How to remove yellowing from an old Atari case

[Osgeld]

I always make it a point to remove metal badges before the process, paint and some metals do not like being saturated in warm oxygen baths 

[Gordon Fecyk]

Does this need retrobright or no?

I finished troubleshooting an Atari 400 in my first forum thread here ever. With the A400 fixed I turned my attention to cleaning the case and preparing it for retrobrighting.

 

My first ever attempt at retrobrighting a case was with an Apple IIe case, which turned out spectacular:

I followed that up with the rest of the IIe's case and external dual disk drive. I used a laundry room sink with two 150 Watt LED UV lamps, about half and half of hot tap water and boiling water, and about 2/3rd of a bottle of 35% Hydrogen Peroxide. I could order that from Wal-Mart Online and it's a little stronger than the 12% Peroxide salon developer I usually see David Murray (The 8-Bit Guy) use.

 

So then I turn my attention to the Atari 400 case. I really didn't want to make the attempt as the inside and outside of the case was an exact match. Further, the 400 has a paper label I really didn't want to damage. But I also had this Atari 410 tape drive:

The Atari 400's case was washed, and then scrubbed with baking soda and IPA. The 410 was not yet touched.

 

I took apart the 410 and treated it. About five hours later in the Peroxide / UV bath I got this:

It's a much closer match for the clean Atari 400 case now, but it seems slightly brighter / more pink to me, at least in person. However, the paper label on the bottom of the tape drive case is now illegible.

 

I don't really want to touch the '400 anymore, and I don't want to risk destroying the paper label. Perifractic did a Peroxide / Sun bath with his '400 and got a very inconsistent result, plus I don't even know what happened to his machine's paper label.

 

Should I make the attempt anyway? What can I do to protect the paper label on the bottom? I thought about window plastic and double-sided tape like we use for window winterizing, but that's airtight, maybe not watertight.

[mimo]

On 8/21/2022 at 9:09 PM, Gordon Fecyk said:

Does this need retrobright or no?

I finished troubleshooting an Atari 400 in my first forum thread here ever. With the A400 fixed I turned my attention to cleaning the case and preparing it for retrobrighting.

 

My first ever attempt at retrobrighting a case was with an Apple IIe case, which turned out spectacular:

I followed that up with the rest of the IIe's case and external dual disk drive. I used a laundry room sink with two 150 Watt LED UV lamps, about half and half of hot tap water and boiling water, and about 2/3rd of a bottle of 35% Hydrogen Peroxide. I could order that from Wal-Mart Online and it's a little stronger than the 12% Peroxide salon developer I usually see David Murray (The 8-Bit Guy) use.

 

So then I turn my attention to the Atari 400 case. I really didn't want to make the attempt as the inside and outside of the case was an exact match. Further, the 400 has a paper label I really didn't want to damage. But I also had this Atari 410 tape drive:

The Atari 400's case was washed, and then scrubbed with baking soda and IPA. The 410 was not yet touched.

 

I took apart the 410 and treated it. About five hours later in the Peroxide / UV bath I got this:

It's a much closer match for the clean Atari 400 case now, but it seems slightly brighter / more pink to me, at least in person. However, the paper label on the bottom of the tape drive case is now illegible.

 

I don't really want to touch the '400 anymore, and I don't want to risk destroying the paper label. Perifractic did a Peroxide / Sun bath with his '400 and got a very inconsistent result, plus I don't even know what happened to his machine's paper label.

 

Should I make the attempt anyway? What can I do to protect the paper label on the bottom? I thought about window plastic and double-sided tape like we use for window winterizing, but that's airtight, maybe not watertight.

Just put the 400 out in the sunshine, don't use peroxide. I was surprised but my 400 came out great just using the sun

[Gordon Fecyk]

On 8/23/2022 at 3:40 AM, mimo said:

Just put the 400 out in the sunshine, don't use peroxide.

That seems counter-intuitive. I thought exposure to air and bright light caused the yellowing.

[mimo]

19 hours ago, Gordon Fecyk said:

That seems counter-intuitive. I thought exposure to air and bright light caused the yellowing.

try it. I started this thread many years ago and have done loads of retrobrighting. I was dubious about lightbright but after ruining a 400 case with peroxide thought I would try it.
And it works, takes ages, but it works.
Have a google

 

[mutterminder]

On 8/21/2022 at 1:09 PM, Gordon Fecyk said:

Should I make the attempt anyway? What can I do to protect the paper label on the bottom? I thought about window plastic and double-sided tape like we use for window winterizing, but that's airtight, maybe not watertight.

You can soak it in an adhesive solvent to remove it intact.  Let it dry.  Then glue it back on, after the retrobright treatment.

[SviRu]

Can you retrobright ATARI 520ST with badge still on with Hydrogen peroxide - or is there a chance that badge is going to get destroyed? thanks
 

[+Stephen]

3 hours ago, SviRu said:

Can you retrobright ATARI 520ST with badge still on with Hydrogen peroxide - or is there a chance that badge is going to get destroyed? thanks
 

The badge will get ruined.  I tried to seal one but it did not work.  The problem is, it's practically impossible to remove them without damage either, because the tiniest bend will cause a crease which can never be fixed.

