How do you deal with yellowing plastic on NES/SNES decks? Paint?

[Video_Invader]

I'm curious. Has anyone actually discovered a color match for the gray and painted over the yellowing plastic? I'd be interested in what works and how.

[Oldschool80skid]

Goto youtube for retrobright tutorials. However, instead of using the recipe you can use Salon care 40 volume peroxide creme. A 32 Oz is about $3.00 at Sallys beauty supply. I just did this with my snes and nes 4 score. It brings the color right back by reversing the yellowing process caused by UV light. Good luck.

[Video_Invader]

Goto youtube for retrobright tutorials. However, instead of using the recipe you can use Salon care 40 volume peroxide creme. A 32 Oz is about $3.00 at Sallys beauty supply. I just did this with my snes and nes 4 score. It brings the color right back by reversing the yellowing process caused by UV light. Good luck.

Nice! I'll give it a shot. Got any before and after pics of yours?

[Andromeda Stardust]

My NES Advantage has a nice Yellowed Patina. I would leave well enough alone honestly. I assume Retrobrite and similar methods will only serve to further degrade the plastic or make it more brittle long term.

 

My NES has a smooth top but if I recall all NES lids were cream colored even back in the day. My SNES never suffered from the dreaded yellowing syndrome. I guess I was among the lucky ones...

 

The yellow syndrome for 90's Nintendo gear is well known to be caused by a large batch of ABS with incorrect formulation and general omission of a key stabilization compound that retards oxidization. It somehow passed quality inspection and this stock of light gray ABS was used to manufacture all manner of SNES parts and accessories. The mismatched plastics commonplace on SNES consoles is due to the parts coming off different batches.

 

Fun fact: Unlike yellowing resulting from UV damage, the SNES yellow discoloration is caused by oxidation and is present equally outside and inside the console.

Edited August 7, 2015 by stardust4ever

[Oldschool80skid]

I have not experienced any brittling caused by retrobright nor has any of the evidence and testimonials on the Web shown this either. Here is a link to explain the science and dismiss assumptions based on empirical evidence.

 

http://www.retr0bright.com/

 

P.S. My SNES is from '91 and I am the original owner. The yellowing on my console was uniform on the rear of both shells. This was because the area in my console organizer had an opening for the cables which exposed the back of the console to sunlight. There was absolutely no yellowing anywhere else inside or outside.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Oldschool80skid

[Oldschool80skid]

Nice! I'll give it a shot. Got any before and after pics of yours?

Sorry. I don't. I didn't bother because there are so many on the web already.

[Oldschool80skid]

I did find pictures of my 4 score below before and after the retrobright process. As you can see it brings it back to the original NES grey.

[AtariLeaf]

I have not experienced any brittling caused by retrobright nor has any of the evidence and testimonials on the Web shown this either.

 

 

Perhaps it depends on the formula used. I'm no expert and have never used it but a quick google search on retrobrite and brittle does bring up some hits that people are experiencing it so there are testimonials that back up the potential downside to retrobrite. Some have said the yellowing does also return over time. Personally I'm not going to use it, at least until I see a lot further testing and more positive experiences over a couple of years time

[CatPix]

Well all the things I heard from the retrobrite are positive. and yes, yellowing will return over time, as retrobrite barely return the plastic to a previous state, it doesn't "bleach" it (or so that's what I understood from it).

As for gettting brittle, maybe people are mixing up a cause and consequence.

From my personal experience, yellowing, or aging, cause the SNES rear end to get brittle (I don't know about the US model, but the JAP/PAL models backs are made of fins,and are naturally more fragile).

So, naturally, if the brittleness?() is caused by aging or yellowing, or both, people might experience brittle plastic during retrobriting their console, because they handle the plastic shells.

And they would say that their console shell got brittle after the retrobrite treatment, when in fact it was brittle BEFORE, but they never noticed as the console was sitting on a shelf and wasn't being handed and dismantled.

Edited August 8, 2015 by CatPix

[+KeeperofLindblum]

I considered doing RetroBright, but I decided not to take a chance with all the chemicals.

