Adventures in Retrobrite - New techniques for restoring yellowed plastic!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
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In this episode, I explore several new methods of restoring old, yellowed plastics back to their original color and beauty!
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Imagine walking into his house without context and just seeing computer keys cooking on the stovetop
you'd ask him for a byte
@@Martin-se3ij here take a random one
01001010
Alphabet soup
too much of the key ingredient
A nutritious meal for the whole family
1990s Apple: "You can pretty much disassemble the entire thing without needing a screwdriver!"
2010s Apple: "We glue our batteries in because fuck you, that's why."
I do believe the original "reason" for batteries being glued in, was that the replacable ones had lower capacity.
they did it for the costumer - not their own pockets...
similarly why they removed the headphone jack. "now there's more space for better tech/larger battery" - also, buy our new wireless headphones!
😂
1990s Apple: "No screws to remove!"
2010s+ Apple: "No screws to remove!"
no 2010's Apple is "WE MADE SURE YOU CAN'T DISASSEMBLE OUR COMPUTER FOR PARTS BECAUSE FUCK YOU THAT'S WHY!"
2020s apple: opening our phones is punishable by death
Hey man I hope you see this but I think I have a very easy solution to scaling the heat treatment one. I use a sous vide machine for work. simple little thing, you plug it in, submerge it in water and set the temp. and it will heat and circulate the liquid. for the container go to a restaurant supply place and grab a "lexan container" they make em all the way up to 18"x26"x12" which should hold just about anything you could want to do. the container should be around $40 and a basic sous vide should be around $100 I hope this helps and I hope you see this!!!
Scriptonic people, like this comment so the 8-it guy sees it
There's a restaurant supply store on Alta Mere, near the traffic circle. They should have what you need.
My bad. I guess it closed. There's an Ace Mart in Arlington, I think.
yupppp, the only way to get water to be maintained at such a lower temperature for such a long time. The sous vide will definitely be his friend (and he can use it for a kick ass steak afterwards).
Came here to say this! :)
Roughly 7:00 - 2 points to be made here. Ozone breaks down into regular oxygen pretty fast, roughly half an hour or so. So if you're serious about ozone, you need to keep that fresh supply coming.
Point 2: overcast day is not gonna stop UV, UV punches through cloud like it's made of nothing.
Clouds will stop IR, so you won't feel the heat, but the nastiest sunburn I ever had was on an overcast day. UV does whatever it wants, clouds be damned.
I was going to make the same comment about UV light. He's made the same mistake in several videos.
Good to know! That explains why I could stay in the sun all day long for three consecutive days at a festival two weeks ago without getting a sunburn, but just got a nasty sunburn yesterday after working at a clubsport kartslalom race event, even though it was cloudy weather half of the day. I actually didn't know that, never got a sunburn on a cloudy day before...
@@LRM12o8 Let me guess, you probably used a bunch of sunscreen at the festival but thought you didn't need any at the race?
Apparently you still get exposed to about 80% of the sun's UV radiation in a cloudy day
@isak well, the UV still comes from the sun, so yeah it is the sun what burns us. But the heating effect from the IR and the skin reddening from UV are distinct processes. Of course, if you've already got a UV burn, the IR is going to make it smart, and if there's nothing blocking the rays, you get both at once
Not many people know this but engine cleaner/degreaser also proves ineffective for cleaning or degreasing engines.
XD
It's funny cuz it's true!
Coca Cola works pretty well. xD
Except for Grease.
@@Geisteskr4nk can confirm my grandfather used it for years
@@Megatog615
Used it mostly for the MG3 in the German Army xD
But also handles other stuff. :)
Hey 8 bit guy, you could use a vacuum seal bag for the large cases, and just inflate it with the ozone
Collier Houston hah, damn I just posted the same comment. Should have saved the keystrokes and just upvoted this!
Was going to say don't need large freezer bags since there are other types available out there.
I was thinking of the same thing when he was in the bags part, it'd be reverse-engineering because the bags are designed to deflate, not inflate but they are very resistant
I was thinking about that, or one of those bags you might keep certain clothes in like furs, or wool to keep out moths.
I agree. It has the further benefit of being designed to trap gasses and prevent air leaks. Which would be perfect for the long duration he is taking about. The other thing I would mention is a electric heater in a large box. A similar concept is used by colleges for bed bug treatment.
A very obvious advantage that the ozone method has is that you maybe don’t have to disassemble the item to isolate the plastic parts, because you’re immersing it in a gas, not a liquid.
Genius
You could add some vinegar or better yet hydrochloric acid (aka Muriatic acid from Home Depot) in a 10:1 ratio (H2O2:acid) to activate the hydrogen peroxide molecule more, in which case UV is not required and works much better and faster. ;)
@@myketison9770- I use a couple of plastic teaspoons of 30% HCL (about 10 ml) for every liter of peroxide. It activates the peroxide, makes it work better and faster even without UV. Make sure to wear rubber gloves not just for the HCL but also the peroxide.
I found this video with that very thought in mind actually. My thought was to get a clear plastic container, fill it full of ozone, then put the lid on and let it sit out in the sun for however many days it takes.
Can someone please explain what Salon care 40 is ? I’m in the UK and it’s not something I’ve ever seen, thanks 👍🏻
13:50. Something to consider if you want to scale up due to the size of certain items for the heat Retrobrite technique, is to look into a sous vide portable device. Most of the 800w items have a temp range of +41 +212 Degree F or +5 +100 Degree C and all have inbuilt circulation pumps for up to approx 15L. Match that up with a large plastic container and you have yourself an awesome DIY Scaled up Heat Retrobriter
EDIT: looks like quite a few people recommended this technique as well strolling through the comments
Just wanted to say, every time I get a message saying you posted something new, it's the high point in my day. Keep it up, I love your channel.
haha. You're little fly actually tricked me for a few seconds!
