How To Clean Console Cartridges

Welcome back dear friends. I dont want to waste ur time with meaningless greetings so let me get straight to the point! 

We all had in the past at least one video game console that was reading cartridges (or I hope so!!). No matter how hard we try to prevent dust from reaching to unwanted places it seems that we dont try hard enough. Dust (mostly) will eventually find its way to corrupt our precious cartridges to the point that become unreadable. But im gonna show u a quite easy and really cheap way to clean ur cartridges and make them like new again to re-live past glories! 

So here are the steps of what u have to do and a list of the things u will need!

1. What You Will Need

a) A cartridge with reading problem and its console (any system's cartridge will do.

b) Some fresh clean bottled water.

c) 2 napkins/tissues.

2. Clean With The Wet Napkin 

Fold the napkin in a way that it will be thick enough not to be totally soaked and dampen its point a bit into the water. Squeeze the dampen point slightly with ur fingers and let it drip the unnecessary quantity of water. Take the cartridge and gently clean the metal pins with the wet point of the napkin. Repeat that movement several times and thats it.

3. Wipe The Pins With The Dry Napkin

Now take the other napkin and fold it the same way. just make sure that it will fit in the cart and that it will have enough "surface" available to touch the pins. Wipe the pins several times and let the cart dry for a few moments.

4. Test And Enjoy!

Now that u ve done all the above and u gave it some moments to dry insert it to ur console and test it. It will most likely work like new again. At least two of my carts are fine now that i ve done exactly what i describe. THNX for reading and if u have any questions dont hesitate to ask! Cheers!

NOTE: that u can do almost the same thing with ur consoles (adapting the procedure according to the console u have ) but u have to be extra careful there. 

WARNING: Dont EVER try to blow in ur cart to clean it and make it play that way. It may seem to be the easiest way but just dont. When we do that even if we cant feel it particles of saliva go into tha cart and on the metal pins causing them to rust so avoid it in any case! 

How To Change Dead Batteries on GameBoy Cartridges (With Soldering Iron)

Hello once again my fellow bloggers and game fans.. I had promised you that i d upload soon one more post on how to change gameboy cart batteries with soldering iron.. Well its not so soon i suppose but better late than never right?! So lets get to the point.

Since we have to do with heat, electircity, precision, steady hands and all that this time, this means that we have to be extra careful. The idea is more or less the same like last time. We need to replace batteries so our cart can hold a save once again like new. I experimented with my own cart. It was my first time using a soldering iron so a good friend helped me out with this (so if you are not familiar with the iron i recommend to have someone more experienced to help you) and finally the cart is brand new. I used my second pokemon gold. I m not responsible for any damage  u do to ur cart or whatever i just suggest a way that worked for me and several others on the net. So here is the guide:

1. What You Will Need

a) A GameBoy Cartridge with a dead battery ( i used orginal Pokemon Gold version) 

b) A pair of tweezers

c) Some solder

d) a new CR2025 battery or a CR2032 (3V) with metal pins (differences are that the second one is fatter n has longer lifespan. NOTE: if u use CR2032 u may find it difficult to close ur cart afterwards but still works)

e) A soldering iron

f) A GameBoy console (any GameBoy - GameBoy Color - GameBoy Pocket - GameBoy Advance - GameBoy Advance SP will do)

g) and a peg ( u may need it but i forgot to include it in the photo above. Sorry!!)

2. Dettach The Old Metal Battery Pins With The Soldering Iron

After unscrewing the cart, sliding down the rear part and opening it (i described those steps in the previous post so im not gonna include them here as well) plug in the soldering iron and wait to heat up. You should do this in a well ventilated room (if u use it for the first time cos theres gonna be a lot of hazardous smoke). After its point is heated up enough, steadily touch the silver sides next to the battery where the old battery was attached to. The old solder will start melting in seconds freeing the battery's each side. Do both of the sides and ur gonna have the dead battery apart from the rest of the circuit board. Now ur ready to solder the new battery.

3. Solder The New Battery


Place the new battery on the circle where the previous one was exactly the way it was (letters down). Bent the terminals (metal pins) so that they touch the spot that u were heating before with the soldering iron. Now is the past where u might need to use a peg. If ur not sure enough that u are gonna hold the battery steady use a peg like indicated in the pic for better stability. Take some solder and heat it to melt. Its gonna melt in secs and the melted solder will hung from the tip of ur solder. With careful small moves touch the melted solder to the part that the terminal of the new battery touches the old left dry solder. It will turn to solid in a few seconds forming some kind of strong glue that will hold the battery in place. Repeat the same process to the other terminal. NOTE: In any case do not heat the battery and do not touch the circuit board with the point of the soldering iron. If u followed all those steps correctly u ll have ur cart with a brand new battery ready to play.

4. Put The Parts Back Together And Test

The hard part is gone. Now take the circuit board and place it inside the rear part of the cart case. Put on top the front part n slide it upwards. Screw back the nintendo screw and test ur cart to a Gameboy/SP console system! And thats it! Ur cart is brand new and now can hold a save like before! Enjoy!!! :D