[SviRu]

21 minutes ago, Stephen said:

The badge will get ruined.  I tried to seal one but it did not work.  The problem is, it's practically impossible to remove them without damage either, because the tiniest bend will cause a crease which can never be fixed.

Thanks. Good that I asked that. In Amigas this is not a problem. Maybe there is some method to remove badge without damage? 

[Mclaneinc]

On 1/6/2023 at 3:21 PM, SviRu said:

Maybe there is some method to remove badge without damage? 

A miracle seems the only answer. You can sit and heat with hot air but apart from risking melting the surrounding area, I don't think even that funky orange capton tape would stop that, but the second you prise it up, there's no way to avoid just a little bend. Maybe if you had access to a hydraulic press, you could get it half decent. Obviously, the thicker the badge, the less likely to get bend..

Edited January 8, 2023 by Mclaneinc

[_The Doctor__]

gorilla tape, do not use the permanent ones they really will destroy stuff. The painters tape scares water away, You have to be super exact for tight seal... must cover the entire metal plastic badge and insert area, pushed into the crack. Don't stick directly on paper... I am sure you can find pictures and videos of what folks do.

Edited January 8, 2023 by _The Doctor__

[SviRu]

41 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

gorilla tape, do not use the permanent ones they really will destroy stuff. The painters tape scares water away, You have to be super exact for tight seal... must cover the entire metal plastic badge and insert area, pushed into the crack. Don't stick directly on paper... I am sure you can find pictures and videos of what folks do.

I wanted to get under the badge with scalpel and use super thin fishing line / metal line to cut it from underneath. 

[_The Doctor__]

it will bend, don't know what line would be thin enough and strong enough....

perhaps a fine enough wire and temp that isn't so high as to cause damage. best of luck.

 

Have you tried scrubbing with baby wipes on the plastics, slow, quite wet and deliberate?

Edited January 8, 2023 by _The Doctor__

[SviRu]

On 1/8/2023 at 7:12 PM, _The Doctor__ said:

it will bend, don't know what line would be thin enough and strong enough....

perhaps a fine enough wire and temp that isn't so high as to cause damage. best of luck.

 

Have you tried scrubbing with baby wipes on the plastics, slow, quite wet and deliberate?

Fishing line  

[SviRu]

Can an anyone after a few years - post retrobright on 800XL/800 - say that yellowing didn't come back? Ar at least in insignificant way?

[SviRu]

Can you retrobright 810 with badges on? 

[Flyindrew]

Last night I actually got around to doing the baby wipe cleaning method on my 130 XE. It worked like a dream! Highly recommend this procedure if you have an XE unit or XE style peripheral that needs a cleaning and whitening.

[+DarkLord]

Interesting how experiences differ for people...

 

I've successfully removed the badges on my Mega ST, Mega STe and STacy without

any problems (no damage, no bend or creasing) using an Xacto modeling knife,

starting at one end and carefully prying up as I went. I've done it multiple times

and the resin/glue was reusable in each case but one. I did have to add some

"rubber" type glue to the badge on my Mega ST4.

 

It's been a long time since I owned a 520ST or 1040ST style case but IIRC,

I had the same luck with them...

 

[SviRu]

8 minutes ago, DarkLord said:

Interesting how experiences differ for people...

 

I've successfully removed the badges on my Mega ST, Mega STe and STacy without

any problems (no damage, no bend or creasing) using an Xacto modeling knife,

starting at one end and carefully prying up as I went. I've done it multiple times

and the resin/glue was reusable in each case but one. I did have to add some

"rubber" type glue to the badge on my Mega ST4.

 

It's been a long time since I owned a 520ST or 1040ST style case but IIRC,

I had the same luck with them...

 

I think a lot of people are just not very skilled in that regard. 

[manterola]

Using a hair dryer and a thin card (I don't remember if it was a library card or those discount cards from supermarkets) I removed the badge of a 520stfm. It was quite easy.

The trick was to keep the badge warm and I also pushed the badge very gently from the back using a hole in the case under the badge, while sliding the card starting in one of the corners.

 

 

 

[4300]

I imagine naptha would be pretty effective at loosening up any tape or glue holding the badge on. 

[4300]

Just finished up this 65xe using a little oxyclean in water and a couple uv led lights. Imo, you don't need to go crazy with super concentrated peroxide solutions as long as you have a good light source. 

[SviRu]

19 minutes ago, 4300 said:

Just finished up this 65xe using a little oxyclean in water and a couple uv led lights. Imo, you don't need to go crazy with super concentrated peroxide solutions as long as you have a good light source. 

wow. i wonder how long will it last

[4300]

4 hours ago, SviRu said:

wow. i wonder how long will it last

Probably a couple years. 

[Chakobsa]

On 7/2/2023 at 6:04 PM, 4300 said:

Just finished up this 65xe using a little oxyclean in water and a couple uv led lights. Imo, you don't need to go crazy with super concentrated peroxide solutions as long as you have a good light source. 

Looks amazing. What UV leds did you use?