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Offline magnetic

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #29 on: February 26, 2011, 05:59:02 AM »
franko

cool looking forward to results pics
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Offline AmigaEd

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #30 on: February 26, 2011, 06:03:58 AM »
Quote from: Franko;618041
Result... Nothing... not even a slight change whatsoever... :)

This is really surprising to me... I would have thought that the oxy-peroxy cream would have done the job even without the UV lamp.
 
Thank you Franko for sharing your results. I want to give this try on a couple of yellowed Amigas and a Tandy Color Computer that I have.
"Pretty soon they will have numbers tattooed on our foreheads." - Jay Miner 1990

La Familia...
A1K - La Primera Dama -1987
A1K - La Princesa- January 2005
A2K - La Reina - February 2005
A2K - Doomy - March 2005
A500 - El Gran Jugador - April 2005
A1200 - La Hermosa Vista - May 2005
A2KHD - El Duro Grande - May 2005
A600 - Prístino - May 2005
A1200 - El Trueno Grande - July 2005
CDTV - El Misterioso - August 2005
C64 - El Gran Lebows
 

Offline FrankoTopic starter

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #31 on: February 26, 2011, 06:23:48 AM »
I'll take some pics after the 8 or 10 hours is up and post the results here. The first test I did without the UV light were for the biggest part of the time sitting in daylight but as I say it made no difference to the keys at all... :(

I noticed that after the UV light had been on for only 15 minutes on the second test that there was a lot more foaming of the mixture. So hopefully this time it'll do something but I'm not sure as the peroxide is only 12% and I reckon I should have gone for the 30% stuff... :)

Only time will tell... :)
 

Offline tone007

Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #32 on: February 26, 2011, 10:57:35 AM »
I've tried a blacklight and a more expensive "lizard lamp" UV bulb, neither worked with my 50/50 water/40# H2O2 mixture whereas the sun would do it in a few hours with the same mixture.  I think the only way I got results indoors was using the 40# solution straight, and even then the results weren't the best.
3 Commodore file cabinets, 2 Commodore USB turntables, 1 AmigaWorld beer mug
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Offline FrankoTopic starter

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #33 on: February 26, 2011, 01:47:04 PM »
Ok... The results are in...

After a 10 hour soak in the Retr0Bright mix and under the "BlackLight", this time there has been quite a difference... :)

Results of a very badly yellowed VIC20 case (right half only)


Result of some very yellowed A1200 key caps
Notes:
The N key is how all keys looked originally ...
The 9 key is taken from a brand new keyboard from AmigaKit for comparison purposes...


While there has been quite a difference the results aren't the best, could be the mix wasn't strong enough or due to lack of not using direct sunlight (bit of a problem here, cos we only had about 1 hour of sunlight today).

Myself I reckon I need to make a better "paste" as the foaming action was very patchy and inconsistent. It's quite difficult to get the Oxy powder to dissolve properly without watering it down too much and thus weakening the whole solutions strength.

Having said that I did choose the worst cases I could find (pun intended). Going to try mixing up another batch and try this time to get a more consistent foaming action and redo the above pieces and see if things can be improved a wee bit... :)
 

Offline tone007

Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #34 on: February 26, 2011, 02:26:10 PM »
I've had the best results using a tub full of liquid H2O2 allowing complete submersion of the items being lightened, I think it's the easiest way to make sure you don't get any unevenness or streaking.  Lining the bottom of the tub with aluminum foil (shinier side up) also helps bounce the light around.

Finding a suitable tub can be an issue, I recall using a cardboard box lined with a trash bag so I could submerge an A1200 top and keyboard (yes, I didn't bother pulling the keycaps off, but removed the metal and the membrane first.)
3 Commodore file cabinets, 2 Commodore USB turntables, 1 AmigaWorld beer mug
Alienware M14x i7 laptop running AmigaForever
 

Offline AmigaEd

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #35 on: February 26, 2011, 02:39:45 PM »
Well, those are some pretty good results. Not quite to "New" standards yet, but certainly much better.
 
Franko, you said the foaming action was not too good. Just a thought, could temperature be an issue? I know you guys like it cold and drafty over there, but perhaps you could spare a wee bit o' warmth for the poor old computers.
"Pretty soon they will have numbers tattooed on our foreheads." - Jay Miner 1990

La Familia...
A1K - La Primera Dama -1987
A1K - La Princesa- January 2005
A2K - La Reina - February 2005
A2K - Doomy - March 2005
A500 - El Gran Jugador - April 2005
A1200 - La Hermosa Vista - May 2005
A2KHD - El Duro Grande - May 2005
A600 - Prístino - May 2005
A1200 - El Trueno Grande - July 2005
CDTV - El Misterioso - August 2005
C64 - El Gran Lebows
 

Offline FrankoTopic starter

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #36 on: February 26, 2011, 03:00:42 PM »
@ Tone007

I bought a litre of liquid H202 as well (12%/40Vol) as I preferred the idea of submerging items myself rather than the paste method. The daft thing is like you say, trying to find a shallow tub that's big enough to submerge things in without having to use too much H202 and allowing enough UV light to get to all the parts...