The 8-Bit Guy fantastic job.
it said it came out 15 min
The 8-Bit Guy if you get the clothes storage bags they're like giant Ziploc bags.
It looks Real but I was Tricked As well.
I don't know anything about old pc but I found your video impressively helpful to retrobrite my Legos, huge thanks. you got a big like.
Which method proved to be the best for you, please?
Also, did you experienced a yellowing return after some time on whitened parts?
Cos I tried Hydrogen peroxide method and I noticed a lot of yellowing returning later...
@@BboyAL1 UV light causes yellowing. Keep your stuff away from UV and you’ll be safe
@@Segatari can't always get them away from uv light, I'll just Retrobrite it again if it yellows..
Instead of rigging hot water heater parts with a thermostat, just use a suit vide cooker(immersion circulator). Not only will it heat the liquid to an exact temperature, but it will also circulate the liquid around in the tub.
I wanted to comment this, but I don't know how it'll behave with the chemicals.
It would probably be fine, I don't think the peroxide levels are really that high.
since it is that heat that it is after the part can be placed in a bag with the peroxide while still submerged in the tub
but the method of heating the water to an exact temperature is an immersion heater/circulatory pump, perfect for this application.
Came by the comments to post this. An immersion circulator is perfect for this.
What I like about the ozone method is that in some cases you wouldn't need to disassemble the gadget, which is good because sometimes it is risky and one might break it.
Yellowed, brominated plastic is also BRITTLE plastic, so you make a good point.
Note that OZONE (TRI-ATOMIC OXYGEN) O³ is a highly corrosive gas and is toxic.
There is only 21% Oxygen O² in the air at Sea level - or sea curve - if the sea is on a curve
The Oxygen keeps one alive and at the same time is also killing us slowly -
as it has damaging effects on the brain when combined with the
amino acids circulating in the body-- Causing the brain to RUST
It leaves the brain with holes like swiss cheese and is the cause of ALZHEIMERS DISEASE
The rust in the brain is referred to as Free-Radicals
They are the ONLY radicals anyone needs to worry about and they will eventually kill you
whether you like it or not.
Wouldn't ozone rust any PCB or metal left inside immediately??
For your salon cream + heat method I’m not joking - get a sous vide cooker. Not only will you be able to precisely control temperature but you’ll have an amazing culinary tool. Throw your part in a plastic bag, vac seal or use the immersion method to get the air out, and you’ll have an amazing and repeatable method to retrobrite parts of pretty much any size.
k03hl3r I'm amazed at all the comments about these sous vide things... in particular because i have *no clue* about them!
Aren't they expensive?
Someone said about $100.
k03hl3r doesn’t really help with the larger pieces though.
On Salon cream I always see the 40 used will the 30 work?
ozone gas is fairly unstable, I don't imagine there was much ozone left after 4 hours. This technique may require leaving the generator hooked up and running. A plus side of this is it'd be easy to use a large clear garbage
ecycling bag and just tape it to the hose. The output of the generator would offset any small leakage
animefreak5757 afaik it'll only hang around for 15-20mins. Constant flow's the way to go.
The metal coins are probably going to degrade the ozone as well.
this method needs heat sealer to completely seal the plastic bag
Had the same thought, it probably even has low concentration coming out of that tube.
Yes, constant O3 flow to the bag + throw a hair dryer to the bag before sealing it, to generate heat and airflow. After 2 hours put out the fire.
For a big sealing bag, try one of those vacuum bags they advertise on TV, where you put clothes in and then vacuum the air out to take up less space. You can vacuum the air out, and then add ozone in if you make a small adjustment to the valve to take your ozone machine...
And here in Spain we have the perfect thing for using the heat method on big things: Paella dish!! See if you can find a deep one there somewhere, I mean, there are places that cook paella in the States, so there must be dishes somewhere...
i knew i should have scrolled down further before suggesting the same thing :)
I haven't scrolled down, so maybe someone else beat me to it already hehehehe
Yes, but Ziplock bags also let air and water pass. Haven't you ever tried to inflate a Ziplock bag with air, seal it with something inside, and then see how long it floats in water?
But the whole point is to fill the bag with O3. The only reason to use the vacuum is to remove as much of the regular atmosphere as reasonably possible before filling it with ozone. Ziplock or clothe bag, O3 is highly reactive, so fretting about small air leaks is needless.
I do agree with you, though, Justine-Paula. Buy the best bags available. Otherwise it's the usual case of 'get what you paid for'.
A proper paella isnt that cheap !. My Aunt got her (three of them) from Valencia. I think that it would only fit in the bigger one that is "rated" for 12 persons (dishes). Love paella, one of my favorites. Very demanding to prepare and cook though.
Demanding would depend on what type of paella. If it's a mixed or seafood paella or fideua, then lot of fish cleaning. If it's arroz a banda then it's very demanding, but a meat or vegetable paella wouldn't be that demanding.
