1 Aug
1999
1 Aug
'99
7:47 a.m.
Pumice powder on a soft rag with a touch of spit or water works good for those
really green contacts but only with light pressure. It's harsh enough to take
off the gunk but not too harsh that it takes the copper of the backing board,
unless you over work it. used it for years on military brass, never hurt a
thing. Brasso is essentially the same but has an oil residue left to prevent
oxidation and it tends to make it just as bad as when it was dirty.
Tony Duell wrote:
I have quite a
collection of NES stuff (carts and consoles) that I've
rescued from trash, garage sales, etc. that has been sitting in my
basement for a few years. Trying to run one of the games produces odd
output (i.e. lines down it display, not booting entirely) which I know is
due to dirty contacts. What's the best way to clean these? Alchohol on a
swab? Freon? (I have a friend that bought out a very large supply of it
I normally start with isopropyl alcohol (propan-2-ol) on a suitable
applicator (cotton bud, paper, whatever). This cleans most contacts, and
doesn't attack msot plastics (although do try it on the outside of the
connector first - you don't want the whole thing to dissolve ;-)).
If it's a card edge on a PCB, it normally helps to take the cartridge (or
whatever) apart for better access.
Don't use (harsh) abrasives (a pencil eraser is probably OK). You don't
want to remove plating from the connectors.
-tony