away the brasso. That Brasso stunk up the whole store, but sure enough it did the job! I have never tried it myself because it seems like swatting a fly with mustard gas to me.

[GSZX1337]

A lot of people recommend 99% alcohol. I think that’s a good idea, but I never see it for sale at that potency. Maybe it’s regulated differently in different states. I can only seem to find denatured alcohol at 80% concentration here.

I got some 91% alcohol at a Nashville Walmart. Maybe we can find higher potency alcohol in our local pharmacies.

I watched the owner of a video game shop clean a severely corroded Super Nintendo cartridge with brasso! He scrubbed the brasso across the contacts with a toothbrush, and then he followed up with generic cleaning fluid on a paper towel just to wipe away the brasso. That Brasso stunk up the whole store, but sure enough it did the job! I have never tried it myself because it seems like swatting a fly with mustard gas to me.

Makes some half-assed sense to me. I mean, the contacts are copper and Brasso removes tarnish from copper.

[marurun]

Should not be hard to find 90% or 91% alcohol at a CVS, Walgreens or Wal-mart. They should carry that stuff regularly. If you don't see it out, ask at the pharmacy desk. There are some products that are over the counter that are kept behind the desk. 90% or more should be just fine.

[samsonlonghair]

Should not be hard to find 90% or 91% alcohol at a CVS, Walgreens or Wal-mart. They should carry that stuff regularly. If you don't see it out, ask at the pharmacy desk. There are some products that are over the counter that are kept behind the desk. 90% or more should be just fine.

You know, the one time I worked up the nerve to ask the clerk at CVS for 99% alcohol, she gave me such a look! She looked at me like I was some kind of pathetic sot trying to get drunk off denatured alcohol. "Oh no no no," She said, "We don't sell that sort of thing around here." I never had the nerve to ask again.

[Michi]

Should not be hard to find 90% or 91% alcohol at a CVS, Walgreens or Wal-mart. They should carry that stuff regularly. If you don't see it out, ask at the pharmacy desk. There are some products that are over the counter that are kept behind the desk. 90% or more should be just fine.

You know, the one time I worked up the nerve to ask the clerk at CVS for 99% alcohol, she gave me such a look! She looked at me like I was some kind of pathetic sot trying to get drunk off denatured alcohol. "Oh no no no," She said, "We don't sell that sort of thing around here." I never had the nerve to ask again.

Just check at Walmart. They consistently have 91% and that should be more than sufficient. Even if you have to ask anyone there, odds are none of the employees there will give a damn.

[Sarge]

Yeah, I use 91% all the time for older carts, should be just fine.

[Tanooki]

Walgreens I guarantee has 91%, it's fairly near the pharmacy counter usually along the back wall in both the store designs they use. Family happens to work in that area so I'm in there fairly often picking up random things or prescriptions, so I always buy the 91% there.

I use the 91% along with some folded over paper towel once removing the game board with a bit from the shell, also use it on the exterior plastic everywhere too, label if it's an older one that won't dissolve the ink. In the event something has corroded or the exterior has ink or something unhealthy funky I'll go the step further with a wet piece of magic eraser and careful enough not to resurface things. When it's DS I'll still use it very carefully on the plastic bits, but the pins I've never bothered with as I never had an issue. I imagine if I did the electrical spray cleaner would be it because mashing on those thing plastic blades between the pins would just crack them.