@The 8-Bit Guy Ok, tried this on a translucent plastic, buttons that were yellowed on an old Copy Machine, and I used the Hydrogen Peroxide + UV method. First, I tried a UV light (black light) and after leaving it there for 8 hours, I did not see any improvement, but rather the entire thing (on all of the buttons) appeared to be beginning to yellow (even where they had been like new). I hoped that this had been because of the lack of heat, so I moved it to the sunshine for 4 hours (here in Tucson, Arizona in 106ºF heat). This noticeably yellowed all the plastic parts! I pulled them out of the UV light. Then I heated up a pot of water on the stove until I found the 160ºF sweet spot on my stovetop's Melt setting. Then I poured out the water and replaced it with Hydrogen Peroxide. When it reached 160ºF I placed my plastic buttons into the pot. I felt like I saw some mild improvements after about 5 hours or so, and I removed the pieces, feeling like the next step was to try the Salon Care solution. But after an hour of being dried, and cooling down, my plastic parts had thrown me another curve ball! Wherever there had been yellowing on the translucent plastic, it was now non-translucent white! This is a nightmare!!!!! A NIGHTMARE!!! I realized then that none of these retrobrighting videos had been done with translucent plastic (that I knew of at least). I raised the white flag and said, "enough is enough, I'm putting this copier back together and selling it as it is." Only one problem, when I put the buttons back into the control panel, THEY HAD SHRUNK!!!! Massive shrinkage! For every Inch of original length, I lost one millimeter!!!! After hours (literally hours) of jerry-rigging, cutting, gluing, and literally praying, I have a working copy machine again! This was a $17,000 copier, now still worth thousands. And I almost ruined it... the replacement panel (they don't sell buttons separately) is $1,200, and there isn't really a second hand parts market for these. BE CAREFUL. This plastic was from around 2009, and had yellowing from sunlight exposure. DON'T TRY THIS ON TRANSLUCENT PLASTICS!!!
in this video a guy retrobrigts a translucent game boy color successfully th-cam.com/video/2BmGMi0IEx4/w-d-xo.html
I think he used 15% hydrogen peroxide and UV via leds. His method seems by far the easiest regardless of it being outside. If you watch his video dedicated to this he mentions not going over a certain temp.
@@heckyeshess - who are you talking about? Which guy? Thanks
Thanks for the info!
Sounds like a nightmare. Responding after 2 years I see, so hopefully you managed to recover now. SHOULD'VE....BOUGHT....A SQUIRREL! :-)
It almost seems like some of these methods make the plastic *too* bright. What about testing them on a completely new product with grey plastic? If you can make it brighter than what it actually looks like new, the method feels kinda dicey to me...
So you'd prefer baby shit yellow then? or?
The one done on the cook top came out white. The original keyboard was never that white. So that's the point he's trying to make. Not that you shouldn't use other methods.
Aaron Henderson There are colors between shit yellow and too white, like... the original color.
Yes, I was hoping 8-bit guy would have commented on the results. It looked too white so was wondering if it was just the camera. He seemed to want to go with that method in the end. I've done some retro-brighting and have had the plastic start to re-yellow within a year or two even though I made sure to keep the items covered when not in use. Wondering if this process really is undoing the 'bromine' yellowing or just bleaching it temporarily. It still improves the appearance just don't expect it to last or plan on re-doing it every couple years.
Exactly! I'm glad someone else noticed this too. I have a couple of PlayStations that need this treatment but I don't want to make them white. I want them to look like new.
Now I realize why they have those teeth whitener kits with the light, must be a UV light. Your channel is awesome, keep up the good work! :)
Hi
69th like.... sorry I had to
@@gammaboost im going to ruin it because im mad at my parents
can you reply?
i remember hearing with the whitining kits that the cream is doing all the work and the uv light is there to make you think its doing something
Why not use a large fish aquarium. There are people on Craiglist begging to give them away. ;-)
Ah yes, those could be heated and contain the ozone!
@SgtPiggie An aquarium is incredibly strong. Glass in general is. There's stairs made out of the stuff!
If you mount one onto a trolley you can easily ride it out into the sun without breaking your back (or the aquarium).
And, as TheGeekPub suggested, you can get them for nearly nothing. UV lights are easily installed on top of it so you can use it indoors.
uvb 10.0 or 12.0 or even HID-Lamps are nothing compared to real sun.
But you can leave them on 24/7
aquariums aren't indestructable but they arent exactly made of paper towels either.
For people with a 3d printer: putting it on the heated bed heated up to 60C this works as well. You could even make a little gcode and move the container back and forth from time to time and then some UV LEDs on top
3D printer platforms are great heat sources. I use mine to uniformly soften the glue strips holding phone and tablet screens in place so I can remove them much more easily.
Dear Guy. You are correct that it is not needed to submerge or rub substance on plastics at all if the container you use is closed off. Heat creates Hydrogen Peroxide vapor in the air of the enclosed container. UV irradiation of the Hydrogen Peroxide creates Hydroxyl Radicals (·OH) (2.8V). And the UV irradiation of the air inside the container creates Ozon gas (O3) (2.07V). Both of these are highly reactive noncorosive oxidizing agents. Basically how some medical devices are disinfected. Best of luck.
Do you know what kind of UV are needed? UVA, B or C?
*_D E A R G U Y_*
So if i understand you right, the piece doesn't need to be covered with the liquid. It can also float as long as the crate is closed. Is sunlight necessary or is the heat alone enough?
@@ariesijm8018 heat alone, may be better that way as it will be more uniform. Think about how hair salon uses that cream... with heat
@@acathlafr6515 UV-A -> "not absorbed by the ozone layer"= soft UV, UV-C is the hard UV="completely absorbed by the ozone layer and atmosphere". My bet is that UV-B will be the safest way to play with.
