My First Commodore!

[carlsson]

Well, I suppose it is a good thing that buyers don't confuse original condition with refurbished, no matter how it has been achieved. However if people like to have their machines looking like new, to each their own. Exactly how much more brittle the plastic becomes over time, I haven't investigated, assuming the bromine atoms having other physical properties than the hydrogen (?) atoms binding in their place. Also the de-yellowing may depend on the exact plastic compound.

[Arnuphis]

I got retrobriting down to a fine art. I tried the brush and cream approach and that was a disaster. In the end the tank of water and salon 50 peroxide mix did the job. I've de-yellowed countless things now and all still look good with no signs of brittleness. I recommend covering any labels with electricians tape to protect the colors as I accidentally drained the colors out of an apple logo on one item! Otherwise I recommend it of your machine has the 'smoker' look.

 

@ the OP - How is your Vic-20 doing? Excited for you. It was my first computer so it has a special place in my heart.

[eightbit]

On 10/6/2020 at 11:42 AM, Arnuphis said:

I got retrobriting down to a fine art. I tried the brush and cream approach and that was a disaster. In the end the tank of water and salon 50 peroxide mix did the job. I've de-yellowed countless things now and all still look good with no signs of brittleness. I recommend covering any labels with electricians tape to protect the colors as I accidentally drained the colors out of an apple logo on one item! Otherwise I recommend it of your machine has the 'smoker' look.

 

 

 

 

So basically you can use like a sterilite tub and use plain tap water mixed with that salon 50 stuff? What is the part to part ratio? You just let the plastic part soak in it in the sun? And for how many hours? Does heat play a part or just sunlight?

 

Sorry for all of the questions, but I have never actually done it myself. I have a fairly browned C128 that I am considering testing this on and obviously would like to try to get it right the first time if I do. While I have always been an advocate of leaving things alone, I am really curious to see if this works for me on this extremely brown C128.

Edited October 8, 2020 by eightbit

[Arnuphis]

No worries. Here is the video that turned me onto this method.

 

 

[Arnuphis]

And I have done several 128s. I had one that was half brown half white with a perfect dividing line down the middle. As if one side had just had sunlight on it 24/7. 8 hours in the tub with the method above took it right back to its original color and it remains the same to this day. 

[johndias]

My VIC-20 was the first retr0brite I tried. Turned out fine but we will see if it sticks. I used liquid just like @Arnuphis in a tub, left it in the sun for a few hours.

 

Now, my attempt at doing a retr0brite on the keys, THAT was a disaster. I used cream and the outcome was discoloration of the brown. So, lesson learned on that.

 

Currently working on a retr0brite of a calculator body for my brother. He asked me to give it a try, even after I explained the possible issues.

 

WRT brittleness. I, in my very limited experience, have not found the plastics to be brittle - at least for the age. My guess is that the plastics that are yellowed also suffered structurally from the same environmental stress, and the assumption is that the process made them brittle, when in reality they were already brittle.

 

Quote

@ the OP - How is your Vic-20 doing? Excited for you. It was my first computer so it has a special place in my heart.

Looks great (except for the above mentioned key botch) and runs great. I recapped it, but I'm toying with the idea of doing the S-Video mod. Not 100% sure I want to go that route yet. I did get the Penultimate+ cart, love that thing! Oh and the spring I lost on the keyboard; got a replacement in and I'm whole again!

Edited October 9, 2020 by johndias

[eightbit]

8 hours ago, Arnuphis said:

And I have done several 128s. I had one that was half brown half white with a perfect dividing line down the middle. As if one side had just had sunlight on it 24/7. 8 hours in the tub with the method above took it right back to its original color and it remains the same to this day. 

Thanks for the video. I have a 32oz bottle of the Salon 40 coming and a nice sunny and relatively warm (or so the forecast says) weekend....so here goes nothing! In the video he just pours some (or all?) of the Salon 40 in with the water but he does not say how much. Someone actually asked in the comments what the water to slon part ratio is and he says he'll get to it in another video....bah.

 

That said, how much do you use? I am going to attempt one half of the C128 casing in a clear sterilite tub I have that is wide but around 4-5 inches tall. So, just enough warm/hot water to cover the shell. How much of the 32oz bottle would you put in there? Is too much a bad thing?

 

Thanks for the insight by the way. Really would love to see this come out looking new again!

[johndias]

You don't need a lot, @eightbit. I did about a 50/50 mix of water and Salon 40. Just be sure to wash your hands after you touch the solution - at first you won't notice anything but it will start to burn your skin. Gloves would be ideal when handling. You can always add more if you think you aren't getting results but if you get little bubbles on the plastics after about an hour or so, it's doing the job.

 

Just my limited experience, of course.

[eightbit]

18 minutes ago, johndias said:

You don't need a lot, @eightbit. I did about a 50/50 mix of water and Salon 40. Just be sure to wash your hands after you touch the solution - at first you won't notice anything but it will start to burn your skin. Gloves would be ideal when handling. You can always add more if you think you aren't getting results but if you get little bubbles on the plastics after about an hour or so, it's doing the job.

 

Just my limited experience, of course.

 

Thanks! Guess it's time to roll the dice and see what happens. This C128 is pretty yellow (the bottom half is smokers brown) so it can't get any worse.

[Arnuphis]

I usually toss in half a bottle. Depends on the size of the item. I did throw a whole bottle in for the 'caramel' 128 though. May have been overkill but boy was that thing brown!

[eightbit]

I thought today was going to be a sunny day, but serious overcast. That was unfortunate. When I started it in the morning it was sunny. Well, it still had great results even with little sun, but there are patches of yellow that I will want to get out in a second treatment if we ever get any sun here in NJ. Still, quite impressed with this method. Before and after attached.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2020 by eightbit