Remove tarnish from ICs , sandpaper OK?

[s8n]

hi members and twistedsymphony , I purchased in 2 orders a bunch of EPROMS for Ironclad / Ghostlop / Pochi and Nyaa from buyicnow.

I noticed a small amount of tarnish on the legs of the ICs I have removed it on a couple of them with sandpaper

Is this OK and I can go ahead and finish the other affected ICs ?

 

[everten]

Sand paper is really abrasive. You can try a contact cleaner like DeOxit spray or CRC first. Some people use a fiber glass pen. I like using Pink Pearl erasers for edge contacts, but it could work on legs if you’re really careful. There’s also this pad, although expensive for what it is: https://www.arcadepartsandrepair.com/store/tools-supplies/pcb-edge-and-chip-cleaner-eraser/

 

[Neo-Alec]

Just looked at Pochi & Nyaa prices on ebay, and that's messed up. I can see making an Ironclad or Ghostlop to complete a collection. But if you're making bootlegs of officially released games, just get a flashcart.

 

[ekorz]

Meh, I have made bootlegs and also own a flashcart. Conversions are fun.

 

[s8n]

thanks everten for your info , i was gong to go with 100 grit then 800. But now i'm gong with 1500 then 2000 and finish with Deoxit and Contact Cleaner. Saved me from potential troubles down the line , thank you

 

[Neo-Alec]

Meh, I have made bootlegs and also own a flashcart. Conversions are fun.

If you're burning IC's it's not a conversation. It's a bootleg or a repro.

 

[ekorz]

Maybe I’m being loose with my wording. in my head e.g. Fluffy’s PGM pcb’s are “bootleg”. New pcb entirely, different design than the original. SF2 M5. A “repro” would be new pcb, exact same design. sometimes it gets blurry if the bootleg behaves identically!

“Conversion” is taking an existing pcb and burning new roms, maybe adjusting some logic, to run a different game. But the end result used an original pcb and ends with an electrically identical final result. I convert a Quiz Gakumon pcb to TMNT2 with a rom and gal swap, all else is identical and plays the same as an original. And those are fun, so I stand by that! And I think that’s what OP is doing… using some authentic MVS cart as a base, swapping some roms and some jumpers… conversion. Hell, some pcbs out there are “factory conversions” where they did exactly that at the factory. Like quiz gakumon!

But anyway semantics aside, I was just showing support for OP and his course of action, where you seemed to be advocating against it.

 

[Neo-Alec]

"Conversion" used to be roms from an MVS cart. Custom PCB's weren't a thing until recently. Bootleggers have purposely gotten sloppy with their terminology

 

[nem]

Custom PCBs have always been a thing. Like this

https://www.mvs-scans.com/index.php/King_of_Fighters_96_(pirate)

I agree that all conversions were called bootlegs at some point. However, there's definitely reason to update that terminology. I don't care if they're called bootleg pirates and bootleg conversions, but a distinction can be made between the two board sets in the above link.

 

[Neo-Alec]

Custom PCBs have always been a thing. Like this.

That's true. The old bootleg PCBs have been around for a long time. Not sure if there was any point to that part of my post.

My point about terminology stands, so don't shoot the messenger.

As far as updating terms, I understand language evolves over time, but it doesn't mean we can't still question it.