It's just me or the "2" keycap (with heat) not only cleaned, but kinda desaturated the original color? it looks way too white, isn't it supposed to be grayish like the 5 keycap (40% Peroxide)?
Raposa Dislexa Thought the same. We would need to see an internal part of the keyboard, that has never been exposed to light, and compare
the F1 key on the underside would have been the perfect control for the desired colour
I thought the same and I have actually always wondered this when people show things they have retrobrited and made a gray thing white and that kind of put me off to do this on my things. I want the original color, not just turn yellow to white.
Bear in mind, it doesn't take UV exposure to yellow the plastic. I found a couple yellowed Plextor CD-RWs in my garage yesterday that have been in a box since SCSI was popular. So, there may not be a control anymore. ;-)
Can't tell if it bleached past the original color without comparing to the underside of another key.
You could use sous vide for the heat method and it can be easily scaled up
Sous vide is a method of cooking that uses precise water temperature and there are portable units that you can place in a tank of any size
Came here to say the same.
robofreakk I was thinking the same thing. Try a sous vide cooker. You"ll have much better duration and temperature control over the process. With more control, you may be able to dial back the concentration of the chemicals using a longer duration bath.
robofreakk Also he should look up sous vide cooler mod to heat up an entire cooler with a lid.
And maybe try a clear tub to allow some UV through on all sides.
The problem with dealing with large volumes of water is its bad heat conductivity, it tends to create an isolated hot layer near the heating element (same principle as in those diving suits), so it'll be necessary to add some kind of a pump or a mixer to circulate the water around. And if you're going this way, why not just use a simple heater and a temp switch (one of those thermistor+relay sets, they cost like $10 or so on ebay)
How about using a UV Lamp like the ones they use for nail art? That would be more reliable/controllable than the sun. Should also work for larger items you can’ t move as easily., if it works.
Thats how it is done. Watch OddThinkering's channel he uses uv led light strips.
He does that in a later video with C64.
@Duke Hugh Johnson why do you capitalise every first letter lmao
@@cherrypepsi2815 There’s something wrong with him.
@@DisgruntledPigumon idk man
I really like the idea of using ozone and heat, you'd just need some airtight container with a viewing window, and you could reliably retrobrite anything without the sun, you might even be able to do it without disassembling anything
That was the design i was working out in my head just now. A large airtight box with lexan or plexi sides and a air tight sealable door at one end , you could use UV light all around it with a ozone generator and you wouldnt even have to take thing apart , would save a ton of time
Constant ozone generation needed. Might also want to slightly pressurize the container to ensure the nooks and crannies of the plastic side edges will get treated well, assuming the goal is to treat without disassembly - which is definitely the way to go.
There are household ozone generators that are sold as air purifiers. Should work fine for this application
Wait.... Apple made a product that was easy to disassemble? Wow... That blew my mind!
Old Apple computers were very easy to disassemble, upgrade and even service. Not so much any more.
Ahh... Such a different time. Never had much experience with old apple hardware.
Look at Power Mac G5's inside photos, it is pretty neat, more so for it's time.
Hopefully I don't give them any ideas, but it surprises me that Apple isn't potting entire motherboards in black acrylic these days. Bad enough that they solder the RAM to the board.
The G5s were so sexi
every experiment needs a control. so i will use the control key.
I used the ESCAPE key as it was some "me" time in the man cave with a blonding kit and a UV lamp without the millions of questions that would bring an immediate halt to proceedings with the usual "NO!" :P
Retro brite during a solar eclipse with an offering of blood? Do you think that will affect the performance any?
Probably not, but it may result in raining Intel 8088 chips... Lol
@@robertoXCX Nah, I think it's gonna be raining 386's.
@@robertoXCX O_O
That's how you port Doom to a console.
@@Dark_Jaguar Blood was very much offered to port Doom to the Super Nintendo and 32X
Here's an idea: Use a sous vide circulator for heating the water!
About ozone, you should put the generator on and leave it in the bag, cause ozone is very unstable and will react or fall apart to oxygen relatively quick. You also should perform it outside to get rid of leakage.
Engine degreaser: "that looks nasty" LOL!
What about a transparent crate so it gets +/- equal sunlight?
Excellent project!
I know I’m super late, but a way you might be able to scale the Peroxide+heat method is by using a soul vide immersion circulator (or multiple) in a large tub. They’re designed to heat water to between 140 and 180, iirc, and keep it at that temperature for extended periods.
This whole time I could've been using my mom's hair products to restore plastic. WOW.
When using developer normally, the heat from a person's head is usually enough to make it work.
What a great episode! For the large bag, there are large zip lock bags meant for clothing that should work. They look and work just like any other zip lock bag, but are huge. For the temperature control, you may want to look at a clip-on immersion circulator like the ones people use for cooking. I don't know if the parts would be affected by the hydrogen peroxide, but you would be able to get very precise control of the temperature at the temperatures you're looking at. I use the Nomiku myself, but it's pricy. You may want to look at the Anova Precision as it's less expensive. Then your container can just be a small plastic tub. I hope these tips help and thanks for all the great content!
Was looking for a comment like this! Sous-Vide style cookers seem like they'd get the job done nicely.
just subscribed based on a friend telling me the intro music was a banger, which was absolutely true
You’ve nailed the “dad style” I’m envious and envy your white shoes. How you maintain that, this video explains you are the whitening master
Around here, dollar tree has large bags that seal. They are marketed as space bags, but they don't have a vacuum attachment, they are just large ziplock style bags
Just take garbage bag and make a nut on it... it will not gonna be able to block too much of UV radiation...
