How to remove yellowing from an old Atari case

[4300]

On 10/9/2023 at 5:25 PM, Chakobsa said:

Looks amazing. What UV leds did you use?

Similar pair to these that a bought years ago

 

2 Pack 60W UV Flood Light, IP66 Waterproof Outdoor High Power UV Black Lights with UL Plug (3.3ft Cable), 395nm-405nm Blacklight for Glow Party, Stage, UV Glue Resin Curing Paint, Collection https://a.co/d/0j0U1cn

[drunkeneye]

On 7/2/2023 at 7:04 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. 

 

Impressive. I am completely new to retrobright, and your method sounds very

simple, so i could test it. Could you provide (apart from the UV lights you have mentioned)

some more details? Dissolve some Oxiclean in water (how much?...), submerge it

and then just use the UV lights on that for a couple hours/days? That is all?

Thanks!

 

[_The Doctor__]

Or just give it a very good scrubbing, then scrub it with a few different brands of baby wipes. Many times that is sufficient.

[drunkeneye]

15 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

Or just give it a very good scrubbing, then scrub it with a few different brands of baby wipes. Many times that is sufficient.

 

No UV light then? just... baby wipes??

Ok, I like the idea, sounds that even I can do that

Will try it then, thanks for the hint! 

 

[drunkeneye]

I am still wondering about the baby wipes method...

 

I bought two packs, but apart from different brands there were

also '99% water' and 'with baby oil'. Bought normal and sensitive,

although my atari here is rather clean/not yellowed (i think).

Wonder, if anyone can share more experience with brands,

and these 'flavors' (e.g., refrained from the 99% water wipes),

so newbies like me can buy the right wipes without experiments.

 

Also, someone mentioned baby oil, applied directly to the case,

anyone more experience on that? (I refrained from the wipes

with baby oil in it as well).

 

Any experience on how 'quick' this method works? Would

i need to scrub for an hour, or is this like 1 minute and off we go?

Is it reasonable to use baking soda or something as precleaning?

 

Finally, how would one go about the keys? The retrobright

methods seems to be more easier since its just submerging

into the solution and wait. Scrubbing each key for minutes seems

quite an effort?

 

Any comment is appreciated

 

 

[_The Doctor__]

I avoided the mostly water and baby oil ones. I used them from different companies over the years. Just went about keeping the plastic moist and giving it the normal wipe and rub in whatever direction or pattern that work best at the time. If one brand was dud I used another and that's about it. Having kids around and older adults meant wipes were always around. They are great for numerous jobs.

I've use them on Atari cases forever. Always a very noticed improvement. Just have more kids and seniors hanging around and keep the need to purchase before trying to a minimum. Others have tried this and came back please with the results. No one ever said they used brand x over y etc.

[drunkeneye]

9 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

I avoided the mostly water and baby oil ones. I used them from different companies over the years. Just went about keeping the plastic moist and giving it the normal wipe and rub in whatever direction or pattern that work best at the time. If one brand was dud I used another and that's about it. Having kids around and older adults meant wipes were always around. They are great for numerous jobs.

I've use them on Atari cases forever. Always a very noticed improvement. Just have more kids and seniors hanging around and keep the need to purchase before trying to a minimum. Others have tried this and came back please with the results. No one ever said they used brand x over y etc.

 

as said, tried two baby wipes from one vendor and right now they did not do anything. since i do not have baby wipes lying around,

i thought maybe one can give a hint about the brand, would save me buying multiple of them.

still dont get it, so with the right baby wipes its like wiping off dirt, you do it say a minute and then most of the yellow will be gone?

i am sooo sceptical (but thats part my job, so that means not much).

i am dealing with this yellowing here right now (no idea if the image colors are accurate).

 

[_The Doctor__]

I don't understand, your machine is not Yellow. What are you trying to do?

It doesn't look dirty, what are the specific problems You are seeing?

 

if you are trying to get next to or into a crevice, back it with a q tip and rub or carefully dis assemble and clean in there, If it's just the top half, protect the badge and put it through the dishwasher with the least abrasive dishwasher detergent you have. Don't melt it with the heating element or heated dry cycle of you washer.

 

We aren't re inventing the wheel here, you can go back and read the different methods and pm/ask the others who had decent results which brands they used.

 

For that tiny area a micro fiber cloth might also be helpful. If no method work and retro/wipe/wash/uv/sun brighting does not work.. you could gently magic eraser (mr clean etc) the sliver or spot.

Edited March 5 by _The Doctor__

[drunkeneye]

1 hour ago, _The Doctor__ said:

I don't understand, your machine is not Yellow. What are you trying to do?

It doesn't look dirty, what are the specific problems You are seeing?

 

if you are trying to get next to or into a crevice, back it with a q tip and rub or carefully dis assemble and clean in there, If it's just the top half, protect the badge and put it through the dishwasher with the least abrasive dishwasher detergent you have. Don't melt it with the heating element or heated dry cycle of you washer.

