RJ's Retrobrite investigations

[rubber_jonnie]

Generally speaking, I've not been a fan of retrobriting, given that the original article I first read about the subject required you mixed your own gel, and I was less than successful leading to a tiger striped ST!

I've watched the subject for a while, and have continued to swerve away from it until I saw the successes that people would have with cremes and submersion.

The creme method still put me off a bit, since it required a lot of monitoring to keep the creme in place and coating evenly, but the submersion method, in warm water out in the sun looked like a good way forward as it kept the coating even and didn't require a lot of monitoring.

Of course the very sunny weather has also helped, since it's kept warm and has an abundant supply of UV rays

So I tried it with a couple of Electrons and their keys (The keys were in plastic bags full of warm water and H2O2) and it worked so well, I thought it was time I tried a really bad ST.

Here's the colour it currently is:

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In contrast to the colour it is inside:

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The FDD bezel and lower case are very different to the Benson & Hedges 50 a day look the top case has.

So it's having a bath in the garden this afternoon and hopefully it'll get some of it's original tint back

[Steve]

Yeah submerged is an awesome way. When I lived in Australia I had a big transparent tub, I put in a bottle of peroxide and mixed in some vanish oxyaction and it worked beautifully.

[pixelpusher]

So it's having a bath in the garden this afternoon and hopefully it'll get some of it's original tint back

One can't underestimate the power of the sun in the summer. I had a drive cover that was extremely yellowed. Three hours later that's mostly gone. Unfortunately the supported disk type has also changed.

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[rubber_jonnie]

So it's having a bath in the garden this afternoon and hopefully it'll get some of it's original tint back

One can't underestimate the power of the sun in the summer. I had a drive cover that was extremely yellowed. Three hours later that's mostly gone. Unfortunately the supported disk type has also changed.


DiskCover.jpg

Yikes that got rather melty!!

I've been checking regularly and so far it's OK, but there is a lot of water and although it's warm, it's not plastic meltingly hot.

[stween]

Personally: I've never gone near the approaches that seem to require creams and cling film etc. I was talking to a friend about hydrogen peroxide and the idea that it would brighten plastics seemed line a no-brainer to her: "that's what we use to bleach bones!". Sold.

I've brightened a couple of small things in transparent tubs in some hydrogen peroxide diluted by water to add volume. I live in a top-floor apartment so I get some sun but I don't have a way to leave things basking in the sun for hours. That means the process is slow for me, but that's also okay: I can evaluate how it's going and make sure to move things around for even coverage.

[stephen_usher]

So it's having a bath in the garden this afternoon and hopefully it'll get some of it's original tint back

One can't underestimate the power of the sun in the summer. I had a drive cover that was extremely yellowed. Three hours later that's mostly gone. Unfortunately the supported disk type has also changed.


DiskCover.jpg

ABS starts flowing at only about 70C, so if you have 40C ambient air temperature it only needs a 30C boost to become melty.

In Britain high air temperatures are rare, and if the item has enough mass it can't get up to the high temperature right the way through.

[russellnash]

Do you have to remove the badge for the submersion method? I imagine it would be damaged otherwise.

[rubber_jonnie]

Do you have to remove the badge for the submersion method? I imagine it would be damaged otherwise.

I haven't and so far it shows no signs of damage, but I did that as an experiment, however it is easy to damage badges removing them so it's a bit of a coin toss I think.

[russellnash]

That is good to know. I removed a badge once because the corner had lifted but I immediately wished I hadn't because it put kinks in the metal and bits of paint came off.

[alexh]

Personally: I've never gone near the approaches that seem to require creams and cling film etc.

The hydrogen peroxide cream + TAED + clingfilm "in my experience" gets you a much more even result than fluid based Retr0Bright. It is counter intuitive but empirical tests (for me) show far less "streaks"

However it is extremely easy to over Retr0Bright using the cream method if you have no patience because you have to remove the cream at periodic intervals for colour match testing and then re-apply if it needs longer. You can be tempted to "leave it a bit longer" to save time and money and before you know it you've gone too far.

With the fluid based Retr0Bright you can just take it out of the fluid to compare and if it needs longer pop it back in.