If you need a large bag for the ozone technique, try using a vacuum storage bag (the kind that you can use a vacuum cleaner with).
A soux vide might be ideal for heating the liquid. they just clip to a variety of pots and maintain a liquid at a very exact temperature
sous vide, not soux vide: it's french
@@Johnsormani French has a metric shitton of words that end with X, many of which are plural.
Honestly, I'm amazed that it's even possible to reverse the yellowing at all. I'm blown away that you were able to completely restore the #2 key. Pretty darned cool! Actually, I may be even more amazed that UV can help reverse the yellowing, given that UV is (as far as I know) a major factor CAUSING the yellowing in the first place.
And here I thought "Retrobrite" was the brand name of a plastic restorer and not a process. Shows what I don't know.
ShadowWing Tronix I had thought the same thing bud. Blessings and best wishes, from Newfoundland.
Dorkily,
Loran
:-)
Honestly, I thought the same thing so don't feel bad, you're not alone lol
Which is why I hate the term.
I did too. It sounds like a brand, down to the "brite" spelling
Back in the day it was "Retr0bright".
So what have we learnt?
Buy black computers
dammit i have some silver on my pc 😡
My entire computer including the monitor, mouse and keyboard is black. I also keep my curtains closed too. No retrobriting needed.
Its a problem of old plastic... so its not important what color you buying now as the modern day plastic will not gonna have this problem...
Good advice, but it won't apply to retro PCs. A lot of them are white
@@Bialy_1 Does this also applies to music keyboards? When did they fixed this problem? I have a keyboard from the 90s and the keys are yellow
Im in kansas so we are geting the full eclipse. And school got canceled
RAV wait... its summer...
my school day got extended so we wouldn't be out during the eclipse, I'm skipping though so it doesn't really matter
TheCanadianLanBoy school started August 14. Crazy! www.kcpublicschools.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=10859&dataid=31375&FileName=KCPS%20School%20Year%20Calendar.pdf
My school won't even let us see the eclipse. Also, it's the first day.. its as if putting things in your locker is more important than a once in a lifetime learning experience.
konzentrierten school here in canada starts on september 6th, but we only got partial eclipse anyway
I don't know why I am watching this at 1 AM when I have to get up in the morning, but I am loving it :D.
7:07 thats very smart :)
"When inhaled, ozone can damage the lungs. Relatively low amounts of ozone can cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath and, throat irritation. It may also worsen chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma as well as compromise the ability of the body to fight respiratory infections."
is it just me or do i wish that david released more videos? i always rewatch his videos like 5 times each and i still enjoy them. Imagine if he had a daily upload schedule...
Yeah, then it would be quantity over quality and he’d probly do klikbate
Pretty cool that the numbers don't come off with all those chemicals lol
ShishkaBerry yeah, but it can affect some paints/materials so retrobrighting should be done with care - when I was trying it with my Apple IIc the apple badge has faded a bit and bottom label has been quite ruined...
ShishkaBerry They're usually lasered on the plastic.
Christian Grey Actually, most keys are made from two different plastic layers. The core contains the image of the character, and the top layer is the background color. That's why you can feel the shape of the character on the key, it's because of the two-step (sometimes more steps) molding process.
@@christiangrey3645 they are printed on not lasered
Respect for adding the temperatures as Celsius as well!
8 bit guy, i went to the total eclipse today . IT WAS COOL!!!!!!
Remember that time Boogieman blocked out the sun with a giant disco ball that he controlled with the button under the flip-top cap on the head of his pimp cane? It's the thought that counts. His motives were honorable - he did it to keep it partytime boogie night all the time. But the Power Puff Girls did not share his appreciation of the boogie.
Should be able to get an immersion heater. They're often used in brewing alcohol at home.
What about a Sous Vide immersion circulator? They're relatively inexpensive, keep constant temperature, and move the water around in your container so you don't need a large burner.
Interesting idea. I've got one of those, my only concern would be how hydrogen peroxide would affect the pump.
I used the salon care products to whiten my old mac. I heated the water to about 120-130 submerged the case fully in the water and set in the sun for about 3.5 hrs they were nice and white! I used a combo of 20 and 40 2 gallons worth. Thanks for the video!
The Ziploc vacuum bags would be perfect for this, and you can get them at Walmart!
try putting the ozone tube in a tank of distilled water maybe with an air stone on the tube, it might force more oxygen in the water and you might not need the peroxide then apply heat and or UV
Other equipment ideas: Ultrasonic parts cleaner with heat. I _think_ some regular parts cleaners (no ultrasonics) might have heat too. Or a cheap *food dehydrator* does lower temps well.
Back in the '70s, I used 409 spray cleaner on an old used 12" TV for my dorm room. It removed the yellowing. I'd done it a few times with excellent results.
Dude, that experiment was awesome. I'm a chemistry student, and I think that Oxygen is the key in this process. Yeah, you would say: "Oxygen, but there is in the air, no way". But they are two types of Oxygen with different properties. Actually your process uses H2O2 with UV ligth, and that almost always it's called H2O2 decomposition. With the Ozone, happens a similar thing, O3 it's a unstable molecule (like H2O2), it doesn't like that shape and becomes O2 and O: reactive O2 and a free O wich will attach to another O3 to produce O2. It's always awesome found people like you, that makes science in a pragmatic and useful way. Also, you should try with a few screws to prove if my hypotesis is true or not (well I think that indeed oxygen will be produced, so that doesn't make any difference). But the possibles compounds that make that should be O2 or H2. Take care with metal things, like iron or copper. Aluminium oxyde doesn't matter at all (it's a protective layer). Always use gloves with chemicals. Greets :D
Oh so you work in a office?
