lol anyone remember the uber-stupid sticky tags with the RF tag integrated? it was only for cd/dvds and if you removed the sticker itd rip the upper layer of the cd/dvd off and destroy the disc instantly lmao
When I saw the "Please be kind, rewind" sticker, I got all nostalgic for video rental places. Ironically, the excess amount of rewinding on vhs is exactly what caused most all of them to degrade faster than was necessary. Tape was stretched too thin inside them. GREAT VID! Keeping the past both alive and well. Preservationist of nostalgic whimsy. ^~^
When you have hard screws like these, you can use a Dremel with a cutting disc on the screw head and make a cut on it, after that you can use a flat screwdriver on it to get it out. Nice video
Another thing to try is hitting the screwdriver with a hammer to break it free of any rust.. or use a heat gun/hairdryer to warm the plastic that it's screwed into? Could take some sandpaper to the rust on the plastic case on the inside to clean it up a bit. Also not sure if you tried tightening the screw and then loosening to work it free. Was awesome to see you troubleshoot and repair the board, just painful to see the board snapping!
I know your comment was a joke. But legit question. Since games were stored on the cartridge, do blockbuster employees boot up the game to delete the save file every time its returned?
@@MediocreNed Totally! My first experience with the "Tofu" playthrough of Resident Evil 2 was on a rented N64 cartridge lol. Ended up buying it when the private store went out of business years later and the Tofu save file was still on the cart. I wish I still had my N64 and its' games :(
Way to go Doctor!! You saved that game's life! I skimmed through about half of this cuz I wanted to see you succeed. The fact there was already a saved game on there that YOU brought back to life is sweet. Keep up the good work saving these little lives!
This could have been fixed without any wire. The break was small enough to put a dot of solder on it to jump and would work with a bit more durability as the solder doesn't have to melt to extra pieces. This was needlessly complicated and added like 5 extra steps.
I've done exactly that too, just a dot of solder, job done. Unless the trace has completely gone, that's enough. I've repaired old consoles and computers with breaks that way.
That was actually my question too, if you could just bridge the gap with solder instead of a jumper wire. My guess (I'm an amatuer with soldering) is that there is nothing in the gap for the solder to stick to, so it just wouldn't be very reliable?
good to see people repairing things that would go in a land fill. Also nice to see people selling the same junk that gets repaired on ebay. There is a buyer for everything!
I have fixed things like this before with conductive ink pens. You just re-trace over the break. It's especially useful for repairing a break on a flat flex cable or membrane keyboard trace where you can't solder without melting the plastic.
A tip from one repair guy to another to help make your work a little bit easier if you happen to run into another rusty shielding assembly is to just put the separate parts into Apple Cider Vinegar and let it soak for at least 12 to 24 hours. The longer the better. The apple cider vinegar will literally eat all that rust off there completely man! All you would need to do then is simply wipe it off. I had an Atari 2600 like that before with water damage and removed the shielding and soaked it for 24 hours and it was as good as new except for some pitting in the metal! No need to fight the rust when you can let the acid in the apple cider vinegar do all the work for you! It really does work and I was completely amazed by it once I tried it. Also remember after you remove the parts from the apple cider vinegar that you need to briefly soak the parts also in some water with baking soda to neutralize the acid from the apple cider vinegar. Then wipe the parts thoroughly and use a little be of either 10W-40 or 3 n' 1 oil to lubricate the parts lightly and then wipe off and your good to go! ;)
Critique: A simple break that small didn't require any wire at all. With the conformal coating out of the way a simple bead to the left of the break big enough to encompass the gap would have sufficed.
Yes you can do that but if the traces are flaking off the board the solder blob can do the same thing, the wire gives some measure of strain relief and in the event the trace peels off even more it will maintain continuity.
@@PaulyQ You can also use a special silver bearing conductive ink pen. I have one for troubleshooting suspected breaks and it can actually hold for a while, but for something that's gonna get bumped around like a game cart, especially considering the traces might peel back further, a piece of wire will be good as a strain relief should there be a problem that's gotten all the way inside the board spreading layers for example. This is the more permanent reliable fix and more generally accepted in commercial repair pracice.
when I reassemble my N64, that was left in a box since my childhood, it wasn't booting. after I cleaning the card contacts with a piece of (clean) toilet paper it starts to boot again.
I’ve repaired many “cheap” games and got them in working order. A good supply of 91% isopropyl and a decent amount of skill with a soldering gun and you’re golden.
Now I know why my DK64 game stopped working. I no longer have my N64 system or my games after having them since the late 90's but out of all the games I've had DK64 was the only one having this problem. Wasnt sure what to do until I saw this video. Thank you by the way.
@@lt7114 no wd-40 will work on a metal shield dumbass that's what its made for you telling people the wrong shit. i have done this for years and never had an issue
great job on the trace repair, if you have trouble removing staining from plastic i find white vinegar and magic eraser works wonders, as for removing the screw some wd40 and a hair drier helps too, you can even file a slot into the head or the protruding part of the post and unscrew it with a flat head.
