Opening carts

[133MHz]

I suggest that you try to open a worthless pirate cart to get the hang of it.

[ericj]

I suggest that you try to open a worthless pirate cart to get the hang of it.

Or a baseball game 

[Jedi Master Baiter]

I suggest that you try to open a worthless pirate cart to get the hang of it.

Or a baseball game 

Or almost any sports game for that matter.

[michaelthegreat]

From my experience, no matter how good you get, you're going to break some tabs, It just happens.

And Wow JC, hook me up with one of those amazing things. I don't care if it breaks tabs, I just want to take pictures with it and tell people that I use it to open carts to see their reaction... 

[PatMan33]

Hmm, I was fussing around with one of my carts last night and found a way that works very well (at least for me). Instead of going for the side tabs I went for the top tabs. What I did was use a dental scraper and a curved pointy thing (now known as the CPT).



From there all I did was go into one of the holes on the top with the CPT and (with a little doing) got it wedged between the clip and the outer part of the cart. Due to the size of the CPT, it was a little tricky but I did get it.





I applied a little pressure and the top part of the cart popped. Rinse and repeat for the other top hole and you've got the top half of the cart unlatched. After that I held the cart open and went for the side clips with the dental scraper. I used the same method that I used for the top clips. Using the dental scraper I wedged the end behind the clips and carefully applied pressure. Two pops later and the cart was open!

Also, if you're not one to go through all of that it appears that you can open a single top and a single side clip (both have to be on the same side) and then you can coerce the board out without releasing the other two (this also takes a little doing).

That should do it for now. I hope this works for you! And, if you were wondering... no, Rockman didn't come back to life. *lights a candle*

(If anyone can help me fix my Rockman that'd be cool too!)

[FamicomFreak]

Awesome you found a way to open them! That's pretty kewl! I'm sorry to hear about Rockman though....

[NintendoKing]

If you bust off tabs, just super glue them back on. Thats what I did.

[michaelthegreat]

beautiful. After taking some advice, I've started using a bar clamp. I squeeze both sides of the cart and fiddle with things to get it open. Haven't broken a single tab since I've started using this method. Not only that, but it's strangely satisfying to slowly twist the handle to squeeze the life out of your famicom carts... 

[PatMan33]

Can you post pictures and detailed instructions? Using a clamp was something I tried but couldn't make work.

[michaelthegreat]

Yeah, let me play with it some more. They told me that I should use the bar clamp and then there was a step 2. But so far, I've used the bar clamp and they've just popped open every time. So, I'm trying to make sure I'm not squeezing too much and causing some stress harm. And I don't understand the step 2. Once I'm sure I'm giving good info, I'll post pics. Bug me when the new year comes if I still haven't come through.

[PatMan33]

As I was playing around with it I was seeing some success with causing the two halves to buckle; however I was not willing to risk breaking it and so I backed off. I bet I was right there, should have gone a little further.

[Doc]

Wonderful pictures! I've always wondered how to open the carts, because it's so easy for the NES games, as compared to these guys!

[L___E___T]

I just found a way to bust em open with only two coins as tools, I don't think it's fool proof yet but I did open my Namcot cart with no snapped tabs and am going to check a Jaleco cart now.

My Wai Wai cart however, was annhilated!

Oh - it wasn't wai wai world, it was this  - http://www.retrogames.co.uk/stock/assets/images/Fami_-_Mystery_Hudson_Game.jpg  - and whatever it was it board the hell outta me so I'm glad it's bust.

Also, my method doesn't really work, the jaleco cart was quite fragile and nearly shattered.  I think the dentistry method above is by the best 

[From]

Hi all!
I have found a way to open famicom cart without breakage tabs.
This simple tool - Screwdriver and hands, nothing more

More low small video on which process is more clear.
http://rapidshare.com/files/178565248/142CANON.rar.html

Sorry, my English is bad..

[L___E___T]

The thing is, not all carts have those gaps in the top to get to the tabs - they're the easy ones!