Wow! Thanks! I think I actually like the ozone idea the most, with a garment storage vacuum bag for large items. Because this way would actually be safe to do the entire item at once without removing the interior parts. I mean, sure, crack that puppy open and suck out the dust, reseat the cables, etc. anyway. But once it's clean on the inside, reassemble and retrobrite. Seems like a win to me with no risk of residual moisture lurking or adding to any oxidation on a shield.
holy late revival - but a note on that idea about oxidation - Ozone is highly oxidative so it will rapidly increase oxidation on a shield, attack rubber and PVC so don't "ozinate" a complete system!!
@@askjacob Thanks for the heads up, I was considering the idea myself
Dont use ozone. O3 is an oxidizer and makes plastics brittle. It will also break down rubber products.
It seems as if all these techniques revolve around oxidation to remove the old color, hydrogen peroxide is a vigorous oxidizing agent as is ultraviolet light- let me correct myself on that one, ultraviolet light promotes oxidation if it's not exactly an oxidizer itself
@@unclejoeoakland U need energy for this oxidation and that is why u need ultraviolet light(higher energy light) or extra heat... less energy = more time to do the same job...
Just got today my Macintosh Classic II, I will start working and restoring using your technical knowledge. Wish me luck.
Man, I just love that intro music, such a positive melody. I'd listen to it all the time if it were a full tune.
Half Monty Well, you can! 😜 soundcloud.com/eox-studios/morning-dew
should have known it was one of yours. Thanks!
LOL Anders. Nice
If ozone + heat really does work and has nothing to do with light. You might be able to get away with not even disassembling things, just set them in the sun in a bag of ozone.
So, just get a regular old garbage bag, hook in the ozone generator and leave it out in the sun? Black plastic absorbs the heat and the imperfect seal lets the byproducts leak out. Sounds like it could work.
Has anyone tried this? If you can do it without disassembly it would be a great advantage.
You should try retrobrite in a bathtub with hot water and a UV Light
I was wondering if a uv lamp would work instead of sun ight? Dave, can you test this as well pls?
UV lights and lamps aren't nearly as effective as the sunlight. Though, I think it would work that way if he could manage to buy one from Lowes or something, and just place it outside.
My hypothesis on it is the Retrobright is actually activated by the heat of the sunshine and not the UV. He's said a few times that it doesn't work as well on cloudy days. But clouds don't diminish the short wavelength UV light as much as the long wave IR light. Plus, he got the most stark difference from the stove. UV may be a part of the equation, but I don't think it's as important as the heat. (but I'm not a chemist, so I could be completely wrong!)
Grant Kieser heat is a catalyst that helps to speed up reactions and particles. UV light is also a catalyst and starter for many chemical reactions. I do think that the UV light is not necessary and any thing that provides energy to the hydrogen peroxide should suffice.
Didn't we learn from the stovetop experiment that UV light isn't actually required? Just heat it up.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I got 20v/o salón cream and after an hour in very cloudy and rainy day, the difference was already striking (live in central america, the sun is brutal).
I got some streaking, so tonight I got 40v/o salón cream and will try some more RetroBrite goodness tomorrow.
Thanks again.
I know I'm late to the party here... i mean, I watched this a long time ago... but I just saw a very interesting way to do retrobriting that didn't use sunlight... What the guy did: He mixed hydrogen peroxide with gelatine to make a peroxide "paint"/gel and painted it on the discoloured parts, that he then wrapped them in plastic wrap and then into plastic bags... so far... pretty normal-ish... but then what he did, was he put the parts into a box lined with aluminium foil that was ALSO lined with a mass load of UV LED strips and sealed the box with the lid (Also foil covered) and the results were actually very impressive... The moment I saw it, I immediately thought of this video and thought i'd mention it.
I just wanted to say that I really love this channel! such great content! thanks!
Can you build a "super-retrocomputer" using parts from the best retrocomputers you know?
It could be a bit difficult. I haven't seen his entire retro computer collection, but most of the computers I see all would have their own custom parts that wouldn't be compatible with other parts.
You mean like the computing arrays of PlayStation 2s and 3s used in military applications?
LGR did something similar to this once where he built an old DOS gaming pc that would've been absolute top of the line at the time, maybe you'd like that? v=fbjYkPKRm-8
I agree that it's more than a tiny bit difficult, it would be my honour to try and assist with engineering of such insanity.
For the most part, interfacing classic busses to each other isn't too complicated, there's no complex protocols, everything is an address read or write, and mostly a couple 74 series ICs will do it, sometimes more economically today a CPLD XC95xx today or so. For this reason that interfacing is simpler than you think, you see mixed and matched devices not too rarely: Z80 and 6502 both with peripherals designed for MC6809 or TMS9900, or a random z80 hanging in there in the middle of a 16-bit system.
But whole-system design is of course challenging.
I love this idea! I don't have much retro stuff, but I really like it.
Thanks for doing this video, I have just got an original Atari ST with a very yellowed case, after watching this I tried some of your methods and it worked really well and the case is now back to its original colour. Living in the UK I had to wait for the ideal day and we are having a mini heatwave so today was the day.