I'm not sure if you did this or not, what I do for these cartridges if I have more continuity issues and all the traces are good I'll take a toothbrush and mix just a little bit of baking soda and water then I take the moist baking soda and put it onto the contacts, it should be a viscous liquid, then I take a toothbrush and scrub it on the pins, it's like a light abrasive, it makes the pins look shiny and nice and ensures a more stable connection. You might even be able to use the baking soda method with the gunk on the plastic of the cartridge, since it's an abrasive it might get the gunk off of it without scraping up the plastic. You could also try a magic eraser. Another thing you can try is to put the rusted metal shield into some vinegar to get rid of some of, or even most of the rust depending on the severity. I had to rush through the video I want to go to sleep haha.
Couple of tips for you. 1) That old be kind rewind sticker holds the security chip for the door scanners at that store to help foil shoplifters. so yeah they put those on anything they didn't want to walk out of the store. 2) Touching the tip of your soldering iron to the tip of that frozen screw for 2 or 3 seconds would have transferred enough heat into the screw to it to break the torque and soften the plastic threads just enough for you to unscrew it - better than breaking ! 3) A little CLR cleaner on a q tip would have gotten rid of the ugly rust stains. Won't fix any etching but certainly looks nicer ! Great video by the way and yes i agree sacrificing the sports games in favor of the collectible one is a great call. !
I really wanted to play Majora's Mask. So I hooked up my old N64 and the cartridge didn't work. Other games did. Tried for a couple hours. A google search brought me here and the technique at 4:16 (shoving it in and out like 3 times) made it work! Now I'm playing MM again and excited about it. Thanks!
It's a pretty simple technique, but the only thing to be aware of is that this will ultimately scrape off any gunk from the cart and transfer it to your system. It's a good idea to clean your system periodically. I use an old credit card, wrap an eyeglass wipe around it and moisten it with alcohol, then just insert and remove it into the pin connector to leave them nice and clean
Had to dig up my old ass information to figure out a twitter account I made ages ago. That's the first giveaway I've ever seen that felt worth it to enter.
Cheers, man! It's been only a few days since I discovered your channel and subbed, but I think you're definitely on the right track. You've got similar production values and content value to Voultar, who has twice your subscriber count. I don't have any doubt that you can match him for subscriber count this year. Not that it's a competition... just saying, I think you're making it.
Thanks for this video. I had tried most of these methods, but minor rust had caked over a connector so it failed to boot up. However, by following your video I was able to revive my N64 game!
Hey Adam, keep up the good work. Lots of useful information. I have found the games, but I still haven't found the NES buried in Granny's house. Now I'm ready to fix what's wrong when I do.
Basically what caused the rust is what happens when you blow into your cartridges and moisture from your spit enters it. I learned that after many years. It's all about cleaning the contacts with a recommended solvent.
i might get into this business but idk how to practice. i'm in cyber security but physically getting into the components has always been more fun to me
Great video. I’m learning a lot from all your videos. I’m a big retro fan, and I thank you for all the tips for checking continuity from all the tracers, and how to repair them. Love all your vids. Keep up the great work.
Watching this I couldn’t wrap my head around how such a big game could fit on such a small board. Then I remembered how small my Nintendo switch cartridges are and how huge the games are
N64 was about the time where storage media started really improving. Some games like Conkers Bad Fur Day could fit 64MB onto them, while SNES maxed out at 6MB. NES ranged from 8kb to 1mb. For comparison, a 3ds now can hold up to 8GB and switch up to 32gb (64 supposedly to be available soon)
He is making an instructional video. I am sure if he wasnt posting the video he probably would have used the simplest solution. Anyone could use a little solder to repair the trace. I think he is showing people how to build a jumper so the could fix their game on their own.
I have used small needle nosed vise grips on screws like this. The screw head does have to be large enough that the pliers can get a bite. You do want to pre apply some type of rust remover or penetrating oil as you dont get many chances before the screw head is striped.
The stuff they make for repairing rear windshield heater would have worked wonders here for that trace. They make a pen form of it. A little tape around the trace. I used to do that with old AMD Athlons to unlock the CPU.
You can dump the cartridge shields inside vinegar to dissolve the rust and corrosion that's inside it, but the artwork will dissolve too so you gotta get replacement stickers for them
you know this takes me back to about 2 years ago. my dad was cleaning the front yard and under about 2 inches of dirt, he found an old game cart. may i say we've been watering the ground here for about a good 3 weeks because it's been dry during the summer time. he then throws it in the trash but he told me about finding it. i rush out to the trash can to see what the game was. it was covered in dirt with no label. i rushed inside to take it apart and clean it with some alcohol. after cleaning it i gathered my brothers around to see if it would boot up. it did and i was so happy. it was Robotron 64 one of our favorite games. this thing has been missing for about 8 years or so and its seen all types of weather. i wish they still made games like this. you couldn't grab a cd after seeing it slide on some asphalt and expect it to work. anyways these things will work even after a nuclear blast if you ask me.
