Hey guys,
first of all, I'm sorry if this is in the wrong category. I wasn't sure if it qualifies as something related to NES hardware, since this topic concerns a SNES game.
But anyway, I'll explain my problem now:
A while ago I bought a used "Illusion of Time" cartridge for the SNES on a fleamarket. I have been wanting to play this game for a long time already, so you can imagine how disappointed I was that the game didn't work, even after excessive cleaning of the cartridge contacts. I never had this problem with any other game on my SNES, so I figured that it the game was either faulty or broken.
Recently I got myself a pair of security bits so I could open the game and the console.
But since I thought the error is on the cartridge and not the console I only looked at that so far.
The first thing I checked on the game was if the battery was okay and from what I can say, it is.
So I cleaned the cartridge AGAIN, but still it doesn't boot and only shows me a grey screen.
And that suprised me, because my Parodius cartridge was in far worse shape, when I got it and after some cleaning it worked just fine.
So I investigated a little further and actually found something.
It looks like two of the traces on the backside of the PCB near to the pins have corroded (or been cut by the previous owner?). I'm no expert on this, but I checked for connectivity with my multimeter and apparently there is no connection.
Now, my question is: Can I fix this cartridge or is it hopeless?
I've taken some pictures of the PCB from both sides. The black dots are remains of ink which I used to highlight the ends of the broken traces for my testing with the multimeter. The black circles on the closeup picture were added with the help of image editing software.
WARNING: Huge files!
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/74960018/Pictu ... ipside.JPGhttps://dl.dropbox.com/u/74960018/Pictu ... erside.JPGhttps://dl.dropbox.com/u/74960018/Pictu ... loseup.JPG
How much experience do you have soldering? Those breaks are definitely repairable, but a slightly advanced technique. (Using an x-acto or a boxcutter, remove the resist, plate with solder, get out a single strand of 30-50ga wire and solder it to jumper the gap)
I would recommend just to swap the Eprom to a NHL 95-98 or Madden 95-98 pcb.
just need to desolder and solder the Mask rom (36 pin chip).
I could do it for you if you pay for shipping I could spare a donor cart I have a lot.
Definitely repairable. Like lidnariq said, scrape off the soldermask at either edge of the remaining trace using an exacto knife in order to expose the copper trace, then get a thin wire (I like to use paper clips or if I need thinner, I use the legs clipped off a resistor, since I tend to have a lot of those sitting around from trimming after mounting to a board). Just be careful not to get solder too far down on the edge connector or it might make it hard to insert into the console. If that doesn't fix it, check for any other breaks using your multimeter.
Swapping the rom is a terrible idea, it would be ten time harder than just repairing the trace and would also destroy another cart in the process. This is an easy fix, just a small piece of wire (kynar wire work best for this).
I have really never had very good success when fixing lines like that. Or when I make them work, I feel that the new soldered ones can easily break of. but Whatever works for the OP is cool
Thanks for the offer pichichi, but I fear the shipping would be more expensive than buying a new (used) game cartridge.
So, I think I'm going to try the soldering method. I do have some experience with it, but I have never done something quite like this. I hope it works and if it doesn't...well it wouldn't be a huge loss, since the game doesn't work. All I need now is some free time to actually work on it >.>
Thanks for all the help and all your suggestions!!
Keep in mind it is your pcb that is broken. The MaskROM is the real game piece. It appears to be fine. Do your best to try to patch the damaged traces on the board. If that fails, do not throw it away. You could try again or have someone else try again to fix the pcb and if all that fails, you can save the MaskROM and other components on the board.
Just so you know, I had a Ninja Gaiden III cartridge that had a similar issue! where the plastic hugs the pcb somehow on one side a bunch of traces were ruined! At the time I was not very experienced but I still managed to solder some wires and get the game fully working again. So you can do it with a little patience.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you use a straight solid wire (like a paper clip, like I usually use), when you heat up the second side, it will likely melt the first side as well. I typically add solder to one side of the board, hold the wire with tweezers, then heat the solder, place the wire and position it, then hold it as I remove the soldering iron. Then reposition the board, get a bead of solder on the iron tip, then grab the wire with tweezers to hold it in place (and act as a heat sink), then apply the molten solder to the second joint. If you try to add solder directly to the joint, you have solder in one hand, the iron in the other hand, and you're not holding the wire with anything. Often, the first solder joint will liquefy and the wire will stick to the iron and move around, which you don't want.
That corrosion is worrisome. Does it look like someone spilled a drink on the cart? I hope the flux isn't the culprit.
@Mottzilla
I didn't mean to throw it away if I screwed up the soldering :3
@kyuusaku
Now that you say it..The screws that hold the plastic halfs of the case together are a little corroded as well I have no idea what it is, but until now I thought it was just dirt that collected there over the years. Most of it came off, when I opened the cartridge, but looking at it now, I have to say that I have never seen anything like this on any other cartridge. It could be that this cartridge got wet.
However (!) there is no visible damage on the front- or backlabel caused by water or any other liquid. In fact the labels look excellent, because there are not even any scratches on them.
The cartridge itself is clean as well and it has been clean when I first got it.
I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand what you are saying about flux. I know what it is and what it is used for, but what exactly do you think has happened? Did you suggest, that flux caused this corrosion?
Btw, I used Isopropyl alcohol to clean the contacts.
@quertymodo
Thanks again!
I will try this on the weekend when I have the time.
Flux is used to achieve better solder flow and better mating between contacts by removing oxidation from the surface of the metal contacts and the solder. However, by its very nature it is corrosive, so it should always be cleaned off of your board after soldering. Solder wire that is labeled as rosin core has flux "built in" to the wire itself, which is really handy. However, the position of the corrosion really doesn't seem to be flux related, as it's nowhere near any solder joints...
electronics fluxes aren't acid based and thus corrosive.
TmEE wrote:
electronics fluxes aren't acid based and thus corrosive.
Not really true. Deoxidation of metal is a corrosive process. Even "No-clean" fluxes have been known to create issues when left on a board. True, rosin-core flux is usually pretty safe because it crystallizes at room temperature and isn't reactive until it reaches a fairly high temperature, but if flux weren't corrosive it would be useless.
Well, if you look on the picture of the front as well, there is quite a bit of wear a few millimeters above the contacts. The lightening in color of the soldermask in an even line on both sides tells me that the plastic shell of the game has worn against the PCB, damaging the soldermask and even those traces that you see there. Pins 17 and 21 especially stand out to me as future problems as there is no soldermask at all on those at the same height.
As much as it pains me to agree with pichichi... I think that swapping that ROM to a new PCB might be the best choice for saving that game in the long-term.
If you just want to get it working and are not too worried about it working in a few years, then repairing those two traces are fairly easy, but using that shell will wear at the repair as well as the other traces on the board.
That all being said, please do not send your game to Pichichi for repair, find someone local or learn to do it yourself.
You could sand down or cut down the shell to prevent further wear.
However you choose to repair it, be sure to sand down the part of the shell that rubbed on the PCB so it doesn't happen again.