That moment when you watch a video so early that aren´t dislikes
Meme Lover
There should never be dislikes on 8bit guy videos
I AGREE
Meme Lover there’s already one
Who is going to DIE???
two now
You keep saying about the length of your videos being too long.. you said it in this video and you've said it in many of your other amazing videos... Why are you worried about the amount of time... I can tell you now, the people that watch your videos love how long they are and really won't mind them being longer. We like the way you show us how you do things. Its always interesting to watch a project you're working on. Please, please, please stop worrying about the timing or length.
BlackRabbit1971 That's what *_she_* said!
I love watching these videos but it makes me kinda mad. Back when I still used a crt monitor it got almost as brown as your mac and I tried everything to make it look better but no cleaning product worked. I was young and had no idea retrovrighting was a thing until I found your channel a year or two ago... thing is, my mom has a salon and we have a whole stock of 40 volume preoxide. The irony
Aquarium tank and a sous vide machine...or multiple aquarium heaters and an empty external aquarium filter to circulate the heat. (these hang on the edge of the tank and have a pump that draws the liquid out of the bottom of the tank into a box, which then spills it back into the tank, over the top edge). You might even be able to attach a lighted aquarium hood, fitted with a UV light to really speed things up. If you decide to go that far, I would probably either paint the external glass on the tank or wrap it with something to keep the light in.
The nice thing about aquarium tanks is that they are available in many sizes, and you may be able to buy what you need (tank, heaters, external filter, light hood, and all), 2nd hand, from someone that is moving and not taking their fish with them, and is desperate to get rid of all the equipment.
OMG. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm gonna sous vide my PC Engine, lol.
Try a ChefSteps joule sous vide cooker
That's what I was thinking. You could get any size tub and add a Sous Vide and be able to keep it at a constant low temp.
smile.amazon.com/Anova-Culinary-Bluetooth-Precision-Cooker/dp/B00UKPBXM4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503414436&sr=8-1&keywords=sou+vide
lol I should have read the comments before leaving mine I said the same thing
Sous vide would be perfect if all he needs is heat. could buy a UV light and bring this project indoors. Or at least into the garage. I have no idea what kind of gasses heating hydrogen Peroxide puts out. I hope 8-Bitguy see this post as it is probably the easiest way to maintain temp. Sous vide + large ice chest + UV light!
I was also going to recommend looking in to sous vide equipment. For the uninitiated, "sous vide" is French for "under vacuum". It is a cooking technique where vacuum sealed food (usually meat) is cooked in a temperature controlled water bath (bain marie) set to at or close to the target temperature of the food. The technique was pioneered by professional chefs making use of lab equipment designed to provide a precisely temperature controlled water bath.
So the lab equipment would be a possibility, but consumer oriented equipment might be cheaper.
Beat me to it! Yes a sous vide would work great to maintain temp, especially if you wrap the container in a blanket.
I Think the UV light breaks up the ozone into an Oxygen molecule and a free Oxygen atom. The free Oxygen atom react with the bromine compound in the yellowed plastics.
LaterMeansBrick I think so as well, but I doubt the UV light actually reacts, rather, heat accelerates the reaction. This is actually a common way to accelerate chemical reactions.
And also, UV isn't the only light that the sun produces, and this video also is missing a control for a key that has been put under sunlight without any treatment.
Sodium percarbonate, for example, only starts producing oxygen from 50°C, less if it contains an activator, so it would not actually have worked without heat.
If this video proves something, anyway (although it's not really something that I would call scientific), it's that oxidation is probably the best, easier and safer way to retrobrite, no matter how you obtain that, and that that's what's causing the plastic to get rid of the yellowing, not heat or UV, since they only accelerate the process or causes the reaction needed to produce oxygen.
What
as peroxide is an oxidant, the process might be an oxidation reaction. The apparent need of UV light would suggest the formation of radical forms of the peroxide to perform the oxidation... Oppositely, the experiment in warmed peroxide could led us to think that radical formation is not required and that the role of sunlight is only warming the closed baths to accelerate the reaction kinetics. Nevertheless, two types of oxidation mechanisms could be acting here, one in presence of sunlight (potentially mediated by the formation of radical species) and another in the absence of UV light which is accelerated by peroxide warming ... A serious research would be needed to elucidate the Mechanisms and secrets of retrobriting
LC II was the first Mac I ever used. I was a freshman in HS. Oh the memories. 💙
I'm wondering why don't u use artificial UV light something like big bulb, I think it would be easier, more efficient and faster than sunlight which is not available all the day
It would not be faster at all. Generally, the reason the sun works so well as retrobrite, is because the sun also provides heat. The sun provides a constant flow of heat, which is required for the heat to have any effect, since plastics are thermal insulators.
If you were to do retrobrite with a UVA lamp or something in a place at room temperature (20 C), it would probably take quite a bit longer to get the yellowing off. You also wouldn't be also to do any large plastics like this, as large UVA tanning light are super expensive.
He did in older videos but found out the sun did a much quicker job
thanx !!!
Sun light contains IR , if heat is important as discovered in this video
you need UV +IR lamp.
The irony here is that the UV light is the same thing that causes the yellowing in the first place! But here we see its doing the reverse when combined with the right chemicals
Excellent report! I love the empirical data approach- so few people understand that concept.
I was wondering though- could you use a crock pot?? Even heat for 4 to 8 hours, low wattage too.
"I'm not a chemist."
Now you tell me! When I need a chemist!