While I'd love to learn more about the circuitry and connectivity of everything, the shell could have been restored a bit better if it were a project I took on myself. That rusting from the shielding could have been sanded off with an emery board. I couldn't bear knowing that a game I fixed still had remnants of rust still inside it. Still an excellent video, thanks so much for posting!
I remember in the N64 booklets that these games came with, there was a phone number on the back that had a picture of Mario with a screwdriver...because it was some kind of troubleshooting line...and I guess you ARE that Mario with the screwdriver. :D
Well thanks for another video, here comes a long post from me ! I remember when I started to watch your vids almost year ago, those were the times I was waiting in my car for my fiance to get back from therapy. I learnt so much stuff about the consoles thanks to your channel, that I think would help me running some of my retro stuff, for example a dead Dreamcast. I dont have a twitter account yet, but maybe its time to finally create one ? Even if I wont get the prize, youd have one more follower and I think you deserve it All the best in 2019 when retro would become even more retro !
I've found that alcohol is not good for cleaning off stuck-on gunk. Instead, I actually use some stovetop cleaner to remove the gunk. Goo gone would work as well, but stovetop cleaner seems to work the best. Just make sure you wipe off ALL of the excess and clean it really well with alcohol afterwards to remove any leftover residue.
to remove rust on the plastic shield, use a mixture of white vinegar alchool and WD40, then use a teethbrush. You can stop the corrosion doing the same on the metal shield, but you'll have to use steelwood 4 "O" or 3"0" , then use sand paper too 120/200/400/600/800/1200/1500 and then 3000. Then use a polish protector such as HP32 with fine steelwood.
Nice vids. I subscribed. I love your stuff. With a screw that you can't get a purchase on, I have had some success with super-gluing a good screw head on top of the bad one, let it cure, and then unscrewing as normal. Also, maybe some touch-up paint would have improved the looks of the interior where the rust was embedded into the plastic.
late to the party here, but I don't see other comments. Tip for next time - just drill the screw out rather than breaking the board. Especially when the head is not rusted over, it's easy to set a small drill bit in the impression, push through the head, and drill out the entire stem of the screw.
@@matteagle6914 It wouldn't help. You need a reverse drill bit (sorry, I'm not sure if I got the name right). You would have to drill out the screw, that's the only way.
@@vdochev yeah i know.. i meant 2 different things. 1. clean the plastic before reinstalling the circuit board. 2. dont rip the metal off and break stuff. (drill it out or use some rust rust converter for example)
@@matteagle6914 Like he said in the video, the rust may be etched into the plastic. You will need to somehow peel the plastic off and polish it if you want it to look good.
This is really neat, i haven't seen the types of uncommon repairs that you do on any other channel! Usually other channels just refurb gameboys but you're over here repairing traces. Keep it up.
Just a wee tip for rusted in screws.....after a wire brushing and a dose of WD40, push hard on the screwdriver and give it twist clockwise (tighten it) then try undoing it again ;)
I had paper mario 64 that all of a sudden, would not boot anymore, but i was a kid, so i destroyed the cartridge. But i probably would have been able to fix it today, with the knowledge i have today.
If you have + screws which are almost rounded out, try using a flat head screwdriver. They tend to have a better grip, even if it seems counter-intuitive.
What about a GameShark? A couple quit completely, but one still let's the game play through it and the screen and buttons still work. Acetone+ATF btw! Also there were a few different Super Fams. Most of the videos like this just use alcohol and a q-tip lol It's crazy how a lot of people don't know what the best penetrating solution actually is and it is the combination of ATF fluid and Acetone! (With q-tips lol, don't want to dissolve the case) Google something along the lines of "best to worst penetrating solutions with psi before and after"! It will list like 30 different brands and exactly how much pressure they actually helped free up and compared to something like PB Blaster it was 400% better! Obviously though with many of these you have to be careful, obviously ATF will dissolve all sorts of things as will acetone! I couldn't break free the bolts on an exhaust that hadn't been touched in about 20 years and even with stores breaker bar and a 4 ft long cheater nothing! It was in the groove of the gas tank so you couldn't cut it so I found that article tried it out let it soak 30 minutes later I tried it and it just came right off!
My first time opening an N64 cart I didn’t realise those screws inside held onto the board and managed to damage it - luckily it was only Starfox, not Mario party 3 - sometimes the screws on the inner casing come away really easy, and sometimes they feel like they are welded into place. Btw that is the most screwed I’ve ever seen a game! Flood damage for sure.
Very cool video! .. well and lesson learnt, never store my n64 games outside in the rain. (Actually, this video really showed how easily at least trying to repair an old game can be. Grab a multimeter an the good old soldering iron and you are good to go! Cool! Will try that on my own!)
