Nes Restoration Make a Snes White Again

"I told my dentist my teeth are going yellow. He told me to article of clothing a brown tie."
~Rodney Dangerfield

(Alarm: there'due south some real chemistry here, and so brand certain to use the appropriate protection when goofing around with potentially unsafe recipes you detect on the Internet. Or in other words, if you go blind trying to shine up your Sega Dreamcast, it's your own fault!)

The controller on the left is my original and un-yellowed NES Advantage (the control grouping — ha-ha, get it?) On the right is a poor, yellowed Advantage.

If you mention to people you're using open up source chemistry constitute on the Net, most volition (rightly) assume you've opened up your own meth lab. The exception may exist when the same person is a fan of archetype video gaming. In that case, they may be snapping on their rubber gloves and donning their finest protective eyewear to concoct retr0bright. Retr0bright sounds like it may add together sparkle to your smiling—and it very well might—just as far equally gaming goes, its purpose is to clean up yellowed plastic elements of former electronics.

Erstwhile Yeller
The 1980s were a halcyon period for home computing. Systems such as the Commodore 64, the Apple IIe and even the humble Nintendo Entertainment Organization bring nerds dorsum to a kinder, gentler time when DOS ruled the earth and the hero of your favorite video game was likely an animated cake. Simply Begetter Time is relentless as a hungry cat that won't stop meowing at your door while you're trying to write a retr0bright article. He has blighted many hearty electronics' cases with an ugly, asparagus-pee yellow hue that frequently belies the hearty (and still functional) circuitry within. In a inexplainable display of randomness, certain models of the exact same system might remain allowed to discoloration while others would look like they've been left at the bottom of a swamp for decades.

This sad SNES was left for expressionless and has domestic dog hair on information technology for extra pathetic-ness. Even the bottom yellowed. The game port on the tiptop and the "EXT" tab on the bottom show the color the panel is supposed to exist.

Yellowed systems were a double edged sword with +3 wisdom and -3 charm. Despite the fact many of these old time consoles and keyboards functioned just fine, their cosmetic deficiencies immune collectors to learn them at cheap prices. Even so, trying to remove the yellow turned out to exist a sticky wicket. The obvious clean up attempts—call up "You've tried scrubbing it out…" here—all resulted in marginal and occasionally disastrous results. Plastic, unlike homo teeth, does not bleach well. Even if at that place was a slight alter in hue, the harsh chemical reaction left plastic brittle and wimpy. Elbow greased-powered lather and water was a lesson in futility as the ugly xanthous would mock even the mightiest of scubbings. Everything from toothpaste to turpentine was employed in an attempt to un-yellow plastic and they all failed.

Just we nerds are a relentless group and we tend to accept a lot of evenings open so it was just a affair of time before some really smart guys were able to crack the mystery of the yellowed electronics.

Chemistry 101 or Why Does it Look Similar Someone Peed on my Super Nintendo?
Many famous scientists from Beak Nye to Dr. Bunsen Honeydew take said for years that chemistry is pretty neat and it turns out they were right, at least when it comes to classic gaming systems. What follows is a VERY bones caption of why certain plastics turn yellow (for a more detailed business relationship, check out the retr0bright site).

Affordable, durable plastics are a complicated science but here's a simple overview: a big bulk of computers and game systems made in the 1980s used ABS plastics (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) due to their low cost and sturdy constitution. At the time, ABS mixtures had a quirky characteristic in that whenever the prime number ingredients were mixed, they tended to bond differently from batch to batch. You lot ended up with the same product but not e'er with the same structure (this is like to the way human DNA binds and why you may not wait annihilation like your sibling despite being made of the same "ingredients"). Every bit a result, some moldings fabricated of the exact same material have resisted yellowing while others began to fade in merely a few short years.

Despite the differences in chemical brand-upwardly, ABS plastics of all blends would never yellowish if naught was added to them. The downside of this is they would also burst into flames at the slightest exposure to estrus, so something has to be added to make plastics fireproof. Enter the main culprit at the center of our yellowing dilemma, the unstable element bromine. Bromine is a brownish chemic that easily blends into ABS mixtures and renders it flame retardant. The problem with bromine is that bonds rather loosely to its partner elements. In sure ABS mixtures, the bromine remains relatively stable and in-check. Modern plastics have solved this problem by chemically stabilizing bromine in their mixtures. But in the 1980s the science was notwithstanding incomplete and with it came risk that bromine molecules could become rogue.

