When Boiling NES 72-Pin Connector Doesn't Work, Experiment Fixing Blinking Nintendo by Bending Pins 

When I boil the 72 pin connector, I sometimes add carrots and other veggies and make myself some NESoup.

My wife caught me boiling the connector and thought I had finally snapped and was just punishing it for not working.

I remember the systems were like this when they were current, mostly at houses where the kids parents smoked

No wonder those things wear out. Does everyone slam the games in like that?

You took 41 minutes showing something that would take 10 minutes to show. Your repeatidly pushing the cart in and out and pressing on it and wiggling it isn't how to test a game. Who grabs the cart and wiggles it once you have it inserted and turned on? Moving the cart while power is applied increases the chance of a short and damaging either the system or the cart, or worse, both!

informative video but WAY TOO LONG. you could of condensed down that video down to just highlights and it be just as informative.

Hey there. I just refurbished a nasty NES I found at a swap meet that would not load any games at all without blinking and blinking forever no matter what I did. So I decided to try bending the pin connectors back. I used a safety pin and it worked very well. I tried it on the nes and the games were now loading but still not perfect. So I boiled the Pin connector for 10 mins in distilled water. After this I re-bent the pin connectors back one more time, popped it back on, and BOOM. I would say 9/10 the games now start up on their first try depending on the game condition. This technique works! Thanks for the video.

Boiling the connector worked perfect. When I saw the ring of film in the pot I knew it was alot cleaner, it removed gunk vinegar and alcohol didnt. Thanks for uploading this.

@8bitjunkie I don't know if you ever heard about BLW Blinking Light Win. I just found out about it myself. The name of the company is Arcade Works. It pretty much solves the 72 pin connector problem. I enjoy your videos and wish you'd make more.

you have to bend the top pins first before bending the bottom ones and you need a flashlight and safety pin to bend the top ones and you need to reach in the center just above the bottom pins to reach the top pins as the holes at the far top of the connector frame only hold the ends of the top pins inside a divider frame and the divider plastic is fragile so be careful. and just a tip,the top pins matter more than the bottom pins as they are the ones that make full contact with the top game cartridge pins to receive data from the game cartridge.

wrong wrong wrong! Blow in the cartridge till your lungs are empty, put the cassette in, smack the console a few times and she'll work like on her first day!. done

One thing is sure, I won't let you my games in your hand oufffffff..

I just need to get myself a toploader, but they are real expensive here in Europe (Holland) Or get the mod that is freed from the push down tray, you just make it a straight load. Someone on youtube made it (google it or search yt) Untill then i just have to repeat sticking it inside and getting it out untill it works. If it works i can play however long i want.

After watching this video I decided to bend up the pin connector. First time doing this and it work for me. It took me 8 minute to bend up the pins and I also disable the nes lockout chip.

I soaked mine in vinegar, then cleaned the pins on the motherboard with brasso until cleaned. Haven't had a probelm since.

TheGreySea2, I can't reply to your comment for some reason. But yeah, I agree with you. Based on what I've learned since I made this video almost a year ago, I would open the carts and clean them with the eraser method first.

I found my NES at a pawnshop a week or two ago. I only had to bend down the top pins. There's a way to remove them (and you're actually less likely to break anything with those actually if you know what you're doing. :P ). I think it's the top pins that cause the most issues. But yeah that seems a bit over tight for the bottom pins. Perhaps might put some excessive wear on the carts you use in it, but it will loosen a bit over time anyways so I bet it should be fine. :P I thought about also working on the bottom pints, but felt like I'd mess up the plastic getting at them so decided not to. Plus they didn't look like they were sagging that much. The way I did the top pins was push down on the top of them through the little holes on the top near the back of the plastic. There's a flap of metal on each pin that is bent up and holds them in the slot. Putting some pressure on them while pulling them out with a hook type tool (I had some tools with a hook at the end that came with my soldering kit that was perfect for this) should pull them out pretty easily. I then bend them down a little making sure the bend occurs where the metal changes in width from the wide backend to the narrower half. After I did this, the slot worked perfectly fine for me. Of coarse I also had to clean the mario game I got with the NES. So far got 2 games. Top Gun and Super Mario Bros with Duck Hunt. They both work everytime I put them in. :D Also the "replacement" connectors found online seem to be all made of steel or something while original NES ones are gold plated? Seems like the originals would last longer so best to just try and repair them. The build quality of the new one's just aren't up to snuff for this slot design. The BLW device I've heard about prevents the whole action of pushing down the cart after inserting it. I wished they made a version where the PCB is replaced by ribbon cables and some special housing so that you can still use the original slot mechanism. It would be completely useless since it would work the instant you insert the cart, but it preserves the feel that the front loader had and this is why I don't want to ever get a Blinking Light Win slot replacement. It's important to me that the NES works the way I remember it as a kid. :P

dude why would you put dirty games in a clean connector, make sure they're clean before inserting! rookie move!