Next time, before breaking another shield, maybe you could try this: cut a slit on the head of the screw using a Dremel with thin cutting disks, then a regular screwdriver can be used to remove the goddamned rusted screw. Yes, I can see that the shield is rotten but maybe you could have it restored later, cleaning up the rust by leaving it overnight inside a recipient with apple cider vinegar.
Kept this one, but i definitely like to find popular games like super mario 64 to package in with an n64 bundle. Can make better money that way than finding a cheap broken cart to sell by itself. Plus this isnt in that good physical condition, so i wouldnt really be comfortable selling it for the $60+ it can go for.
FYI The Rewind Sticker also doubled as a RF Tag to set the store alarm off in case of shoplifting. That's why they put it on games as well.
Interesting
And make sure that the cartridge tape doesn't get snagged during rewinding! lol
lol anyone remember the uber-stupid sticky tags with the RF tag integrated? it was only for cd/dvds and if you removed the sticker itd rip the upper layer of the cd/dvd off and destroy the disc instantly lmao
What are you using to clean the board
TIL
When I saw the "Please be kind, rewind" sticker, I got all nostalgic for video rental places. Ironically, the excess amount of rewinding on vhs is exactly what caused most all of them to degrade faster than was necessary. Tape was stretched too thin inside them. GREAT VID! Keeping the past both alive and well. Preservationist of nostalgic whimsy. ^~^
Puts the game back together.
Turns it on.
"It's-a me! Brett Farvio!"
Way underrated comment.
You could of avoided all that work by blowing on it.
could've*
Did you see him point out the break in the circuit @ 9:12 ? Blowing on it won't do shit.
I'm assuming the original comment was sarcasm. At least i hope it was. You can never really tell on the internet
@@RetroRepairs yeah definitely a joke.
; )
I cant laugh about it because if you didn't realise: the moisture you blow in is a direct reason for it to break later :>
When you have hard screws like these, you can use a Dremel with a cutting disc on the screw head and make a cut on it, after that you can use a flat screwdriver on it to get it out. Nice video
In this case, you could have also drilled out the screw with a hard drill bit and replaced it with a slightly larger screw
Would have avoided giving us viewers a heart attack by snapping the board
Another thing to try is hitting the screwdriver with a hammer to break it free of any rust.. or use a heat gun/hairdryer to warm the plastic that it's screwed into? Could take some sandpaper to the rust on the plastic case on the inside to clean it up a bit. Also not sure if you tried tightening the screw and then loosening to work it free.
Was awesome to see you troubleshoot and repair the board, just painful to see the board snapping!
"That's rusty" - understatement of the year.
And apparently Brett Favre is looking pretty rough too
Blockbuster and Movie Network went out of business because nobody rewound their N64 games before returning them.
So inconsiderate...
I know your comment was a joke.
But legit question. Since games were stored on the cartridge, do blockbuster employees boot up the game to delete the save file every time its returned?
@@prettyteddy9693 when o rented sim city i was adding on to her previous guys city.... Or having disasters happen all the time
@@prettyteddy9693
They didn't, part of the fun of renting a cart game was skipping ahead and using someone else's file.
@@MediocreNed Totally! My first experience with the "Tofu" playthrough of Resident Evil 2 was on a rented N64 cartridge lol. Ended up buying it when the private store went out of business years later and the Tofu save file was still on the cart. I wish I still had my N64 and its' games :(
"Be kind, please rewind..." In a N64 cartridge like it was a vhs xD
I definitely got a kick out of that.
They put it there as a security meause, to make sure nobody was swapping games out of the shell.
Its cause it was also a security sticker and if you tried to walk out with it it would trip an alarm
And make sure that the cartridge tape doesn't get snagged during rewinding! lol
In Japan they called them cassettes so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Just having somebody be able to fix gaming history is a great thing. Keep up the great work and restoring history.
Way to go Doctor!! You saved that game's life! I skimmed through about half of this cuz I wanted to see you succeed. The fact there was already a saved game on there that YOU brought back to life is sweet. Keep up the good work saving these little lives!
This could have been fixed without any wire. The break was small enough to put a dot of solder on it to jump and would work with a bit more durability as the solder doesn't have to melt to extra pieces. This was needlessly complicated and added like 5 extra steps.
Exactly, I've fixed traces by bridging the break. Two seconds of soldering.
I've done exactly that too, just a dot of solder, job done. Unless the trace has completely gone, that's enough. I've repaired old consoles and computers with breaks that way.
That was actually my question too, if you could just bridge the gap with solder instead of a jumper wire. My guess (I'm an amatuer with soldering) is that there is nothing in the gap for the solder to stick to, so it just wouldn't be very reliable?
Thin strip of copper tape with maybe a bit of hot glue on ends. 5 min job.
@@pedrocx486 if he would have left the iron on that screw for 15-20 seconds, the heat would have broken it free.
good to see people repairing things that would go in a land fill. Also nice to see people selling the same junk that gets repaired on ebay. There is a buyer for everything!
