Fixing eBay Junk - N64 Game Super Mario 64 - Trace Repair

I believe you would have much better results if you would clean that soldering tip every joint you make. I have been soldiering all my life. And I know this will help you.

This looks really frustrating.

So are those black plastic pieces in the cart a MUST for the game to work?

Hello, i have this pokemon stadium 2 cartdridge that won't boot up, i found a broken trace and after repairing it now it shows the Nintendo logo and i can hear the Pikachu at the start, but that's all, After that only shows a black screen, i also did a reflow on the ROM chips but no luck, any ideas buddy? Thanks for reading this, i learn a Lot with Your videos.

good work but please get something to fixture the card with and the wire im panicing hahaha

really interesting stuff

I have a Mario 64 that I have taken apart and tested traces and cleaned and I still can’t get it to work any suggestions would be awesome

Flux.

You did a great job with not getting frustrated. I was getting frustrated on your behalf. Great video. Thanks again.

came for the repair, stayed for the cute doggo, subbed!

good job. a bit painful to watch you solder but you got there. lol doesnt have to be pretty to work. I once saved a casiotone vl1 this way. good stuff.

This video was perfect for me! Now I have a better idea of what to do with these old electronics.

Try using an actual contact cleaner rather than IPA. Deoxit or Deoxit Gold would be a better choice.

These broken traces are exactly why Nintendo warned people about with blowing into cartridge.

SOLDER not SODDER, the secret is in the l you dump yank.

can you possibly help me out?

I have a copy of fighters destiny, no broken traces, used the multi meter and every pin was fine. changed the capacitor, and reflowed everything. any idea what the issue might be?

Nice find! That is THE classic cartridge for the N64. I also love the Mario kart 64. All good wishes.

Thanks for sharing this. I had a SM64 cartridge with intermittent issues. Some minor trace damage like show. 34awg magnet wire is going to be your savior if you’re doing trace repair like this. Much easier to work with.

You should have tinned the traces.

I tried replacing a dead battery on my super Mario allstars cart but I put the battery in wrong and now the SNES wont turn on with that game in the slot, no power. Only when I remove it. Did I completely fry the cartridge or can I save it?

God you are bad at soldering

Cute doggo you have there!

Bahaha! I know EXACTLY what happened to this cart.

The most popular version of the GameShark for Nintendo 64 had a really tight cartridge slot. Some kid put a little too much force on the game to get it in the GameShark and cracked the traces on the board. I fixed a Harvest Moon 64 cart that had the same exact problems.

@RetroRepairs - Hi, I have 2 Mario Kart 64 cartridges and one of them is not booting up. I cleaned the contact with 99% isopropyl alcohol and special contact cleaning solution. I also did the continuity test on all traces (all seem to be fine) and the game is still not booting up. Is it possible that the game ROM chip is faulty? Or could it be "copyright protection - boot" chip?

No hate but i love falling asleep to your vids

How long can you leave the solder on the heated tip? I have very little soldering experience but it seems like solder is only useful for a very short time. Could that be why the second trace repair was giving you a hard time?

Was it not possible to just flow solder over the trace he scrapped away? If it's just a small break in the line?

I wish you could have fixed the front label but still very informative and entertaining! Salute to you and your patience fixing those traces!

Thank you so much! I watched a ton of your videos, and today I finally tried repairing some traces myself. I fixed a N64 transfer pack, and a Secret of Evermore game. Especially with Secret of Evermore, it was very difficult to spot where the broken trace was. However, your explanation of how to find them with a multimeter really helped out! Thanks!

Always love watching a good repair video on something that means so much to us all ❤

pls. pls show cleaning the plastic n stuff too :c

Making real hard work of that one. That soldering iron is rubbish , invest in a Hakko or similar. I’ve just invested in one an FX951, with soldering micro pencil, it’s much easier.

I thought the package was a gross piece of cheese, that being said, good video

Do you do commissions? I have a copy of Pokémon crystal I bought locally that has two pins messed up on one of its chips

How can i fix a Pioneer Laseractive disc tray man? Thanks!

I avoid fiberglass pens like covid, it's never fun getting tiny fibers stuck in your fingers, I use a scalpel.

love the channel Mr.Adam I have learn alot from your videos I would like to suggest repairing a ps2 controllers I have brought two ps2 controllers form ebay one was totally dead one was had D button up and L2 not working

I want to thank you, your videos helps me saving my own games.

A lot of people use flux to prep the soldering area, but I've consistently found better results with jelly donut filling. Most of the time I use strawberry, but in a pinch I'll use raspberry. I've never tried lemon, but then I'd have to eat the rest.

I enjoy your videos and I personally appreciate how you don't smash-cut though your process. I'm sure there are lots of small things you could edit out to bring the runtime down but I enjoy watching the whole process play out in real time (excluding the cuts to and from the console of course. Those are expected give you'd need to move your camera).

Ah they looked a little sus.

i feel like it would help a ton to clip the wire off from the bundle. it seemed like the weight of that was pulling on it quite a bit. great video though!

Word of advice with those fibre pens - don't rub them against your fingers like that, you really don't want fibreglass strands breaking off into your skin!

This whole video was the struggle bus. my goodness.

hatless mario; "looks like it works!"

great content, as usual !

I repair Macbooks for a living, and neither I nor anyone else in the business I know uses fiber glass pens to scratch away solder mask. I'm using an exacto knife or old tweezers.