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
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 :(
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!
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. ^~^
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!
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.
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! ;)
@@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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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
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.
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.
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. !
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!
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.
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.
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.
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 !
@@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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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
Loved the video. I work in a CCA shop and loved watching the way someone does things differently. Just curious, could you not get that screw out because it was rust Frozen in place or did your bit chew out the head?
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)
No-It isn't ideal and may become an area of high resistance and subsequent failure down the line. Even if you could draw the trace thicker to compensate, there isn't enough room anyway.
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.
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.
I cant say i was overly impressed :( You do know you could have used hydrochloric acid dipped in cotton wall to soak the screw which dissolves the rust rather quickly... And would have loosened it enough to remove without breaking anything... You could then acid bath the shield to remove the rest of the rust. You use a soaked cotton ball or swab as that wont make it fall onto the copper and damage that. Also the acid could have been used to clean the plastic too... And then theres the overly complicated soldering, you could have just used a small blob of solder as a solder bridge, then tin the rest of the exposed copper to protect it......
Great video man. I really enjoy your repairs and tips. I recently put a couple videos up but nothing compared to yours. Haha. Keep up the good work man. I'm always waiting for some vids.
So in this case where the plastic casing and the label was damaged, is there no way to salvage the case off another cheap game, and reprint a label for Mario party 3 and place it in that case? Also where do you obtain those screw bits to open the case? I have a few n64 games that are non functional I’d like to give this a try.
You definitely could use another shell, but i didn't want to id i could avoid it. Id rather have a rough looking original label than a reprint. As for the bits, just check out ebay. They're about $2 shipped from China, just will probably take a few weeks
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.
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.
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.
:o very nice. I have the skills for this and most of the tools. Don't know what the flux is or what it's for though, glue kinda? I have a date with snes zelda gold version and myh im going to be nervous when cracking that open :p Also what liquid did you use to clean the board with. Propylene?
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!)
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
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 :>
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 :(
Puts the game back together.
Turns it on.
"It's-a me! Brett Farvio!"
Way underrated comment.
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!
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. ^~^
"That's rusty" - understatement of the year.
And apparently Brett Favre is looking pretty rough too
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!
"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)_/¯
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.
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
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
Thanks, I appreciate the time you took to explain everything in details! I don't do repairs but I love learning about it!
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! ;)
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.
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...
Congrats Adam!! Keep it up!!
I fully intend to! Thanks for watching
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
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.
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.
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.
So happy to see movement from this channel again. Been anxiously waiting for more content!
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
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.
Always interesting to see game console and cartridge repairs like this. Great video!
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.
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
1:06 "I'm gonna put a tweet oat."
CANADIAN DETECTED
Guilty
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.
Scott the Woz would be proud of you removing the good RF shielding from a game with Brett Farve on the cover.
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.
Subscriber from Chile here, nice to have you back.
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.
You're amazing. Subscribed student here. You are my mentor.
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. !
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!
Fixed my SNES game because of you! thank you for the content very entertaining too!
Your videos have improved by 500%!!! Good job and keep going! Really enjoying it!
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???
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.
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.
When you couldn't get that screw out I knew you were going to break the board
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.
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
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.
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.
Moral of the story don't dump gallons of water on the sticker
In the future, to remove a screw, you should use a drill to just drill it out. No damage to surrounding areas that way.
*unfortunately the part where i fix it, did not get recorded.* comon bruh
Right, almost a pervert repair video. But na
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.
Keep doing these videos man! Great content, very entertaining material.
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
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
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.
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.
and will be more and more subscribers, believe me ! great content
I wish I knew how to fix these cartridges. Great work. There's only so many left.
Loool the recording stopped at the most crucial part of the video. What an utter disappointment :(
The rewind sticker looks like security RFID?
love that canadian tire screw stripping try a set of wera nice video nice done
This appeared in my feed for some reason. I.am.in.LOVE!
Hello Retro Repairs, great video and explanation of your process. Can you share what brand/model soldering kit you use?
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. 😉👍
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
Loved the video. I work in a CCA shop and loved watching the way someone does things differently. Just curious, could you not get that screw out because it was rust Frozen in place or did your bit chew out the head?
The head was so brittle the bit chewed it up, and it was also frozen in place.
@@RetroRepairs oh jeez the perfect storm. Thanks so much for the reply!
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)
In these cases, wouldn't it be more convenient to scrape away the solder mask at the damaged area and redraw a bit of the trace with a pen?
No-It isn't ideal and may become an area of high resistance and subsequent failure down the line. Even if you could draw the trace thicker to compensate, there isn't enough room anyway.
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
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.
You've trippled that 25k sub bro. Mashalla
I cant say i was overly impressed :( You do know you could have used hydrochloric acid dipped in cotton wall to soak the screw which dissolves the rust rather quickly... And would have loosened it enough to remove without breaking anything... You could then acid bath the shield to remove the rest of the rust. You use a soaked cotton ball or swab as that wont make it fall onto the copper and damage that. Also the acid could have been used to clean the plastic too...
And then theres the overly complicated soldering, you could have just used a small blob of solder as a solder bridge, then tin the rest of the exposed copper to protect it......
what % of hydrochloric acid would you need to remove the screw and to clean the plastic
My thoughts exactly, mate.
Eddie Brown probably 0,1M solution
oh great, most important part of video (the actual soldering) is not present in the video
not really
Great video man. I really enjoy your repairs and tips. I recently put a couple videos up but nothing compared to yours. Haha. Keep up the good work man. I'm always waiting for some vids.
So in this case where the plastic casing and the label was damaged, is there no way to salvage the case off another cheap game, and reprint a label for Mario party 3 and place it in that case?
Also where do you obtain those screw bits to open the case? I have a few n64 games that are non functional I’d like to give this a try.
You definitely could use another shell, but i didn't want to id i could avoid it. Id rather have a rough looking original label than a reprint.
As for the bits, just check out ebay. They're about $2 shipped from China, just will probably take a few weeks
What is that stuff in that soldier flux pen? That is weird. Is it some kind of heavy oil?
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.
Does heating the screw with a solder gun work?
Nice video. Like you I value cheap sports games as donors. They have saved me many a time.
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 😂
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!
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.
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.
as an avionics tech in the military, I was thinking just bridge the gap with a dab of solder.....
Cool video! Glad I came across this channel :) Definitely gonna use some of your tricks for my repairs!
Curious. I’m going to try this at home for the games but do you have a video for an N64 that may not be reading games properly?
*subscribed, you are in the retro list with The8BitGuy and Lazy Game Reviews, keep the nice job!
Alcohol will loosen the screw and get a thin razor under the head to separate the rust that fused together.
What did you use when you cleaned the board? Alcohol?
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?
hey what kind of oil do you use to clean and is it the same as the penetrating oil that you mentioned
What did you clean the cartridge with at the beginning to see the board better please?
:o very nice. I have the skills for this and most of the tools. Don't know what the flux is or what it's for though, glue kinda? I have a date with snes zelda gold version and myh im going to be nervous when cracking that open :p
Also what liquid did you use to clean the board with. Propylene?
Flux is a corrosive paste that cleans the surface you're about to solder. It makes it much easier to solder effectively.
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