Excellent, best video to show EXACTLY what you need to bend, thanks!

My NES would only read a few games and they were really hard to get to work so I pushed the pins back into place on the pin connector and now it reads all the games but the graphics are messed up and choppy to the point it's unplayable any suggestions

does boiling the 72 pin connector damage it?

Cool technique. I usually open them and give it a cleaning then bend the pins out. It's an improvement but not perfect. I'll try this next time. I also cut the lock out pin. I prefer the smooth top NES'!

this is fake. you made the after video before making pin 72 pasta that mario ate and enjoyed. like blowing into it make it moisturised, making it rust faster and this, well you will have super tetanus brothers XD for real, just call the number on the back or take it to a repair shop like game stop.

The problem you are having with Athletic World is almost certainly capacitor-related. Easy fix! Capacitors store and release charge and bad caps don't have enough by the time the game's initial boot processes need it. When you reset they have had significantly longer to charge and, thus, they work.

my old famicom system is not powering up anymore. maybe i should try boiling it too.

I find the best way to clean NES pins is to open the cart up and use an eraser on the pins. A really soft rubber eraser wont damage them. I typically use white white wescot brand erasers. I try to stay away from sprays and chemicals unless the cart has extreme corrosion.

Hello I have an nes that was modded it has rgb and the blinking win mods I didnt know with the blinking win that you dont push down on the cart I pushed down on my carts. I wasnt aware that im not supposed too I wondered some of my pins are bent on my 72 pin connector Can i just bend them straight to get my nes working

Has anyone tried the Nintendo NES 72 pin connector boil method to restore any other console cartridge reader?

Clean the games!

same problem is hard but when the game enter no more problem the probleme is when i change another cartridge

I boiled my 72 pin connector and it is partially working now. I'm going to re-boil it tonight for a second time and see if I can get more of my games to work. Right now it works about once every time I hit the power button. I cleaned the pins with alcohol and rebent the pins up and the cartridge is definitely more snug now. Any other suggestions on how to get the rust off of the pins other than boiling and rubbing with rubbing alcohol? Thanks for the vid!

I got mine too work but the pins are loose I'm gonna try to bend them so I don't have to worry about the new pin connector

I remember these issues as a kid it was a nightmare not only starting a game but 90 percent of the time mid game blinking grey screen would start sometimes even only after a few seconds of gameplay

so you're supposed to boil for 15 minutes? I thought it was only 3. maybe that's why it didn't work

Blinky red light on the game that didn't work after bending the pins makes me think cic chip.

Hey guys so you're boiling it for how long? And regarding the eraser method for the cartridges you're meaning cleaning the connection with a pencil eraser?! Pardon my English! Last question, any good place to get a security bit for the cartridges you know of? Thanks very much for the attention, have a nice day!

clean the pin with hot soapy water, scrup with tooth brush, dry with hair dryer= working game, boiling is too hot

Why you put the games in so ruff man.. Zelda was working fine..

Hi, @8bitjunkie is it normal after cleaning the pin connector for some of clean pins to show some brass in color? Will the games still read if some brass is showing?

I just got done boiling the pin connector, took a safety pin and bent the pins back up some, game fits super snug now, but still wont play unless I hold the game in a certain position. I already snipped the lock on it as well. Its up and running atm, iv got a screwdriver shoved on top of the cart to keep it held into the position that it works in. if anyones got any tips for how to remedy this would be very helpful. whats the next step?

Please, stop pushing the cart down. It's a completely unnecessary step. I'm cringing every time you push them down and keep messing with them. 6:40

Just buy new ones. They aren't expensive. Avoid the aggravation.