Remember to always rewind your cartridges, guys.
Who in their right mind rewinds a cartridge and knows how to rewind it
The trick is to get one of those rewinding machines
@@jordananderson8299 r/woosh
And make sure that the cartridge tape doesn't get snagged during rewinding! lol
In the words of Louis Rossmann, "You can never have too much flux"
He only used one half Paul of flux.
It's "The bigger the blob, the better the job".
@@ItsMrAssholeToYou but he isn't dead...
@@ItsMrAssholeToYoulol
true, so long as you thoroughly clean up afterwards
I have fixed things like this before with conductive ink pens. You just re-trace over the break. It's especially useful for repairing a break on a flat flex cable or membrane keyboard trace where you can't solder without melting the plastic.
A tip from one repair guy to another to help make your work a little bit easier if you happen to run into another rusty shielding assembly is to just put the separate parts into Apple Cider Vinegar and let it soak for at least 12 to 24 hours. The longer the better. The apple cider vinegar will literally eat all that rust off there completely man! All you would need to do then is simply wipe it off. I had an Atari 2600 like that before with water damage and removed the shielding and soaked it for 24 hours and it was as good as new except for some pitting in the metal! No need to fight the rust when you can let the acid in the apple cider vinegar do all the work for you! It really does work and I was completely amazed by it once I tried it. Also remember after you remove the parts from the apple cider vinegar that you need to briefly soak the parts also in some water with baking soda to neutralize the acid from the apple cider vinegar. Then wipe the parts thoroughly and use a little be of either 10W-40 or 3 n' 1 oil to lubricate the parts lightly and then wipe off and your good to go! ;)
Critique: A simple break that small didn't require any wire at all. With the conformal coating out of the way a simple bead to the left of the break big enough to encompass the gap would have sufficed.
Agreed, bit of flux and blob of solder would have bridged that gap. Over-complicated fix.
Can confirm
Yes you can do that but if the traces are flaking off the board the solder blob can do the same thing, the wire gives some measure of strain relief and in the event the trace peels off even more it will maintain continuity.
Came for this comment
@@PaulyQ You can also use a special silver bearing conductive ink pen. I have one for troubleshooting suspected breaks and it can actually hold for a while, but for something that's gonna get bumped around like a game cart, especially considering the traces might peel back further, a piece of wire will be good as a strain relief should there be a problem that's gotten all the way inside the board spreading layers for example. This is the more permanent reliable fix and more generally accepted in commercial repair pracice.
when I reassemble my N64, that was left in a box since my childhood, it wasn't booting. after I cleaning the card contacts with a piece of (clean) toilet paper it starts to boot again.
I’ve repaired many “cheap” games and got them in working order. A good supply of 91% isopropyl and a decent amount of skill with a soldering gun and you’re golden.
Scott the Woz would be proud of you removing the good RF shielding from a game with Brett Farve on the cover.
Now I know why my DK64 game stopped working. I no longer have my N64 system or my games after having them since the late 90's but out of all the games I've had DK64 was the only one having this problem. Wasnt sure what to do until I saw this video. Thank you by the way.
I just watched a 20-minute video of someone fixing a game that I've never played for a console which I've never owned...
@Dur Hu , yea, I did find it interesting.
Me too xD
Mario Party 3 is arguably the best Mario Party game ever.
ElBizaro Not arguably. Just the best period.
Thanks, I appreciate the time you took to explain everything in details! I don't do repairs but I love learning about it!
You could have used WD-40 to clean the game instead of force it out. I tried that and it really worked.
Glad I can help!
@don't look back in anger Please dont try this.
@@lt7114 no wd-40 will work on a metal shield dumbass that's what its made for you telling people the wrong shit. i have done this for years and never had an issue
great job on the trace repair, if you have trouble removing staining from plastic i find white vinegar and magic eraser works wonders, as for removing the screw some wd40 and a hair drier helps too, you can even file a slot into the head or the protruding part of the post and unscrew it with a flat head.
Does the magic eraser leave little scratches?
@@BinarySecond if you push too hard it does yes, otherwise its fine, I just give it a wipe with polish after
I'm not sure if you did this or not, what I do for these cartridges if I have more continuity issues and all the traces are good I'll take a toothbrush and mix just a little bit of baking soda and water then I take the moist baking soda and put it onto the contacts, it should be a viscous liquid, then I take a toothbrush and scrub it on the pins, it's like a light abrasive, it makes the pins look shiny and nice and ensures a more stable connection. You might even be able to use the baking soda method with the gunk on the plastic of the cartridge, since it's an abrasive it might get the gunk off of it without scraping up the plastic. You could also try a magic eraser. Another thing you can try is to put the rusted metal shield into some vinegar to get rid of some of, or even most of the rust depending on the severity. I had to rush through the video I want to go to sleep haha.
