nesdev.org

so i have been soaking my carts in denatured alcohol to take off the label to make repros and sometimes i get fading on the sides:



anybody know why some do this and some dont? how do i avoid this?

I usually just tear off what I can & then use water (& maybe soap) to scrape the rest off...then again I've only done that to give a bare PCB I found at a garage sale a home...(they where given to me for free, & one of them was Mario Kart!)

I just soak them in hot soapy water then peel the sticker off, whatever doesn't come off well into the hot soapy water it goes again. I have also used a hair dryer before to get a label off in one piece its very time consuming though.

I use naptha. I've left them in a sealed ice cream bucket with some naptha at the bottom overnight and came back the next morning and had no problems or side effects.

I think its the fumes that lift the labels (you dont have to completely submerse them if you are doing several at once)

Al

is that paint thinner (naptha)?

That's explosive. Maybe it should be outside.

just rip it off and use goo gone to rub off remaining stick. the smell will ware off eventually
note: goo gone's smell is umplesent and stays with an object for a wile

Why ruin precious NES carts by removing the labels?

When you remove of mask ROM's and replace them with programmable ROM's the labels are no longer relevant, his interest is in making "Reproductions" of rare'er carts that use the same hardware of the "donor" cart he probably intends to print his own labels

the cart are to be used not to stick of a shelf and collect dust, they become more useful with alterations

I let the cart sit in a tub of Goo Gone for about an hour; sometimes I have to do it twice, once to remove the sticker, another for the residue.

Napha is not paint thinner, it is camp stove fuel.
Fairly cheap (check the camping area at Wal Mart) , evaporates cleanly away (which is why you close the lid on the ice cream tub) and if you leave it for an hour (probably a lot less) you can peel the label off fairly cleanly, usually in one pull.

I've tried a lot of other ways, and this was fastest, cheapest and easiest.


Al

I use mineral spirits, also known as paint thinner to remove labels.
Just pour a little on a paper towel, then rub it into the label. You have to peel off the layer of plastic laminate from the label first, but after that it goes pretty quick.

I don't like to use goo-gone or goof-off because it dissolves the cartridge shell, and ruins the texture on the outside of the cart.

I don't like to use naptha because it's a carcinogen.

Zippo lighter fluid takes of sticky labels and stuff like that really easy. I'd try that, and just on the label area.