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INITIAL DISCLAIMER! WHAT YOU READ IN THIS
BLOG IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY! THE GAME HEROES DOES NOT TAKE ANY
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE RESULTS OF ANYTHING DUE TO FOLLOWING ADVICE OR
THE STEPS EXPLAINED OR IMPLIED IN THIS BLOG. IF YOU DO ANYTHING BECAUSE
YOU READ IT ON THIS WEBSITE YOU DO IT ON YOUR OWN AND THE GAME HEROES
TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY. BY READING THIS, WHICH IS AT THE TOP OF THE
PAGE SO YOU CAN'T MISS IT, YOU AGREE NOT TO BE A DUMBASS AND SCREW UP
YOUR STUFF THEN COME COMPLAINING TO US SAYING WE MADE YOU DO IT OR TOLD
YOU IT WAS OK. WE DIDN'T AND YOU'RE AN IDIOT!
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way
this blog is here to put to rest the long lived 'What cartridge cleaning
product / method is the best?' debate.
You have all seen the products that you can
buy online. They say that they will clean the contacts on your cartridge
games so well that it will be like the day it came out of the box. They
come in a nice little bubble envelope in the mail with everything you
need to clean your carts. So does this more expensive option really do
what it says it does?
On the other side of this battle we have the
old 'Windex and Q-Tips' method. These two items are found in most homes
and are easy to come by. Go to any grocery store or pharmacy and there
they are. Cheap and easy to get a hold of this has been a cleaning
method of choice for many gamers for years. Windex has been substituted
with isopropyl rubbing alcohol which does essentially the same thing,
but please understand that straight 70% or 100% rubbing alcohol can harm
carts and mix it with a 50/50 mix of water, preferably distilled if you
are going to be subbing it for the Windex.
For this test we are going to be using 2
very dirty cartridges. Super Street Fighter II will be cleaned with the
Professional Cleaning Kit and Street Fighter II Turbo will be cleaned
with Windex and Q Tips.
Professional Cleaning Kit:
Click on Image For Larger View
Here is the 'Professional Cartridge Cleaning Kit' that is
available on many different websites online. The cost of these kits
varies, but is around the $10US a kit. The kit consists of a cleaning
rubbing compound, which is in the container on the left of the image,
the residue cleaner, in the right container and 10 lint free cleaning
cloths.
This kit will clean 10 carts, which works out to about $1
per cart. The reason for this is that 1 cloth will last 1 cart. The
cleaning solutions will last about 50 carts before they are empty.
Substituting an old cotton shirt will also work instead of the special
cleaning cloths. So you get 50 carts for $10 which works out to $0.20
per cart before you have to order some more and your cloths are long
gone, plus a ruined old shirt.
The instructions online are essentially the same
everywhere for this kit. Take the white rubbing compound, place a small
amount of it on the contacts of the cartridge, rub it with the lint free
cleaning cloths until there is no more dirt or grime on the cloth. Then
clean off any residue with the clear liquid and let dry and that's it.
So lets test it out shall we?
Click On Image For Larger View
Super Street Fighter II will be the test subject for the
Professional Cleaning Kit. Game does not work at all. Tested in 4 SNES
systems and not even a flicker of a title screen. Most people would
throw it out or put it on the shelf never to play again, but can this
Professional Cleaning Kit save this doomed game?
Click On Image For Larger View
As you can clearly see (and if you can't click on the
image to open it in a larger view) the contacts on the chipset for Super
Street Fighter II are absolutely filthy. They are so dirty that when
they were touched with fingers black marks were left behind. This is
about as bad as you're going to find the contacts of a SNES game. It
will be a pretty tall order to clean this cart, but lets see what will
happen.
The rubbing compound was applied to the contact and the
lint free cloth was used to rub the compound against the contacts and a
miracle occurred. They started to slowly, and I mean slowly, become
cleaner and cleaner. Application after application of rubbing compound
was applied to the contacts of the chipset and each application the
contacts shined more and more. Here is what the lint free cloth looked
like when it was all said and done.
Click Image For Larger View
As you can clearly see a lot of crap was cleaned off of
the contacts of the cartridge. The problem however is that the only
reason we stopped was because we were tired. There was still more and
more black stuff coming off of the contacts. 20 minutes of rubbing later
this was the result.
Click On Image For Larger View
As you can see the contacts on the cartridge look brand
new. There is no residue left over on the contacts after using the
cleaning solution. It is so clean it took 8 pictures to come up with the
one above. It reflected so well it was like looking into a mirror and
the flash just blinded it all out. It could of been polished more and
more dirt cleaned off, but after 20 minutes of cleaning and sore hands,
it was evident that this works, and works well.
After the cartridge was set aside for 10min to dry, it
was put back together and tested out. First try on every system. No
blinking, no black screens, no random freezing or resets, worked just
like it did brand new from the box.