When you unboxed extreme games I got excited, that was one of my first ps1 games as a child and I played the heck out of it
He called it crappy... =(
You're right, i never gave it a fair chance
Loool the recording stopped at the most crucial part of the video. What an utter disappointment :(
Couple of tips for you.
1) That old be kind rewind sticker holds the security chip for the door scanners at that store to help foil shoplifters. so yeah they put those on anything they didn't want to walk out of the store.
2) Touching the tip of your soldering iron to the tip of that frozen screw for 2 or 3 seconds would have transferred enough heat into the screw to it to break the torque and soften the plastic threads just enough for you to unscrew it - better than breaking !
3) A little CLR cleaner on a q tip would have gotten rid of the ugly rust stains. Won't fix any etching but certainly looks nicer !
Great video by the way and yes i agree sacrificing the sports games in favor of the collectible one is a great call. !
Ever find a channel on accident and within 1 video you just know it’s a channel you’ll sub too? So entertaining man, great stuff.
Great video. Awsome to see someone not just tossing bad games but actually try to get them to be working again.
I cringe everytime i hear of that happening...
I really wanted to play Majora's Mask. So I hooked up my old N64 and the cartridge didn't work. Other games did. Tried for a couple hours. A google search brought me here and the technique at 4:16 (shoving it in and out like 3 times) made it work! Now I'm playing MM again and excited about it. Thanks!
It's a pretty simple technique, but the only thing to be aware of is that this will ultimately scrape off any gunk from the cart and transfer it to your system. It's a good idea to clean your system periodically.
I use an old credit card, wrap an eyeglass wipe around it and moisten it with alcohol, then just insert and remove it into the pin connector to leave them nice and clean
Magic eraser works well getting out pretty much everything, including rust. I've never seen a game that bad though, you did a good job fixing it.
Those rewind stickers are the NFC sensors for the store theft detection system.
When you couldn't get that screw out I knew you were going to break the board
Had to dig up my old ass information to figure out a twitter account I made ages ago.
That's the first giveaway I've ever seen that felt worth it to enter.
Cheers, man! It's been only a few days since I discovered your channel and subbed, but I think you're definitely on the right track. You've got similar production values and content value to Voultar, who has twice your subscriber count. I don't have any doubt that you can match him for subscriber count this year. Not that it's a competition... just saying, I think you're making it.
Thanks for this video. I had tried most of these methods, but minor rust had caked over a connector so it failed to boot up. However, by following your video I was able to revive my N64 game!
Congrats Adam!! Keep it up!!
I fully intend to! Thanks for watching
Hey Adam, keep up the good work. Lots of useful information. I have found the games, but I still haven't found the NES buried in Granny's house. Now I'm ready to fix what's wrong when I do.
Basically what caused the rust is what happens when you blow into your cartridges and moisture from your spit enters it. I learned that after many years. It's all about cleaning the contacts with a recommended solvent.
mattymatt2323 wtf??? 😂😂😂 does yours???
Always interesting to see game console and cartridge repairs like this. Great video!
Moral of the story don't dump gallons of water on the sticker
i might get into this business but idk how to practice. i'm in cyber security but physically getting into the components has always been more fun to me
Great video. I’m learning a lot from all your videos. I’m a big retro fan, and I thank you for all the tips for checking continuity from all the tracers, and how to repair them. Love all your vids. Keep up the great work.
Watching this I couldn’t wrap my head around how such a big game could fit on such a small board. Then I remembered how small my Nintendo switch cartridges are and how huge the games are
N64 was about the time where storage media started really improving. Some games like Conkers Bad Fur Day could fit 64MB onto them, while SNES maxed out at 6MB. NES ranged from 8kb to 1mb. For comparison, a 3ds now can hold up to 8GB and switch up to 32gb (64 supposedly to be available soon)
So happy to see movement from this channel again. Been anxiously waiting for more content!
You could just have bridged the break with some solder. You scraped enough solder mask to be able to fix it without a jumper wire.
The size of the break was also very minimal. At least it becomes applicable for a larger repair, in case someone is dealing with a more severe break.
He is making an instructional video. I am sure if he wasnt posting the video he probably would have used the simplest solution. Anyone could use a little solder to repair the trace. I think he is showing people how to build a jumper so the could fix their game on their own.
1:06 "I'm gonna put a tweet oat."
CANADIAN DETECTED
Guilty
I have used small needle nosed vise grips on screws like this. The screw head does have to be large enough that the pliers can get a bite.
You do want to pre apply some type of rust remover or penetrating oil as you dont get many chances before the screw head is striped.
Fixed my SNES game because of you! thank you for the content very entertaining too!
I wouldn't take a dirty cart like that and stick in my 64 in and out like that 😱
@Cat Guin It's a little bit harder to clean out the cartridge socket on the system than it is to clean the cartridge before inserting it in there.
