Saving Another Game Cartridge from My House Fire!

Back in 2021 I lost my house in a fire. Among the items recovered afterwards was this badly damaged ColecoVision Donkey Kong Junior cartridge. The shell had melted from the heat, and it had some trace damage, but after cleaning it in the ultrasonic cleaner I started seeing whether the electronics inside had survived. In this video I carefully dismantle the damaged cartridge, inspect the PCB, repair broken traces using magnet wire (not pretty), test the ROM and use a completely new 3D printed replacement shell to bring it back into service. PCBWay produced the replacement 3D printed cartridge shell used in this restoration. They are my choice for PCB production and 3D Printing services! ► PCBWay: https://www.pcbway.com ► Cart design by Jaystonian: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:571... What started as a melted lump of plastic turned into one of the more satisfying retro gaming restorations I’ve attempted. At the end of the video I also ask whether you’d like to see me create a custom replacement label for the rebuilt cartridge. Channel Support: ► Patreon:   / markfixesstuff   ► Website: https://www.markfixesstuff.com Follow Me: ► Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/markfixesstu... ► Instagram:   / markfixesstuff   ► Facebook:   / markfixesstuff   Chapters 00:00 Recovered from my house fire 00:08 Fire damaged Donkey Kong Junior cartridge 00:28 What happened to the cartridge 01:03 Opening the melted shell 02:10 Inspecting the PCB 03:18 Cleaning the cartridge in the ultrasonic cleaner 04:35 Testing the board 05:55 Finding the damaged traces 07:15 Magnet wire PCB repairs 10:12 Continuity testing 12:03 More trace reconstruction 14:48 First power on attempt 17:22 Donkey Kong Junior running again 18:40 Designing a replacement cartridge shell 21:08 PCBWay 3D printed cartridge case 23:15 Rebuilding the cartridge 25:20 Final testing 27:00 Should I make a custom label? #RetroGaming #ColecoVision #ConsoleRepair