(Tips For Beginners) Needing To Clean Our Consoles Vs. Get Another One

[oldgamerz]

Sometimes a console will overheat or stop working because it needs nothing more then to be cleaned thoroughly. Sometimes on amazon.com you get a used console caked in dust and nicotine like one of my PlayStation 3's arrived on my doorstep. My consoles are not vary clean but at least they work for the moment

Did you know that cleaning a console does wonders? I had one of my PS2 phat models cleaned before because it used to freeze during gameplay. After it was cleaned it actually worked just fine


I dread the day where I need to clean my CD based consoles because I am not good at putting the console back together once I take it apart. Cartridge consoles I think are much easier to clean in my opinion

What are your thoughts on this? have you thrown out or sold a dirty console? I have sold one before but I don't like to talk about it

If your console stopped working would you get another or would you check if it needs to be professionally cleaned?

[kingrat101]

Oh yeah for sure cleaning is great. Whenever I buy a console I clean everything inside and out, nothing major just a general cleaning. My original PS2 overheated but that because the fan was not working. I usually try to clean or fix consoles before I sell them. You are correct though, a lot of cd-based consoles are a pain, very tightly packed and not a lot of room to clean everything properly, or even get it back together haha.
I just look at it like any other hobby, it requires maintenance, I taught myself how to solder, you can fix a lot of old machines just by soldering loose connections back together.

[guygus09]

I LOVE taking apart electronics, old and new. They feel a lot like puzzles and it helps me to familiarize myself with the different components and such so I understand and get closer to my consoles.

One time I picked apart my laptop because it overheated too often. The thing was SO caked with dust and dirt inside. The fan alone looked almost like one of those filters in a vacuum cleaner with all the dust and hair in it. After that, I always make a point to open up any used consoles and wipe off dirt and blast it out with compressed air. I still need a screwdriver for my n64 and gamecube. Those are still pretty dirty.

Last year I bought a nice looking white gba off of eBay. While the picture looked good enough, getting it in my hands, I saw that the thing was almost orange and many of the buttons stuck down. It weirds me out how people just don't take care of their things often. Well after opening it and scrubbing it down, the white shell hurt my eyes with how vibrant it was. Like wow what a pearly beaut she was gunked inside some dirty barnacled oyster.

I just look at it like any other hobby, it requires maintenance, I taught myself how to solder, you can fix a lot of old machines just by soldering loose connections back together.

This. Its amazing how spending just ten minutes on something can make it work like new. One time when I was still new to soldering, the cable latch to my 3ds broke a contact wire. So I opened it up and tried to put in another one. I ended up melting apart 5 replacement latches and my 3ds still isn't fixed to this day.

[hoshichiri]

I would say to anyone who's console randomly stops working- please, please look up a teardown on YouTube, open it up, & poke it guts! Even if you're not really good with electronics, even if you can't solder, as long as you trust yourself to not pull on anything hard enough to break it, IT'S WORTH DOING!

My SNES quit on me. It was working fine a few months before, but suddenly black screen. I opened it, looked at parts, cleaned things randomly... and then it just worked again. I put it back together & it's been fine since (save for a slightly spongy eject button because I might not have that spring in quite right- but I don't want to break the spring, so it's fine.)

My Intellivision did not like my HDTV when I got it- every couple of seconds the screen would spaz out & it made games unplayable. I opened it up & found the RF shield (?) is soldered into place over the board, & I'd have to literally break it out to get all the way in. So I just put what I could get out back in. It works now- I don't even know what I did, but the picture is stable (if fuzzy) so I can use it again.

Old consoles are weird like that, sometimes all they need is a good jostle to get them going again. And if it doesn't work, you're in the same boat you were before you opened your dead machine. There's really no good reason not to give it a go!

[shadowzero]

Preach on friends!  You don't have to have an electronics degree to make a HUGE difference in keeping the old hardware alive.  I started with no knowledge and have had moderate success returning things to proper order (as seen on my low budget blog).  There are many threads on here about how its likely many units of all shapes and colors will vanish in our lifetime because so many just get thrown away.  There are many excellent youtube channels out there.  This is a good one that you can learn some good techniques about disassembly and the usually more difficult re-assembly.  Check out The Sega Holic, ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y02w_DljHF8] RetroRepairs, and lukemorse1.

[oldgamerz]

Preach on friends!  You don't have to have an electronics degree to make a HUGE difference in keeping the old hardware alive.  I started with no knowledge and have had moderate success returning things to proper order (as seen on my low budget blog).  There are many threads on here about how its likely many units of all shapes and colors will vanish in our lifetime because so many just get thrown away.  There are many excellent youtube channels out there.  This is a good one that you can learn some good techniques about disassembly and the usually more difficult re-assembly.  Check out The Sega Holic, ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y02w_DljHF8] RetroRepairs, and lukemorse1.

Right we can't stop people from throwing them out but we can try to give advice to try to help the individuals with minor console issues and probably save them some money. But I take mine to an expert because all I know is how to take a console apart and I have a lot of trouble putting them back together that I broke a PS2 once

[dharmajones93]

I've taken the tops off and used compressed air on just about all my consoles. 30 years of more is a long time for some of these things, but I really enjoy digging in there and working on them. Cartridges included. I've resuscitated a dozen or more carts with severe corrosion or cracked solder joints on chips.

My Genesis is my only console with issues. Installed a Blinking Red Light Win on my NES (I think essential for anyone using an OG NES). The Genesis takes a few tries to get running. Sometimes I feel like its warming up... Anyone every experienced this, where a console needs to warm up before it will read a cart?

Next attempt is recapping a Game Gear.

[shadowzero]

I found this very helpful blog from SmileyCitrus that chronicles his successes and failures with SNES and the black screen of death.  I found it so interesting I'm gong to dig out one of my failed units and follow his "unofficial" diagnostic flowchart.

[dan4797]

I once had to completely gut and rebuild a friends original xbox 360 he threw at me to fix, opened it up to be greeted with a family of dead woodlice and what looked like half a head of hair. god knows where he kept the thing. would 100% recommend someone checking over a "dead" system before getting another one. 

[oldgamerz]

I just spent under some money to get my PlayStation 2 cleaned and motherboard chip fixed, the guy fixed it for well under the price of another one. I really don't think that the motherboard needed fixing but the man through in an extra fix, and it was still under $80 USD total.

My point is. That, if I would have bought another PlayStation 2 phat. Instead of getting the one I  already had fixed. In my case, buying another PS2 would have costed a lot more than my old one was to fix and clean.

You should always try to repair or at least clean your gaming equipment, and if you don't know how to repair them yourselves. Your should try asking a PC repair shop if they can also fix consoles and or even handhelds

Sometimes another console may cost cheaper in your case to repair it. But remember sometimes you can buy a used electric device and it may have problems. That is sometimes why people sell things because of problems the other owner had before your bought the thing.

Most used PS2's don't read all the disc as an example, and sometimes a refurbished system that works can cost more than it would be to fix your old PlayStation 2

[oldgamerz]

Some of you guys that fix consoles and other devices should open up an at home repair service even if it's only members of this site. it's just a thought

[Cartagia]

You should do more shopping around if $80 is cheaper than getting another PS2 in your area.  $60 will get you one off eBay, and the phats are pretty reliable machines.

Not that getting yours repaired is bad, but you may want to adjust your cost expectancy.