Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
72-pin Replacement Guide

If you've ever experienced the death of a video game console, you'll know it isn't pretty. First there comes denial, then grief and anger, and finally acceptance of the console's fate. However, unlike more earthly matters, many of the cartridge-based console systems don't die; they just wear out their connectors. Unless you've inconveniently dropped a sledgehammer on your console, or thrown it from a speeding car, chances are you can bring it back from the dead. Read on, and we'll guide you step-by-step through the infamous blinking screen experienced by long-time owners of the infamous 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System.

Do-it-yourself NES Console Repair

If you really DON'T want to repair your old NES, we offer the NES Top-Loaders, which play all of your old NES games and never have the blinking problem! These systems even come with a free game!

The Problem: A Blinking Power Light On Your NES Console

Everyone has seen it, and everyone dreads it: The Blinking NES TV (note the capital letters there) screen.. You may think your NES is broken, and that all of the time you've spent collecting your favorite carts like The Legend of Zelda was a waste of time and money. You think about purchasing a system on Ebay, but realize that you're taking a gamble buying someone else's used system. Why not take 30 minutes out of your life and fix the NES yourself for around $15.00?

What causes the grey screen/blinking scree/funny-characters-on-the-screen? The problem is actually caused by time and wear on your much-used NES. Over the years, the contacts of the game and the contacts of your NES system are not connecting, most likely due to dirt and oxidation building up on the game contacts and NES contacts. If you've followed our instructions on how to clean your video game cartridge, and you're still experiencing non-functioning games, most likely the 72-pin connector on your NES is on its way out and will need to be replaced, or the game may not have been cleaned thoroughly enough. You might think this would be expensive, but the connectors typically go from around ten bucks to twenty bucks, depending upon the vendor and quality of the replacement 72-pin connector. We offer the NES 72-pin replacement connectors here at the Gaming Graveyard for $9.99, and these connectors are of very high quality.

With the 72-pin connector in hand and a little elbow grease, you can fix the Nintendo yourself in less than 30 minutes time. Read on if you'd like to find out how.

The Solution: Alcohol, Elbow Grease, a pencil eraser, and Qtips

No, the alcohol is not for anything but cleaning the contacts, and you'd be hurting for certain (think blindness and convulsions) if you tried to consume any quantity of isopropanol, so don't. The image below shows the supplies I used to make the repair to my blinking Nintendo:

Gather Your Supplies

1. Isopropanol
2. Cheap Toothbrush
3. Cottonballs (Qtips work great too)
4. Philips head screwdriver(s)
5. Pencil eraser
6. Super Fine (#0000) Steel Wool (Optional, Not Shown)

Remove the Bottom Panel Screws Once you've got all you supplies in hand, a cleaned off coffee table, kitchen table, or counter, and 30 minutes of free time, the first thing you'll want to do is discharge the capacitors in the NES by turning the power button on briefly and then off again, without the system being plugged in of course. Next, flip the NES over and examine the bottom for the six (6) screw holes as shown in Figure 3. Use a Phillips head screwdriver to remove each of the six screws. Put the screws in a Dixie cup or similar container so they don't get lost in your shag carpeting. Be careful about lifting the NES up after you've removed the screws, as the bottom panel is no longer attached to the top panel. Grasping both the bottom panel and top panel of your NES (so it doesn't fall apart), turn it right-side up and set it on the table.

Check Out the Inside of Your NES

You can now easily remove the top panel of your Nintendo Entertainment System, and voila!...your first, (or maybe not if you're curious like me) look at the inner guts (Figure 4) of the NES, the hardware that has helped provide you countless hours of joy and red eyes from lack of sleep.

Remove the Screws from the Metal Covering

If you own a grounding strap, it would probably be a good idea to ground yourself to a metal portion of the NES to discharge any static electricity that could otherwise harm sensitive electronics. Don't ground yourself to the metal covering over the cartridge ejection mechanism, as we'll be removing this in just a minute.

Now is the minute, and it's time to remove the sheet metal casing covering the cartridge ejection mechanism on the NES. The cartridge ejection mechanism (CEM) is the big black plastic thing where it looks like a cartridge would, and does in fact fit. At this point, observe how the CEM fits flat against the circuit board, and that the front of the CEM does NOT bow out at all. This is an important observation, since once you re-attach the CEM after replacing your connector, you'll need to insure the front does not bow out, or else you may have difficulty getting the NES cartridges to stay down (the proper position) during gameplay.

Note that figures 5, 6, and 7 show the locations of all seven screws. Use a phillips head screwdriver to remove all seven screws holding this covering down, and place them in a Dixie cup.

1 | 2 |  3 | Shop At The Gaming Graveyard