@Sean Camp I see what you did there. Sorry the rest of them didn't get the joke. Even though you made a serious point at the same time. 😉👍
In the future, to remove a screw, you should use a drill to just drill it out. No damage to surrounding areas that way.
The stuff they make for repairing rear windshield heater would have worked wonders here for that trace. They make a pen form of it. A little tape around the trace. I used to do that with old AMD Athlons to unlock the CPU.
I wish I knew how to fix these cartridges. Great work. There's only so many left.
Wow! The Movie Gallery on Hixson Pike! Memories! I borrowed a FIFA game and never returned it.
This why cartridges are superior than cd. Nintendo knew this. That why in 2019 they went back to them.
More like flash memory became more affordable and in order to have a more compact design for the switch they decided to not use discs...
@@almarkowbender I'm more bothered by the fact that they think the Switch just randomly started using cartridges in 2019.
You can dump the cartridge shields inside vinegar to dissolve the rust and corrosion that's inside it, but the artwork will dissolve too so you gotta get replacement stickers for them
You're amazing. Subscribed student here. You are my mentor.
you know this takes me back to about 2 years ago. my dad was cleaning the front yard and under about 2 inches of dirt, he found an old game cart. may i say we've been watering the ground here for about a good 3 weeks because it's been dry during the summer time. he then throws it in the trash but he told me about finding it. i rush out to the trash can to see what the game was. it was covered in dirt with no label. i rushed inside to take it apart and clean it with some alcohol. after cleaning it i gathered my brothers around to see if it would boot up. it did and i was so happy. it was Robotron 64 one of our favorite games. this thing has been missing for about 8 years or so and its seen all types of weather. i wish they still made games like this. you couldn't grab a cd after seeing it slide on some asphalt and expect it to work. anyways these things will work even after a nuclear blast if you ask me.
That's awesome. Makes me wonder about all those ET cartridges that got buried. Bet they could be salvaged.
While I'd love to learn more about the circuitry and connectivity of everything, the shell could have been restored a bit better if it were a project I took on myself. That rusting from the shielding could have been sanded off with an emery board. I couldn't bear knowing that a game I fixed still had remnants of rust still inside it.
Still an excellent video, thanks so much for posting!
I remember in the N64 booklets that these games came with, there was a phone number on the back that had a picture of Mario with a screwdriver...because it was some kind of troubleshooting line...and I guess you ARE that Mario with the screwdriver. :D
*unfortunately the part where i fix it, did not get recorded.* comon bruh
Right, almost a pervert repair video. But na
Your videos have improved by 500%!!! Good job and keep going! Really enjoying it!
Well thanks for another video, here comes a long post from me !
I remember when I started to watch your vids almost year ago, those were the times I was waiting in my car for my fiance to get back from therapy. I learnt so much stuff about the consoles thanks to your channel, that I think would help me running some of my retro stuff, for example a dead Dreamcast.
I dont have a twitter account yet, but maybe its time to finally create one ? Even if I wont get the prize, youd have one more follower and I think you deserve it
All the best in 2019 when retro would become even more retro !
Thanks for sharing. Have a Merry Christmas and all the best in the new year
The best recycling method for cyber junk is fixing it and putting back to work!
I've found that alcohol is not good for cleaning off stuck-on gunk. Instead, I actually use some stovetop cleaner to remove the gunk. Goo gone would work as well, but stovetop cleaner seems to work the best. Just make sure you wipe off ALL of the excess and clean it really well with alcohol afterwards to remove any leftover residue.
to remove rust on the plastic shield, use a mixture of white vinegar alchool and WD40, then use a teethbrush. You can stop the corrosion doing the same on the metal shield, but you'll have to use steelwood 4 "O" or 3"0" , then use sand paper too 120/200/400/600/800/1200/1500 and then 3000. Then use a polish protector such as HP32 with fine steelwood.
I only have a toothbrush though. Will that work in lieu of a teethbrush?
I would of use screw extractor drill tip, and use rust away get the rust off and put it back with new screws. but your soldering was good!
Nice vids. I subscribed. I love your stuff. With a screw that you can't get a purchase on, I have had some success with super-gluing a good screw head on top of the bad one, let it cure, and then unscrewing as normal. Also, maybe some touch-up paint would have improved the looks of the interior where the rust was embedded into the plastic.
late to the party here, but I don't see other comments. Tip for next time - just drill the screw out rather than breaking the board. Especially when the head is not rusted over, it's easy to set a small drill bit in the impression, push through the head, and drill out the entire stem of the screw.
Many high end scientific calculators are sold cheap, as broken, but often simply need the brightness adjusted! Ti-89s and 92s are good examples.
I can't say I've ever looked specifically into that, but I'm sure that's true with almost all electronics.
The "Please Be Kind Rewind" stickers usually had an anti-theft circuit built into them.
oh great, most important part of video (the actual soldering) is not present in the video
not really
Couldn’t you just you solder to fill the gap
I was thinking the same
and clean the plastic from all the rust, and not just rip that metal off and almost break important stuff on the circuit board.
