Preventing (not removing) plastic yellowning

[matheus]

Hi People,

 

I have an Atari Falcon and a 4096STE I bought on eBay some 5 or 6 years ago. Both are brand new, never used and I rarely took them out of their boxes as I didn't want the effects of plastic yellowning taking place. Recently visiting this forum I discovered yellowning can be reverted, which is very nice, but what about preventing it altogether? I'd rather have my Falcon up and running in its glory than stored in a box, and would do that if I had a definitive solution.

 

So here are some questions:

 

1- What coating product works best? I heard Armor All is a good choice?

 

2- How often should I apply it?

 

3- Does coating significantly alter the plastic's original aspect?

 

4- I was thinking of having a custom acrylic case to store my little treasures. Does anyone know whether the acrylic filters out UV rays thus preventing yellowning?

 

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge.

[techie_alison]

Don't put them in clingfilm/cellophane, ...I'll tell you that.

 

Years ago (about 20) I put LOADS of comics in the loft wrapped in clingfilm to protect them. Suffice to say that the clingfilm decomposes, and the comics weren't must better either.

 

The best ST's that I have are wrapped in those BIG clear plastic bags, and the air is sucked out. Then the bags (containing the STs in their boxes) go into black sacks.

 

My two jewels are a Mega STE (4MB 44MB from factory), and an STM (which I repaired and upgraded). Also knocking about are : a 520STFM, a 1040STFM, a 520STE, a 1040STE, and a 4160STE. Still looking for a Mega ST, and a 1040STM (I'm not even sure that they made them, I think they just went straight to the STF with the 1040).

 

It's quite difficult really storing stuff longterm.

Edited August 2, 2009 by techie_alison