To Retrobright or not to..

[TekkNed]

Not sure where to put this post but as I'm considering selling the item, I'm going to place it here in the Amiga Marketplace.

I have an Amiga 4000/040 lying around and it's quite yellow. I was wondering if I should use the retrobright method to make it white again. Would it increase it's value?

[spaceman88]

Well, you would think, but I retrobrighted an A3000, even removed and cleaned each key on the keyboard. The thing looked like new, sold on Ebay for about $230 CDN :-(. I guess you never know.

[curtis]

From what I've heard, haven't tried it myself, IF you retrobrite, you need to go over the plastic with a clear coat to seal it.  Otherrwise, it will yellow again.

Just what I've heard.

[TekkNed]

Thanks. Yeah, I read somewhere to put some sort of clear lacquer on the machine. After applying the retrobright.

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/Ultra+Violet+Energy

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I retrobrited my A500 and didn't put anything on it afterward, and it yellowed again.  Looked nice for a while, anyway.    My A2000 faceplate seems to have held up a lot better, but then again (1) it wasn't as bad as the A500 in the first place, and (2) I don't think I used such a strong mixture of the stuff.  Maybe there's some trick in doing it that way?

[danbeaver]

The Retr0Brite process uses 12% Hydrogen Peroxide to whiten the plastics, but it leaves microscopic "pits" in the plastic that allows it to re-yellow; a clear, matte coating of a polyurethane spray paint will seal it nicely and is undetectable visually leaving a new appearing plastic part (if the Retr0Briting was done correctly).  Metal cases were originally painted with enamel and after cleaning and sanding should be repainted with enamel, although it takes several days to dry; the best approach is to take it to a car paint place and have them match the original color and paint it there.

[sim085]

Is there a guide (ideally with pictures) of how to do RetroBright and apply it? I have been trying to do it for some time now but never had any success. I even bought an extra A500 Case to test on! On some sites there are instructions of how to build RetroBright but on another forum I was told to just use BBlond. I really would like my A500 to look like new again but cannot seem to get it to work!

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Is there a guide (ideally with pictures) of how to do RetroBright and apply it?

Not a good one.  I spent hours looking up this same thing when I did mine, with limited success.  There are plenty of guides, but most of them only mention stores and products that are only available in Europe.  Here in the US they were next to useless, I wound up having to "wing it".  As you're in Europe you might have better luck finding said products, lol.  

[Damion]

It's OK, but there's potential for damage if not done properly, and re-yellowing is likely.

Best, but most expensive permanent option would be color-matched vinyl dye from a company like parasol.

[mechy]

I've had good luck with plain old 3% peroxide from walgreens. i used a fiberglass dough rising pan and bent up some brass brazing rods(stainless welding wire works too) to bolt to the pieces(use only stainless or brass screws-plated steel will rust and contaminate the peroxide).

I keep the pieces 100% submerged (chip clips to hold the wire to the pan)in the peroxide and leave it in the hot texas sun for a day. I brought back 3 1200 cases/keyboards to white and one of the 1200's was orange when i started-literally orange. I did many A4000 pieces and some A3000 bezels also. They all came out great.
be sure not to ever let the parts float up into the air or you will get stain lines(ask me how i know).
I don't use oxyclean or the paste some suggest.
I have even added distilled water to the peroxide to make up for evaporation and it still worked ok,just a bit slower.
 The secret i think is the light source and warmth-cold liquid doesn't work well.Texas summers can get to 100f+.
UV lighting with the proper wavelength is probably best. To date none of the stuff i whitened has returned to yellow.
You can boil peroxide down to make it stronger(DO IT OUTSIDE in a well ventilated place!). I have never needed to do this however.
Stronger peroxides can possibly be found at beauty supply.

[TrevorDick]

I've been tempted to clean up some of my yellowing Amiga hardware but as yet have not tried to do so. One of the problems was sourcing large large volumes of commercial strength hydrogen peroxide when I lived in central London (about 150m from Parliament/Gorverment buildings).

Now I live in NZ I might give it a try. Interesting to see the comments about re-sealing the plastic after cleaning.

TrevorD

[slayer]

Make sure you Document it Trevor,

You first, then I'll take the plunge ;-)

[TrevorDick]

You first, then I'll take the plunge ;-)

;-)

I've got one or two items that look like they've suffered from Yellow Fever! ;-)

TrevorD

[danbeaver]

EAB has a "Sticky" Guide in there Hardware Support section, but a beauty supply shops (Sally's in the states) will sell 16 Oz of 40-Volume Creme hair developer (12% Peroxide) for about $12 USD that easily coats plastic parts; wrap it in plastic (Saran Wrap) after applying a thick coat and leave it in the sun. On a warm, sunny day in the Midwest US, the majority of the yellow is gone in 4 hours.  Once whitened to your liking, rinse off the coating and let dry overnight, then spray the clear, matte coat to protect it.  

Uneven coating will result in streaks and require further treatment; not washing dirt off the plastic before treatment will do the same; not taping the plastic wrap on will let the wind blow it loose and areas will dry out and this stops the whitening process; not wearing gloves will sclerose your skin (which looks and feels funny).  "Nothing is 'fool proof' because fools are so ingenious."

[TekkNed]

So I decided to retrobright the A4000 I have. I was wondering if I need to protect the Commodore logo. Anyone?