Personally, I liked the idea of painting them with a new color scheme instead. Of course, I then tried to sell said painted console with nobody seeming interested...
SO! If it is just for you, I'd say go for a cool paint job like I did. A good couple coats of decent paint (I used spray paint that's supposed to bond to the plastic), a nice clear coat on top (I kept doing this wrong because I suck XD), and then you end up with a cool looking and unique console that won't yellow again because you covered up the possibility of that.

Examples of what I did below.

Codename: Iron Man - Wasn't sure what to initially paint it and ended up with this. It looks good overall, but I will say to NOT paint the controllers unless you know what you are doing. They look cool, but I ended up leaving fingerprints all over. >_<



Codename: Salamander - Was supposed to be themed after the Warhammer 40k Space Marines called Salamander. However... didn't really go that way. This is the first one I did and lots of bad spots because I made stupid decisions while spraying it.

[CatPix]

Honestly man... Your paint jobs here are mediocre at best. No wonder why you never got to sell one - they are not interesting nether well done.

I think it take more care to paint a console - to sand the surface to get it smoother, as IMO the grainy touch of the original surface isnt suited for painting. Get better paints, like modeling paints; and use sticky tape to make better work - there is paint overlapping places and thing.

I don't wanna sound rude, but you have much much room for improvement here. First in the technique, then in the theme. Many people like their consoles pristine, or favour hardware modding.

I mean if your Iron Man paint is supposed to recall the hero.. well to me it doesn't work. You should improve, then think about including logos and/or signs that recall a theme of what it's supposed to recall.

 

I mean compare your work and this :

I'm not much fan of the blue LEDs,but otherwise.. This I could buy.

[+KeeperofLindblum]

Honestly man... Your paint jobs here are mediocre at best. No wonder why you never got to sell one - they are not interesting nether well done.

I think it take more care to paint a console - to sand the surface to get it smoother, as IMO the grainy touch of the original surface isnt suited for painting. Get better paints, like modeling paints; and use sticky tape to make better work - there is paint overlapping places and thing.

I don't wanna sound rude, but you have much much room for improvement here. First in the technique, then in the theme. Many people like their consoles pristine, or favour hardware modding.

I mean if your Iron Man paint is supposed to recall the hero.. well to me it doesn't work. You should improve, then think about including logos and/or signs that recall a theme of what it's supposed to recall.

You're not being rude, but at the same time I realize it's a mediocre job. Those were my first attempts at painting pretty much anything ever.

I wasn't aiming at the super professional paint job. I don't have the time, effort, or skill to paint them to that detail.

I wasn't even asking beyond average price for them because I realize I didn't do that well. I did a minor amount of research to suggest what I should do as far as the entire process went.

 

And like I said, the "Iron Man" one was kinda just thrown together. I wasn't trying to illicit the idea of a TRUE Iron Man thing so much as just theme colors I went with. If you notice the black eject switch on the Salamander one, it looks like crap. I kept trying to paint on a Salamander logo (Warhammer 40k), but I never got that off the ground. I didn't know how to make a proper stencil so that became a mess. And I actually have model paint but didn't think to try and use that...

 

The only thing I'd like to state against what you said is "I never claimed to be a professional or sell at said prices."

I was mostly suggesting that a paint job might be a better or easier route as opposed to (essentially) bleaching the SNES with the Retrobright. (I know it's not that simple but that's what it comes down to honestly.)

[lushgirl_80]

Ironically I sold a yellowed Super NES last month for 50 bucks. Was surprised they still bought it. I wondered about this myself when I had it. My solution was just to sell it lol. I noticed the Japanese Super Famicoms have the same problem . I think next time I purchase a Super NES I'll make sure it is not yellowed.

 

Makes me think people at Sega were smarter to use better looking plastics for their consoles. Sega Genesis still looks cooler.

[famicommander]

Don't use paints, use vinyl dye. It bonds with the plastic instead of coating it and you should get a much more consistent and even look.

[Oldschool80skid]

You're not being rude, but at the same time I realize it's a mediocre job. Those were my first attempts at painting pretty much anything ever.