 

We aren't re inventing the wheel here, you can go back and read the different methods and pm/ask the others who had decent results which brands they used.

 

For that tiny area a micro fiber cloth might also be helpful. If no method work and retro/wipe/wash/uv/sun brighting does not work.. you could gently magic eraser (mr clean etc) the sliver or spot.

 

yes, i frankly admit that its not the yellow-yellow that some other ataris have,

and yes, i might be too sensitive about it, but i see this tint, and i see especially

the difference between the bottom cover and the top cover, as i think is visible

in the photo i attached. 

 

this is why simple baby wipes were so appealing to me, because then there is

little chances that i screw up a quite-good atari. and having two left hands,

this is what really can happen if i try "real" retrobrighting...

 

thanks for your hints! i will try to follow them step by step and try to find 

other reports, though most of them involve peroxide.

 

[4300]

On 3/2/2024 at 2:40 PM, drunkeneye said:

 

Impressive. I am completely new to retrobright, and your method sounds very

simple, so i could test it. Could you provide (apart from the UV lights you have mentioned)

some more details? Dissolve some Oxiclean in water (how much?...), submerge it

and then just use the UV lights on that for a couple hours/days? That is all?

Thanks!

 

It's far from scientific. Enough that it's effective, not so much that the water is too cloudy to let light through. One good sized scoop for every couple gallons of water, I guess. I never really measure anything.

 

You can also use liquid developer from a hair care store. Submerge it in the developer completely and hit it with the UV lights.

Edited March 6 by 4300

[drunkeneye]

On 3/6/2024 at 11:58 AM, 4300 said:

It's far from scientific. Enough that it's effective, not so much that the water is too cloudy to let light through. One good sized scoop for every couple gallons of water, I guess. I never really measure anything.

 

You can also use liquid developer from a hair care store. Submerge it in the developer completely and hit it with the UV lights.

 

tried a 'cheap copy' of oxiclean today, after around 4-5 hours it looked like nothing happened.

possibly the wrong stuff and should have gone for the original (which is around 4x more expensive).

now submerged instead in a cheap oxygen-bleach-product that officially reads as "disodium carbonate,

compound with hydrogenperoxide". this stuff seems very active, under the reptile lamp i have its all bubbles now.

am really excited to see what it will be tomorrow. i actually hope the badge on the top cover will make it,

did not try to pry that off...

(for reference: the stuff is 'heitmann pure', 'reine sauerstoff bleiche' which one can buy in many drugstores) 

 

here for reference the top covers of both the xe machines i have, and even though both are fine,

i want the 65xe to match the color of the 800xe, which i think is incredible mint. i actually think the

65xe could have been retrobrighted before, since the keyboard was very clean.

 

 

[_The Doctor__]

Make sure you don't ruin your Name Plate Color and Silver reflective badging like so many have...

It will look far worse than some perceived shadow in the XE's mold indention relief on the side of the case.

Edited March 9 by _The Doctor__

[drunkeneye]

5 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

Make sure you don't ruin your Name Plate Color and Silver reflective badging like so many have...

It will look far worse than some perceived shadow in the XE's mold indention relief on the side of the case.

 

right now it still looks very good, however, i did not pry it off because

i am 100% sure that i will break it while doing so.

figured that the chances of it surviving the retrobrighting is much higher..

 

 

[drunkeneye]

and this is the result, its exactly like i wanted it.

(note that the covers are swapped compared to the image above).

badge is completely fine, the yellowing is gone.

now i only need to do the keys and then the atari is perfect

for birthday gifting!

 

thanks!!

 

[drunkeneye]

i finished my retrobrighting sessions, however, on the 65xe case there is a slight bend

around the help key-- i am not 100% sure but i think this must have happened during

retrobrighting. any hints on how to get this back straight? thanks!

 

 

[_The Doctor__]

Either the keyboard is bent or you had to much heat and deformed the case- not the first time someone retro melted a case.

If the keyboard is flat you can only get the case back up to temp and have some flat weight on it during heat and cooling to hope it flattens out without any more retro bright related damage. At least you didn't get weird blooms, ruined badge, ruined reflective emblems etc like many have.

[drunkeneye]

16 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

Either the keyboard is bent or you had to much heat and deformed the case- not the first time someone retro melted a case.

If the keyboard is flat you can only get the case back up to temp and have some flat weight on it during heat and cooling to hope it flattens out without any more retro bright related damage. At least you didn't get weird blooms, ruined badge, ruined reflective emblems etc like many have.

 

thanks! 

 

checked it carefully again, and it seems more like a combination: i wanted to put the keyboard from the 800xe into the 65xe,

because the 800xe has a better color, but then this 'deformation' is clearly visible. if i leave the keyboards in their respective

cases, there is only a very very minor bend in both. i find that strange that the keyboards seemingly are not exchangable,

but well, it is what it is. no wish to deal more with the ataris, hope the sdrive max will be delivered tomorrow and then i can

stash them until the birthday party..