Silly question from newbie 2600 old/new owner.

[simonsimon69]

Hello All,

 

First post. I used to have a 2600 back in '79, and recently got it into my noggin to buy one again for old times sake. I managed to find and buy what I think is an early Sunnyvale light sixer, with I think a fairly early serial number. It's boxed and comes with everything it should I think. Anyway, my question is, does anyone know what this bubbling is on the switch plate. It looks like there is maybe a plastic film that is still in place waiting to be satisfyingly peeled off, but I'm really not sure. Is it just the plastic peeling away? If anyone's has any experience of this please can you share your knowledge.

 

Thanks everyone.

[0078265317]

Probably. Peel it and see.

[simonsimon69]

I had a go at peeling it earlier, and couldn't seem to manage it, hence posting here to see if anyone knew if they did indeed have a plastic film on them when new. It doesn't feel like it has a film on it, but it does look like it does. Perhaps I'm being to careful when trying. I'll have another go :-)

[simonsimon69]

No, can't manage it. It seems to be some sort of top coating layer coming away from the plastic sticker that makes up the switch plate. It doesn't seem to be a protective film unfortunately. I wonder if there is any way I can improve the appearance of this problem? Have any restorers come across this age related cosmetic problem before?

[Jeremy Popp]

I've never seen that on a 2600 before. One suggestion would be to carefully use a hairdryer on it, and see if it re-glues itself if you apply light pressure? I would be careful though, you don't want to melt it or somehow make it worse.

[simonsimon69]

Thanks Jeremy. Yes I had thought of maybe trying some sort of heat in some way. I will maybe take the console casing apart, and from watching YouTube, I understand the affected panel pops out, so at least I wouldn't risk damaging anything else while I experiment. It's annoying as its good condition otherwise. I have seen a couple of consoles on eBay here in the UK with the same problem, one seller even describing it as still having the protective plastic film on the switch plate, so the seller obviously thought the same as I thought at first. I wonder if it's maybe something unique to consoles that have spent years in garages etc in the colder damp environment of the U.K.? Anyway, I'll try a couple of things, and if successful I'll post back here in case it's of use to anyone else with the same defect.

[simonsimon69]

I discovered that the defect was actually that on the switch plate plastic insert, the colour was coming away from the insert. If you look at the lighter bubbling defect in the pic, under this the black paint had been left on the plastic of the actual console, and the plastic insert had pulled away from the paint. Hope that makes sense :-). Anyway, in case it's of use to anyone, I removed the casing and popped the insert out, so I just had that section, and tried heating it up with a hairdryer, without any effect. I then tried putting it in some very hot water, and for some reason this seemed to allow the plastic insert to meld with the paint again, and with a bit of manipulation, a bit like installing a screen protector to a phone, it now looks a lot better, although not perfect. Hope this is of use to someone else out there.

[zylon]

That part was used for both the sears and atari systems. They just used a different sticker/decal for making them look different. Looks like the painted or printed part delaminating from the clear top layer.

[spacecadet]

Heat gun would probably work where a hair dryer didn't, though probably not worth buying one just for this if you don't already have one.