@@matteagle6914 It wouldn't help. You need a reverse drill bit (sorry, I'm not sure if I got the name right). You would have to drill out the screw, that's the only way.
@@vdochev yeah i know.. i meant 2 different things.
1. clean the plastic before reinstalling the circuit board.
2. dont rip the metal off and break stuff. (drill it out or use some rust rust converter for example)
@@matteagle6914 Like he said in the video, the rust may be etched into the plastic. You will need to somehow peel the plastic off and polish it if you want it to look good.
Dude you're awesome what a talent! U fixed a $60 game... Subbed and notifications on excellent work! 👍 😎
a $60 game that is now worth about $15 :P
@@SK8R43now it’s worth nothing because ROM’s can be easily found online 😂
This is really neat, i haven't seen the types of uncommon repairs that you do on any other channel!
Usually other channels just refurb gameboys but you're over here repairing traces.
Keep it up.
Subscriber from Chile here, nice to have you back.
Just a wee tip for rusted in screws.....after a wire brushing and a dose of WD40, push hard on the screwdriver and give it twist clockwise (tighten it) then try undoing it again ;)
I had paper mario 64 that all of a sudden, would not boot anymore, but i was a kid, so i destroyed the cartridge. But i probably would have been able to fix it today, with the knowledge i have today.
Keep doing these videos man! Great content, very entertaining material.
and will be more and more subscribers, believe me ! great content
The rewind sticker looks like security RFID?
Media mail? That's an interesting interpretation of media. Lucky the game made it.
If you have + screws which are almost rounded out, try using a flat head screwdriver. They tend to have a better grip, even if it seems counter-intuitive.
Did that, the metal was so rusty it still continued to strip. Should have just cut them from the start
What about a GameShark? A couple quit completely, but one still let's the game play through it and the screen and buttons still work.
Acetone+ATF btw!
Also there were a few different Super Fams. Most of the videos like this just use alcohol and a q-tip lol
It's crazy how a lot of people don't know what the best penetrating solution actually is and it is the combination of ATF fluid and Acetone! (With q-tips lol, don't want to dissolve the case)
Google something along the lines of "best to worst penetrating solutions with psi before and after"!
It will list like 30 different brands and exactly how much pressure they actually helped free up and compared to something like PB Blaster it was 400% better!
Obviously though with many of these you have to be careful, obviously ATF will dissolve all sorts of things as will acetone!
I couldn't break free the bolts on an exhaust that hadn't been touched in about 20 years and even with stores breaker bar and a 4 ft long cheater nothing! It was in the groove of the gas tank so you couldn't cut it so I found that article tried it out let it soak 30 minutes later I tried it and it just came right off!
I use a pencil soldering iron (lower wattage and fine point tip) to solder, unsolder traces and chip pins.
I use an adjustable hakko soldering station. You can get whatever tips you like and control how much heat goes out.
My first time opening an N64 cart I didn’t realise those screws inside held onto the board and managed to damage it - luckily it was only Starfox, not Mario party 3 - sometimes the screws on the inner casing come away really easy, and sometimes they feel like they are welded into place. Btw that is the most screwed I’ve ever seen a game! Flood damage for sure.
Finally, a use for NFL Quarterback Club carts. 🤣
Movie Gallery, damn that brings back memories.
Nice video. Like you I value cheap sports games as donors. They have saved me many a time.
Very cool video!
.. well and lesson learnt, never store my n64 games outside in the rain.
(Actually, this video really showed how easily at least trying to repair an old game can be. Grab a multimeter an the good old soldering iron and you are good to go! Cool! Will try that on my own!)
Yeah, luckily lots of the time it doesn't take much in terms is equipment
Old tech is generally easier to fix than new tech .... everything so much larger to work on
I'd definitely sand the rust and clear coat it to prevent further rust 👍
Man, my heart sank a little when that shell opened up.
Next time, before breaking another shield, maybe you could try this: cut a slit on the head of the screw using a Dremel with thin cutting disks, then a regular screwdriver can be used to remove the goddamned rusted screw. Yes, I can see that the shield is rotten but maybe you could have it restored later, cleaning up the rust by leaving it overnight inside a recipient with apple cider vinegar.
frig yea man loved the vid. i subbed. you must be a master at flipping 64 games. like you just made roughly 50 bucks there.
Kept this one, but i definitely like to find popular games like super mario 64 to package in with an n64 bundle. Can make better money that way than finding a cheap broken cart to sell by itself.
Plus this isnt in that good physical condition, so i wouldnt really be comfortable selling it for the $60+ it can go for.
This appeared in my feed for some reason. I.am.in.LOVE!
I just loved the 3 xtreme. I spent hours and hours at that game!
You've trippled that 25k sub bro. Mashalla
Alcohol will loosen the screw and get a thin razor under the head to separate the rust that fused together.