(although it would be pretty costly to try and submerge the computer cases...:()

Still looking around the house just now to find something suitable... :)

@ AmigaEd

Yeah, not perfect yet, gonna try mixing the Oxy powder with almost boiling water this time to try and get it to dissolve better, but the hotter you make the water the quicker the oxygen evaporates and thus kinda mucks things up a wee bit... :(

Believe it or not even being a miserable tight fisted Scotsman I left the heating on all night as I had considered the temperature issue...:)

Ah well, time for another go and see what results I get this time... :)
 

Offline krashan

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #37 on: February 26, 2011, 06:24:31 PM »
I have to try it some day on some nice keyboards I have (Dell stuff from 1990 with "hard click"). I have a lamp made of two 27 Watts black fluorescent tubes, done for making PCB's with UV-sensitive photo emulsion. It worked great for that purpose... I also have a Mitsumi PC keyboard from 1995 with exactly the same internal design as A1200 keyboards. Contact elements are identical, not sure for springs - A500 had steel wire springs, this Mitsumi kb has rubber "wine glass" shaped elements. Keys are also identical in shape, but the style of letters is different.

BTW a strong source of UV is an electric arc from welding. I've tried this with succes one day (for PCBs), just found an old, steel car wheel rim and massacred it with welder for 20 minutes. The only problems are electricity consumption and possibility of sparks hitting retrobrightened plastic parts...
« Last Edit: February 26, 2011, 06:31:43 PM by Krashan »
 

Offline AmigaEd

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #38 on: February 26, 2011, 06:46:12 PM »
Quote from: Krashan;618115

BTW a strong source of UV is an electric arc from welding. I've tried this with succes one day (for PCBs), just found an old, steel car wheel rim and massacred it with welder for 20 minutes. The only problems are electricity consumption and possibility of sparks hitting retrobrightened plastic parts...

 
LOL! ... I've earned myself a sunburn or two in the past while welding.
 
You know I just read an article about thunderstorms creating antimatter.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12158718
 
I wonder if this happens (on a much smaller scale) with welding?
 
Anyway, I think it would be best if we keep Franko away from anything that might potentially generate antimatter.:)
"Pretty soon they will have numbers tattooed on our foreheads." - Jay Miner 1990

La Familia...
A1K - La Primera Dama -1987
A1K - La Princesa- January 2005
A2K - La Reina - February 2005
A2K - Doomy - March 2005
A500 - El Gran Jugador - April 2005
A1200 - La Hermosa Vista - May 2005
A2KHD - El Duro Grande - May 2005
A600 - Prístino - May 2005
A1200 - El Trueno Grande - July 2005
CDTV - El Misterioso - August 2005
C64 - El Gran Lebows
 

Offline krashan

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #39 on: February 26, 2011, 08:43:14 PM »
Quote from: AmigaEd;618117
LOL! ... I've earned myself a sunburn or two in the past while welding.
I was wearing a welding mask obviously + gloves + clothes covering my body :).

Offline FrankoTopic starter

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #40 on: February 26, 2011, 11:12:29 PM »
@ Krashan & AmigaED... :)

You shouldn't really give me ideas you know... :D

 

Offline AmigaEd

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #41 on: February 27, 2011, 01:40:49 AM »
Quote from: Franko;618149
@ Krashan & AmigaED... :)
 
You shouldn't really give me ideas you know... :D
 

 
Franko, I thought that was very nice of you to put together a nice pictorial, until I got to the bottom and realized that was my house burning down.  :flame:
"Pretty soon they will have numbers tattooed on our foreheads." - Jay Miner 1990

La Familia...
A1K - La Primera Dama -1987
A1K - La Princesa- January 2005
A2K - La Reina - February 2005
A2K - Doomy - March 2005
A500 - El Gran Jugador - April 2005
A1200 - La Hermosa Vista - May 2005
A2KHD - El Duro Grande - May 2005
A600 - Prístino - May 2005
A1200 - El Trueno Grande - July 2005
CDTV - El Misterioso - August 2005
C64 - El Gran Lebows
 

Offline gertsy

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #42 on: February 27, 2011, 10:32:14 AM »
Quote from: XDelusion;617326
I'm telling ya! Urine will set you straight!


Hey XDelusion, I heard its a good way to clean Amiga power supplies too.  You need to leave them turned on and direct the steam onto the underside. See how you go.

(o:
 

Offline FrankoTopic starter

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #43 on: February 27, 2011, 11:03:59 AM »
Just a quick update on how things are going... :)



The 9 key is from a brand new keyboard, The N key is how all the keys looked at the start...

The L,S and Enter Keys are after a 10 house coating

The 1, - and Spacebar keys are after a second 10 hour coating and are as good as new again... :D

Reckon so far it really depends on just how yellowed the keys are in the first place. The paste mixture seems to work well and it really just seems to be more a matter of time before you see the results... :)

(Still testing various mixes etc... post more results soon... :))
 

Offline smerf

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Re: Anyone Here Tried Retr0Bright...
« Reply #44 from previous page: February 27, 2011, 01:56:40 PM »
Hi,

@Franko,

Why you all doing it the hard way, I am using a dremel tool with 320 grit sand paper on my keyboard, works great. Bought a little bit of black paint to put the letters back on .

Don't believe the piss routine, works on teeth only. Just rinse your mouth with it for 60 seconds each day. Works better than the dentist.

smerf
I have no idea what your talking about, so here is a doggy with a small pancake on his head.

MorphOS is a MAC done a little better