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Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 7:47 am
by GradualGames
Anyone tried retrobrighting their old yellowed consoles? My SNES is pretty yellow. This video seems to produce good results.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 8:58 am
by tokumaru
I've never used actual retrobright, but hydrogen peroxide alone and sunlight has worked wonders for me. I can't remember if I used it on a SNES, but I distinctly remember buying an incredibly yellowed SNES controller because it was cheap (significantly cheaper than one that wasn't yellowed, but was all scratched up), and making it look like new.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:42 am
by mikejmoffitt
There are good results, but it will often slowly revert to some extent (4-5 months) and the plastics may become brittle, so do it while acknowledging some risk.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:15 pm
by GradualGames
mikejmoffitt wrote:There are good results, but it will often slowly revert to some extent (4-5 months) and the plastics may become brittle, so do it while acknowledging some risk.
I've read the precise opposite elsewhere that the chemical process actually strengthens the plastic. I thought the brittleness was from the *original* yellowing and might not be affected by this process.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:20 pm
by rainwarrior
I actually like the yellowed SNES look, myself.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:21 pm
by GradualGames
rainwarrior wrote:I actually like the yellowed SNES look, myself.
Gives it some distinguished character, eh? :lol:

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:21 pm
by nesrocks
This just in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZYbchvSUDY

TLDW: it seems that a plastic bag, an ozone generator and the sun is the best solution.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:30 pm
by GradualGames
Hmm now I'm finding links that seem to corroborate that it does permanently change the chemical structure of the plastic.

http://www.vcfed.org/forum/archive/inde ... 30057.html

Now I'm wondering if an expert console modder could simply paint over the yellowed plastic with precisely the same color gray as an original console :lol:

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:58 pm
by tokumaru
nesrocks wrote:TLDW: it seems that a plastic bag, an ozone generator and the sun is the best solution.
What do you mean? The ozone technique didn't make the key as white as the hydrogen peroxide + sunlight did, which was what he ended up using on the computer case in the end.

I'm pretty sure that the stuff I use is the same thing as the cream he showed in the video. It worked great the few times I've used it, but apparently it can fail sometimes, as seen in the video.

EDIT: Here are the results:
retrobright.jpg
Ozone + sunlight is still quite yellow.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:06 pm
by thefox
tokumaru wrote:
nesrocks wrote:TLDW: it seems that a plastic bag, an ozone generator and the sun is the best solution.
What do you mean? The ozone technique didn't make the key as white as the hydrogen peroxide + sunlight did, which was what he ended up using on the computer case in the end.
He said it probably would have restored it completely with more time. He didn't have a large enough zip bag to use it on large items like the case.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:09 pm
by tokumaru
thefox wrote:He said it probably would have restored it completely with more time.
Then I guess someone has to test it before claiming it's the best solution based on his hunch. From the testing that was done, it's clearly not the best solution.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:21 pm
by Pokun
GradualGames wrote:Hmm now I'm finding links that seem to corroborate that it does permanently change the chemical structure of the plastic.

http://www.vcfed.org/forum/archive/inde ... 30057.html

Now I'm wondering if an expert console modder could simply paint over the yellowed plastic with precisely the same color gray as an original console :lol:
Sounds like retrobright and such solutions are only good to make old machines look new again, but bad for preservation.

At least their spirits may be preserved in decap photos, circuit diagrams and ROM dumps, and may be revived in FPGAs and such in the future.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:27 pm
by tokumaru
One strange thing about the SNES is how the top and bottom parts of the case often yellow differently.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:29 pm
by GradualGames
Yeah it sounds like it doesn't even last. I don't see the point. Hence why I'm now considering getting a paint job that just makes it look 99% like the original shade of gray. Only thing is the super nintendo logo would probably get covered up by the paint, unless I were to make some sort of highly precise stencil around it perhaps, haha.

Re: Retrobright an old SNES?

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:41 pm
by tokumaru
My experiences with painting plastic weren't the greatest. Even if you can match the color, painting it uniformly and making sure no dust or hair comes near the thing while the paint is wet is pretty hard.