When bromine is exposed to UV low-cal, it gets excited. Like any good molecule looking for a good time and in a state of excitement, it has the tendency to vibrate abroad from its stabilizing element (in this case, hydrogen) and seeks out a new life in the big, journal chart metropolis. Bromine is prone to the same bad behavior every bit your buddy who ends upwards marrying that crazy chick he should have never hooked up with in the beginning identify. Bromine readily bonds with oxygen, a semi-reliable partner that is never every bit stable as the adept ol' days of hydrogen. Once locked in with oxygen, bromine has a difficult time escaping and fifty-fifty when it does, a new hydrogen molecule tin can be tough to discover and thus it is prone to re-bonding with another oxygen molecule. The more bromine fuses with oxygen and away from hydrogen, the more the brown tint emerges, resulting in yellowed plastic (information technology would eventually turn completely chocolate-brown if left alone for another decade or so).

Earlier yous arraign UV light for beingness the catalyst that ruins the cute hydrogen-bromine marriage, information technology turns out that this aforementioned UV is going to be the hero of our story. Remember that UV excites bromine in a way like no other wavelength of calorie-free can. On a microscopic level, UV vibrates a bromine molecule until information technology breaks gratis and so the flim-flam hither is to have a readily available source of hydrogen molecules for bromine to latch onto. This stabilizes the hydrogen, the bromine and the oxygen and the result is your smokers' teeth yellow Nintendo reverts back to its beautiful original color.

In that location's i last trouble with this equation, namely that hydrogen on its own tends not to want to be associated with a low-life like bromine. Add to that, hydrogen is a willing partner with oxygen and so at that place needs to be a manner to "activate" a hydrogen-oxygen solution to interruption apart the bond, releasing oxygen and setting up single molecules of hydrogen set to latch on to bromine.

Chemicals to the rescue!

Hunting Down the Ingredients
The dudes who eventually solved the yellowing mystery did the community a great service by finding every day, perfectly legal ingredients to create the gel-based solution known as retr0bright. Once again, for more details and options, please visit the retr0bright open-source spider web site. Hither's what I used:

• • 10% – 12% Hydrogen peroxide solution. This provides the base of operations elements to be cleaved autonomously into hydrogen and oxygen. Note that anything above 12% can exist difficult to observe and doesn't really affect the process plenty to hazard the added danger of burning the peel. Normal grocery store hydrogen peroxide is 3%, a footling weak for our methods. I was able to larn my solution at Sally'southward Beauty Supply (male child, were they shocked when a disguised dude walked in). Many beauty supplies conduct 10% hydrogen peroxide. I got a 32 oz. bottle called Salon Care 40 Articulate for $iv.99. Brand sure it's not a cream blend, equally certain additional chemicals will mess up the process.

• • Xanthan Gum. This ubiquitous nutrient additive can exist found in powdered class at any health nutrient store and information technology'south inexpensive. I got a small bag at Whole Foods for $1.55, which was More than enough for many batches of retr0bright. It is used to turn the hydrogen peroxide into a gel to more easily coat your yellowed plastics.

• • Glycerin. Not the stuff they make bombs with, the stuff they brand soap with. This was a tough 1 to track down just it turns out many hobby / craft stores take glycerin for weirdos people who like to brand their own soap. I got a 12 oz. bottle for $3.99 at Michael's Arts & Crafts. This is used to make the gel moist and prevent it from drying out under UV light.

• • Oxy-based cleaning powder. Sold under brand names like Oxy-clean, this is an like shooting fish in a barrel to find ingredient most often sold equally a stain remover in the laundry detergent island. I got Oxy-clean for $4.99 and again, it was manner more than I needed. This is used to activate the breakdown in your hydrogen peroxide and should just be added when yous are set to employ the gel.

• • Cheap-o paintbrush. To utilise then reapply your retr0bright solution.

• • Center protection and rubber gloves. Retr0bright isn't going to sizzle through your peel merely information technology can cause irritation if left on exposed flesh for too long. More than importantly, don't go this stuff ANYWHERE most your eyes, information technology has the potential to blind. Seriously, goggle upwards when using this stuff.

• • Blender. To alloy all these goodies together. Don't worry, it won't ruin the blender but you lot will need to thoroughly wash it when you are washed.

• • Clear UV coat spray. I used a matte, articulate UV spray I got at Michael's crafts for $3.99. To exist used when the yellow is gone to prevent re-yellowing by blocking UV lite. (The spray is perfectly clear and unnoticeable).

• UV light source. Our last "ingredient", I was lucky enough to have an AeroGarden in my house merely you can use good former sunlight. Those brilliant, garish fluorescent lights found in long tubes are a skillful source of UV, much improve than black calorie-free bulbs, which only emit a minor corporeality of UV light (only would nevertheless work, they just take longer). I put my components in a foil lined box to help amplify maximum exposure.