😉
Was looking for a way to restore some plastic pieces on a recycled refrigerator for my garage and VOI LAAAAAAA ! Gave me some ideas for some old Mac stuff I have laying around. 🤘🏽🤓 THANKS ! I use dishwasher gel for cleaning in the bathroom; especially for refreshing the shower insert. Typically works well on plastics, tile floors and grout lines, as well as toilets and sinks. Need to try on the old 💻 pieces
@The 8-Bit Guy Great video, but I'm confused, it seems that each method yielded a different result, which in turn, created a different tone of gray, so, which one is closest to what the original color would be? How could you confirm that? Thank you for your videos!
Jorge Andrade yep, thats exactly what came into my mind too, but how to check what was the original colour?
The bottom of the key and inside the case should show the original colour.
Which means you would need to keep a couple untreated at first as a control.
I think that the number '2' key looks way too white, maybe 2 hours would have been enough, when comparing them side by side I think number 4 and 5 are the ones who look most natural, with '5' being a tiny bit lighter than '4', I think that's the salon cream being exposed to the sun, that just might be the best method.
Yep, I have the same feeling that '2' does not look 'natural'...
15:04
Rating: M+
Blood and gore
That Macintosh looks like it had a bad case of diarrhoea
Or sunburn... ;)
Lmao.. it had some taco bell
*drumroll* 🥁
🎵 _I have a bad case of diarrhea_ 🎵 👯♀️
Apples tend to get nasty brown spots if you leave them sitting around.
No it was left with UV light or smoked till gets yellowed
Congrats on such a thorough test. I now know everything about retrobriting plastics.
I know everything about internet specialists that claim that they know everything about any subject...
@@Bialy_1 but do you know the Muffin Man?
When you're playing with H2O2 (peroxide), what you need is the atomic oxygen. H2O2 is not too stable, it dissolves to H2O (i.e. water) + O (i.e. a single oxygen atom, not a molecule). Atomic oxygen almost immediately reacts with something in its environment (with the plastic in your case), and basically "burns" it. If you use it right, this only destroys the color (like bleach, which also generates atomic oxygen), so makes the thing whiter, but it may also destroy the material you want to clean (like bleach again). Recall the leather handle in the case of Osborn 1, you basically burned it away. Moreover, you get some corrosion with the MAC, which is the same thing again; the atomic oxygen reacted with the metal and made rust.
When you're playing with ozone, that is the same thing. Ozone is O3, which dissolves to O2 + O, that's why ozone is good. However, you cannot put as much ozone into a small bag as H2O2, so after some time the bag runs out of ozone, and your reaction stops. I recommend some way to add fresh ozone continuously into the bag.
Although UV can efficiently improve the speed of generating atomic oxygen, it is not UV what is needed but ENERGY (UV light brings a lot of energy), i.e. temperature. As a rule of thumb, you can say that an extra 10 Celsius doubles chemical reaction speeds... (OK, this is VERY-VERY inaccurate, but hotter is faster for sure.) I think when you put things to the sun, the most important is the temperature. You need to turn thing on the sun regularly, because the not so sunny side is not so hot.
Moreover, did you change the solution for the bottom part of the MAC, or you just put it into the used one? If the later, it is not a surprise that it did not get so white, because some of the H2O2 did already dissolved.
What about using Chafing Dishes? They are commonly used for buffets. They can be pretty large and health code says they must be at least 140... I just checked Amazon and they have an electric chafer water pan that heats between 160 - 180. I imagine you can heat anything you place into the warm water even a custom made pan.
no uv needed hence the stove experiment
I don't think this guy thought primary school kids (-12yrs) LOVE watching his vids
I wonder why they would
@@ducksonplays4190 this was a while ago im older lololol but i was into this stuff
@@UstazFarhanBD same and i still am I've always loved computers and have been fascinated by them
I am about to retrobrite our old landline phone, which was constantly serving us up to 20 years,
and still working.
"vaccume storage bag" any good for your ozone approach. I know that they are intended to be used in the opposite way, but they are like a big zip sandwich bag, so I can't see that it wouldn't work and they come in sizes big enough for large components.
Infact, thinking about it, it might be the easiest method for all of the approaches. If they are air tight, then they will be water tight, would possibly require less solution, allow more UV to hit all sides at once and are generally cheap enough to throw away after one use if needs be.
#PrayFor8BitGuysPinky
@The 8-Bit Guy 75% percent solar eclipse refers to the hair volume of the sun, not percentage of sunlight ;)
The salon cream and the heat is a really great idea. My pentium 1 still uses an AT keyboard. I will try this if I ever get a new AT keyboard.
The half life of O3 is like 45 min. If you kept pumping it in fresh I bet it would go faster.
Bret Barnes Yep, this is a subject that's come up in several other threads.
freeman
maybe you could use a sous vide cooker to heat the water
I should point out that the peroxide 40, is actually 12% hydrogen peroxide
Ye you need about a 10% solution
I think i was ripped off
Got a gallon of "12%" but it says "Hydrogen peroxide 12" on the bottle when I got it.
Sou Vide cooker on any container. 160 degrees sustainable. Containers for all sizes and models are already made. You are welcome my guy, makes life super easy. Since this video these devices have come to market at sub 200 dollars. Love your videos!
The new intro is slowly growing on me...
Это именно то, что я искал в 3 часа ночи, спасибо Ютуб 🖤
If he had kids: mom dad’s cooking computer keys again!
He does have a daughter
There are plastic bags meant for vacuum packing textiles. That in conjunction with running ozone sounds simple.