I wasn't aiming at the super professional paint job. I don't have the time, effort, or skill to paint them to that detail.

I wasn't even asking beyond average price for them because I realize I didn't do that well. I did a minor amount of research to suggest what I should do as far as the entire process went.

 

And like I said, the "Iron Man" one was kinda just thrown together. I wasn't trying to illicit the idea of a TRUE Iron Man thing so much as just theme colors I went with. If you notice the black eject switch on the Salamander one, it looks like crap. I kept trying to paint on a Salamander logo (Warhammer 40k), but I never got that off the ground. I didn't know how to make a proper stencil so that became a mess. And I actually have model paint but didn't think to try and use that...

 

The only thing I'd like to state against what you said is "I never claimed to be a professional or sell at said prices."

I was mostly suggesting that a paint job might be a better or easier route as opposed to (essentially) bleaching the SNES with the Retrobright. (I know it's not that simple but that's what it comes down to honestly.)

I don't believe retrobright is a bleaching process, but rather a chemical process that reverses the effect of the UV light damage. The process restored my NES 4 score to it's original grey color while not affecting the red logo at all. If it was bleaching then it would have turned white and faded the red logo.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Oldschool80skid

[Oldschool80skid]

Moderator please delete.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Oldschool80skid

[CatPix]

I don't believe retrobright is a bleaching process, but rather a chemical process that reverses the effect of the UV light damage. The process restored my NES 4 score to it's original grey color while not affecting the red logo at all. If it was bleaching then it would have turned white and faded the red logo.

Thanks for confirming that.

So yeah as someone mentionned, eventually, if the issue come from unstable chemicals, the yellowing will come back eventually. But then you can use retrobrite again.

Edited August 11, 2015 by CatPix

[Oldschool80skid]

Thanks for confirming that.

So yeah as someone mentionned, eventually, if the issue come from unstable chemicals, the yellowing will come back eventually. But then you can use retrobrite again.

If you keep the plastic away from direct sunlight or UV lighting it should not yellow. I have other consoles that were better protected by me over the past 20+ years which show no signs of yellowing. They have the ABS stamp on the iside of their shells.

[CatPix]

I was thinking about the consoles that have fire retardants that yellow (and I have seen it) even in the dark, kept boxed. in any case, the retrobrite will do.

Edited August 11, 2015 by CatPix

[Oldschool80skid]

I was thinking about the consoles that have fire retardants that yellow (and I have seen it) even in the dark, kept boxed. in any case, the retrobrite will do.

I was too. I did read also that extreme heat can cause the yellowing process even if the item is stored in the dark.

[Video_Invader]

I'll be curious to see how my SNES turns out. Its not the worst i've seen and its only on certain parts. Not the intire unit.

[CatPix]

It's a common thing, and least on Japanase/European decks. It's pretty bizarre. My SNin was clearly victim of the fire retardants chemical and not sunfading : the under side of the console is yellow.. and it's painfully obvious because the door for the external conenctor is bright grey :

 

 

Jeez I gotta finish to clean it

[icemanxp300]

This is how I deal with yellowing. I sell them and buy nice looking ones. Doing retro-bright or something to make it white/gray again is too time consuming and the ingredients cost too much. Painting them is an option, but I think stuff like re-whitening them is too costly and time consuming for what they are worth.

[Oldschool80skid]

This is how I deal with yellowing. I sell them and buy nice looking ones. Doing retro-bright or something to make it white/gray again is too time consuming and the ingredients cost too much. Painting them is an option, but I think stuff like re-whitening them is too costly and time consuming for what they are worth.

My SNES was only yellow in the rear on both shells. It cost me $3.00 and one day with disassembly, retrobright application, cleaning, drying, and reassembly. I purchased a 32 Oz bottle of 40 VOL peroxide creme from Sallys Supply. It worked the same as the official retrobright recipe.

[icemanxp300]

My SNES was only yellow in the rear on both shells. It cost me $3.00 and one day with disassembly, retrobright application, cleaning, drying, and reassembly. I purchased a 32 Oz bottle of 40 VOL peroxide creme from Sallys Supply. It worked the same as the official retrobright recipe.