Retrobright or not?

Hardware Hacking, Programming and Game Solutions/Cheats
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munkeyboy
Posts: 95
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 2:56 am
Location: South Wales

Retrobright or not?

Post by munkeyboy »

I know that yellowing plastics aren't a big problem for the Dragon, but you might own other retro equipment that does. I came across this on youtube and thought that it was interesting and would post a link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P1OVj0IcqY.
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unumlapis
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Joined: Sat May 04, 2019 11:29 pm
Location: Malmo, Sweden

Re: Retrobright or not?

Post by unumlapis »

Haven't tried the Retr0bright recipe yet but looking at try it on both a D32 and Amiga 1000 where some of the plastic details are light brown. But, does work yes clearly. But, just be careful with the rubber feet underneath the machine since the usually tend to dissolve and get rubbery sticky. So better just to remove them before applying retrobright or any other solution based on Hydrogen Peroxide. I'll get back and post some before and after photos when I'm working on the improvement of a D32.
munkeyboy
Posts: 95
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 2:56 am
Location: South Wales

Re: Retrobright or not?

Post by munkeyboy »

I will start with an apology as I seem to have used a misleading title to this thread (note to self : don't post on forums whilst drinking Johnny Walkers finest!).
The link is to "perifractic's retro recipes" on youtube and shows a new theory of just placing yellowed plastic in the sun with nothing else added just some good old UV rays.
If this method works and it seems to, although slowly, then it should be far better and safer than using peroxide.
I hope your Dragon and Amiga refurbs go well.
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unumlapis
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Joined: Sat May 04, 2019 11:29 pm
Location: Malmo, Sweden

Re: Retrobright or not?

Post by unumlapis »

Guess that it was already know that retro brightening already worked using sun only since the recommendation to accelerate the process usually involves using UV-lights. And agree that using peroxide can be a bit risky if you go with for example with solution with 12 peroxide which is the highest concentrate allowed here in Sweden without permit. Going to local hairdresser and buying hair bleach is an alternative which I would go for as the peroxide in hair products usually is 3% (at least here in Sweden).

Also, to avoid this process to continue one would need to seal the surface with some kind of clear lacquer. But, to find something that wouldn't change the original finish I guess would be quite hard.

Looking at this extreme example of Dragon 32 and the result, I'm just thinking if this actually is the actually coloring of the computer or if it was overdone?
Retrobright_Dragon32.jpg
Retrobright_Dragon32.jpg (39.79 KiB) Viewed 7861 times
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unumlapis
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat May 04, 2019 11:29 pm
Location: Malmo, Sweden

Re: Retrobright or not?

Post by unumlapis »

Well, haven't tried yet to retrobright any of the dragon cases that I but it's absolutely something that I plan do take swing at. Here is how the d32 resp d64 looks like currently:
d32-d64_case.png
d32-d64_case.png (436.02 KiB) Viewed 7810 times
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