Wouldn't simply buying a new connector be easier and cheaper in the short and long run? I couldn't justify the time energy boiling and bending pins knowing $10-$20 for a replacement pin assembly will fix it faster and cheaper time wise. A top-loading NES also will fix the problem as Nintendo recognized the original console had the problem and redesigned it to load from the top to eliminate the problem. Every subsequent cartridge system Nintendo made loaded from the top from the SNES to the N64 learning from the original NES

When the top row of pins also need to be bent back into shape, they have to be pulled out the back, reshaped and placed back into the housing. You have to be very careful and precise though, because too much can have the pin snag inside and bend around. If one gives a lot of trouble too many times the fragile pin will snap. If that happens, you can steal one of the unused pins in the middle of the slot to replace them, they go to the unused expansion port on the bottom behind the plastic.

Hi, @8bitjunkie is it normal after cleaning the pin connector for some of clean pins to show some brass in color? Will the games still read if some brass is showing?

A sweeping frequency heated ultrasonic cleaner with a solution of bar keepers friend and distilled water works best. Chase it with 91% alcohol and done.

Great video man thank you.

thank you I get a NES an the red lights keep blinking so I don't have to keep get a new 72pin ever time

I dont think its the 72 pin connector mybe clean the cart-ages instead

Boiling plastic seems like a bad idea. Why boil? If it's the dirty metal then you should use alcohol. If it's the pins then you should bend them with a dental pick. Then sometimes the weirdest thing I find is the screws that hold the loader in place are a magic part of the equation. If you keep the front ones looser then the game clicks down better, and if you keep the rear ones looser the game plays when pressed down rather than when it is standing straight up. The nes is finicky. I just don't get the boiling. I'd be more inclined to stick it in a sonic vibration bath meant for small jewelry before a stove. Unless it's the heat which bends the pins.

Where can I find that spray? the magic spray?

Just buy a new connector for 10 bucks on Amazon lol... or disable the lockout chip

buy a new 72pin lol

dont push the cart down. it wil prolong this fix

Ok...got it all done. Now all I'm getting is a black screen.

Hey I tried to bend the pins up and some games don't need to be pushed down to work, like super Mario bros., actually it doesn't work if pushed down, weird right?

man handles everything

Dude brill video but please try to equalise your sound between two parts of your video one is low and second part is loud...

Rather than boiling mine, I just cleaned it and pulled the pins up, and I found that the games do work when I put the cartridge in but don't push it down

Just disable the 10NES chip. Blinking light solved. Such an easy mod yet there's so many people unwilling to do it. "Bleh, I want to keep my console original, bla bla bla".

I picked up a nes at Goodwill and the 72 pin slot is so loose if I just hold the unit upside down the cart will fall out. I'm guessing just replace it right?

Buy the nintendo bits and open up your cartridges to clean them decently...

Hello , how can I fix corrupted image? Does the boiling method can fix it?

what type of contact cleaner do you use? I just recently got a very dirty NES and for some reason sometimes it work like a charm and most of the time i get a grey screen. Nice video by the way.

It's probably caused by the 10 nes chip

I bought a new 72 pin and the eraser to clean and polish the games, no problems after. Try it, you will be surprised.

never in my life have i heard someone suggest boiling metal components.

Great video.

That's how tight it is on the Retrousb AVS.

I think ice hockey works

Hey brother, Great Video! One thing I always do when refurbishing consoles etc is disabling the lockout chip and you'll never ever get the blinking red light. As a matter of fact all my consoles work like a top loader. Once everything is clean, the 72 pin connector is boiled and cleaned and tightened, all you have to do is push the game cart in and press power and it will play without pressing down. It works like a charm for me. I've repaired and refurbished hundreds of NES consoles and games etc. My NES has a longer life of game play. Been 2 years of constant game play and no issues and I play a lot of Nintendo. Anyway Thanks for you videos! Love them...You DA MAN!.. Your videos have helped me to tweak my hobby and I Thank You! : )

love your t-s

the audio sucks on the vids ive watched so far

If that doesnt work? What else can it be??

Is the contact cleaner better than using alcohol for cleaning the contacts?

Temperature? Of the stove-top.

The pins aren't the problem you need to by pass/disable the 10NES chip. The blinking screen problem has been going on since day one. It hasn't gotten any worse as its all in your head...we live in a faster pace world compared to when we were kids. Improving the pin contact just slightly increases the chances that the 10nes lockout won't reset the system(aka produce the blinking screen.) Just disable the 10nes chip and you will be better than new. Look up on youtube for the 2 wire method I use.