Windex and Q-Tips:
Windex and Q-Tips is a well known cleaning option for
cartridges. Easy and cheap this method has been used for years by game
owners to clean their cartridges. Methods vary on how to do this, but
essentially it works like this. Take Windex, put it on a Q-Tip, wipe
excess Windex off of Q-Tip, then rub onto cartridge contacts. Take other
side of Q-Tip, the dry side and also rub against the contacts to remove
all the remaining Windex. Let dry for a 5 min and test it out.
NOTE: Windex brand is superior to other brands due to its
different types available. Different versions like ones without ammonia,
like the Windex Auto used for this test, work well. Windex Auto has no
ammonia because ammonia will ruin aftermarket and older stock tint on
car windows. So the Auto versions will not contain ammonia. Ammonia will
leave residue on your contacts and will be harder and more effort to
clean off. The price between Windex Auto and normal Windex is nothing or
very minimal, however it might be only available in specialty stores
like your local parts store.
This setup will be considerably cheaper than the
Professional Cleaning Kit. To do one cart with Windex will take about
1/4 teaspoon of Windex and 1 Q-Tip. A full bottle of Windex Auto costs
$5 and a 500 box of Q-Tips costs $6. Doing some simple math you will get
enough products to do 500 carts and have enough Windex left over to
clean another 125 more cartridges. That works out to $0.02 to clean each
cartridge. So essentially it is 1/10th the cost of the professional
cleaning kit. However does this cheaper method really work as well? Do
you really get what you pay for?
Click On Image For Larger View
Street Fighter II Turbo will be the test for the Windex
and Q-Tip cleaning method. This game was also tested on 4 SNES systems
with no signs of life. You can see from the label that this game has had
a lot of love in the past and due to that love its now dead. How ironic.
How will the cheap Windex and Q-Tip method work. Can it be revived?
Click On Image For Larger View
As you can clearly see this cartridge is filthy as well.
There was even lint balls and what looked like cookie crumbs found
inside of the cartridge's case. It has been neglected it's whole life.
Lets see what the Windex and Q-Tip method can do.
The Windex was placed inside of a plastic bottle cap for
easy application to the Q-Tip. The Q-Tip was dipped in the Windex in the
cap and the excess Windex was rubbed off along the edge of the cap. With
the Q-Tip nice and moist it was rubbed against the contacts. Using a
fair amount of force and a decent back and forth motion the contacts
started to release the grime and crap that had built up over the years.
However after about 2 minutes of rubbing no more crap came off of the
contacts. A fresh Q-Tip was dipped in Windex and only a little bit of
grime was removed from the contacts. After a few more minutes of trying
and no improvement of the contacts it was concluded that this was as
clean as it was going to get.
Click On Image For Larger View
As you can see 4 wet ends of Q-Tips were used against the
contacts and 2 dry ends to dry off the remaining Windex. It is clear to
see that this method did not remove nearly as much of the grime on the
contacts as the Professional Cleaning Kit did.
Click On Image For Larger View
As you can clearly see from the image above the contacts
are slightly cleaner than they were originally, but not nearly as clean
as the Professional Cleaning Kit. The amount of residue left behind is
clearly visible. You do not want any left behind as it can contaminate
the Pin Connector that the cartridge connects to inside of the system.
This can be solved with a bit of water on a Q-Tip, but as many people
know water and electronics, especially circuitry doesn't mix. If you do
this you do it as your own choice.
The cartridge was set aside for a few minutes to dry and
was put back together. It was tested in all 4 SNES systems and just like
the Professional Cleaning Kit, it worked with no problems. Started up
first try, on each system and after some play time never had a single
problem. So this method does also work.
Conclusion:
Both methods work. The Windex and Q-Tip method is easier
to get your hands on, works alright, but doesn't get the contacts nearly
as clean as the Professional Cleaning Kit.
The Professional Cleaning Kit while, more expensive, does
less carts works better. The cartridges get a lot cleaner and the
contacts have a mirror finish just like new when you are done. However
this takes so much more time to do. From 5 minutes with the Windex and
Q-Tip method versus 20+ minutes for this method.
Some quick Pros and Cons:
Professional Cleaning Kit:
Pros:
Cons:
Expensive, about $0.20 a cart
Hard to find or has to be ordered online, which means
credit card or PayPal needed
Does only 50 cartridges
Takes a long time to do
Has to be done with cart open which requires a special
screwdriver bit that costs $5
Windex and Q-Tips:
Pros:
Cons:
We hope that you found this information helpful. Please
understand that doing any of this can be detrimental to your games or
your system if you are not careful. Use caution and common sense before
you attempt anything and do research by reading online or watching
instructional videos.
- Mike From The
Internet
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