Opening carts

[Doc]

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[satoshi_matrix]

How does one take a Famicom game apart without breaking it? Unlike NES carts which use secuirty screws (which can be opened with a security screwbit) Famicom games have NO screws and are held together by veture of magic/Japanese ingiunity.

I want to dismantle the carts so I can regeriously clean some of the dirist older Famicom games I own that give me trouble whenever I try to play them. Pirate carts are easy to take apart because of their cheapness, but the actual licensed carts are much more difficult. Is there a specific tool you can use/buy to open them up?

[Jedi Master Baiter]

I ripped apart a Yie Ar Kung Fu to find that it is (near?) impossible.  On the bright side is that it can snap back together even with some broken pieces.

[kite200]

um, why would you open it, just clean the connectors...................

[satoshi_matrix]

because you can clean it much more effectively when its opened. You aren't limited by space and you can swish in a downward motion away from the board instead of an upward motion towards the board.

[kite200]

waste of time. you'll probably break the cart trying to open it, dont even bother.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

How about using a sideways motion?

[madman]

The key is to use a thin screwdriver to press in the parts where the tabs are located.  There's usually two on the top, two on the sides. 

[satoshi_matrix]

have you done it a lot before madman?

[madman]

On a handful of games, yes.

[JC]

I found a dude a while back selling this contraption:

[ericj]

That contraption doesn't look like it'd be any more successful than pulling it apart with your hands. The tabs on the sides and top are the main problem and it doesn't look like it addresses those areas. Plus, there are many different types of carts, so there probably isn't just one right way to do it.

[Josh]

Could someone make a video of how to do this, and upload it somewhere or post it on YouTube?

[JC]

To open up the typical cart (not talking Konami or Jaleco, etc.) you need to locate the bottom tabs. A cart is two pieces: the front half with the main game label and the back half with the general info label. The tabs are always attached to the back half with the general info label. There are four tabs on the back half: two at the top, about an inch in on both sides, and then one on each of the sides, near the bottom. You need to locate the side tabs. While pushing the back half inward near a side tab, you need to push the front half outward, also near the same tab. That'll unhook that tab. Once you get one of two bottom tabs unhinged, it's easy to unhook the rest. I'd take a few pics, but I don't have my digital camera at the moment.

Proceed with great caution! It's easy to break a tab.

[Josh]

So, from that description, I'm guessing the reason it's so difficult is because of the pushing inward on the side of the back half of the cartridge near the side tab.  I can't imagine moving hard plastic like that being any kind of easy...  And with that much force being applied, I can see how it could be easy to slip up and snap a tab.

That is, unless I misread or misunderstood your description...?

Anyway, if someone could take pictures, or if you could when you get your camera, JC, that would definitely clear everything up.