Hither's the verbal process taken from the retr0bright website:

Merlin'due south Original Recipe

The original magical "Retr0bright" gel mixture that was found to work is:-

1 pint (500ml) Hydrogen Peroxide, 10 to 15% strength (40 vol) (bachelor from hairdressers' supplies, e.g. the 'Sally Beauty' franchise in the Uk)

2 heaped tablespoonfuls of Xanthan Mucilage (available from wellness food shops or online)

1 level teaspoonful of Glycerine (available from pharmacies)

i/4 teaspoonful of "Oxy" laundry booster

Add the Hydrogen Peroxide and Xanthan Gum to the blender or liquidiser. Mix on high speed for 5 seconds. Add the Glycerine and mix for a further v seconds. Allow the mixture remainder for a minute so mix once again for 5 seconds. A smooth, non-drip gel should have formed. This gel can be put into a dark coloured jar or tub (eastward.g. a coffee jar covered in tape) and stored, as long as you DON'T add together the "Oxy" until y'all are ready to use information technology.

To ensure the best results, you are advised to wash the parts first, to remove whatever polishes or other deposits that may lead to patchy results. For case, put your parts through a dishwasher on a absurd bicycle.

Just before you paint the gel onto the parts, add together ¼ teaspoonful of any "Oxy" blazon laundry booster and stir it in thoroughly, and then put the parts nether a UV lamp or out in the sunday.

A 24-hour interval or and then later, your parts should be as skilful equally new, wash the gel off and that'south it! It may take another handling for the worst yellowing to be reversed but in all cases it volition somewhen exist successful. To permanently prevent the yellowing from returning, just coat the parts with a clear acrylic varnish. Alternatively, y'all could employ a protective smoothen such every bit Armor-All or Autoglym to provide a UV protectant to the surface.

The Laboratory at Work
I had two test subjects to work with. Both had been caused dirt inexpensive thanks to their xanthous veneer. The showtime subject was a working, slightly yellowed NES Advantage controller I had picked up for 99 cents at a 1000 sale here in Boulder, Colorado.

My second bailiwick was in worse shape: a horribly yellowed SNES system I got at Saver's thrift store for $2.99. The price tag was originally $5.99, but when I asked the clerk if the system actually worked, she just replied, "Uhhh, ok. $ii.99". This affair was a mess and it didn't work, so the damage was beyond cosmetic just since I like to tinker with these things, I figured someday I'd be able to bring 'er back to life.

Disgusting only effective: the first round of retr0bright nether the UV lights.

I dissembled both the Advantage and the SNES (in that location's piece of cake-to-find tutorials on the web for taking apart both) and whipped up a mixture of retr0bright. I coated the plastic with the gel and set them under my UV lights over the grade of 3 -four days, leaving them exposed about 8 hours a day. You could also simply leave them outside on a bright, sunny 24-hour interval for the same results. I would recoat the systems with a thin layer of retr0bright every 2 hours or when it looked similar information technology was starting to form a dry skin on the plastic (be warned, the mixture is kind of a funky, snot-similar gel that looks a lot more like some other bodily fluid that is non snot). I would leave a glaze on overnight, and so completely rinse off the plastic in the forenoon, using condom gloves and warm faucet h2o. Then I would echo the process equally needed. Be careful not to put the solution on too thickly or let it totally dry out every bit this may cause the "white blooms" mentioned on the retr0bright site – places where the plastic actually was overexposed. I had a few subtle bloom spots on my SNES but truth be told, they are very subtle and certainly await better than the yellow blotches.

At present in a foil box for a more bromine-reassigning UV activeness!

Note that storing your retr0bright in a light-proof container is vital. I wrapped some onetime pickle jars in foil but you can apply whatsoever light-proof container. Considering yous will probably make more retr0bright than y'all need, you tin can store some away for future employ – only make sure not to add the Oxy-clean until you are ready. I used about ¼ teaspoon of Oxy-clean with about 1/3 of the total retr0bright solution that Merlin's recipe makes and stored it in a low-cal-proof container. Once added, the Oxy-clean will cause the activated solution to gradually foam up. I used this solution over a 24-60 minutes catamenia to recoat the plastic and it seemed to still be effective, though I'grand not 100% certain you could leave the Oxy-clean activated solution as well long (48 hours?) earlier it would be ineffective nether the UV low-cal.

Eureka! The Results
After 3 full days exposing the Reward and iv full days with the more deeply yellowed SNES, I was amazed to meet that this stuff actually worked! The Advantage looked amend than new and really cleaned up nicely. (It's interesting to note that any other marks, clay, marking, etc. will Non clean upwards with retr0bright; it is working on a specific molecular consequence. I simply used Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to erase a few marker lines afterward I was done retr0brighting.)

Wow, the "old" Advantage looks better than the original! It took me a while to find the missing "slow motion" button but eventually I did.

The SNES results were even more impressive. I probably could have gotten it to look perfectly new with a few more rounds, but I was happy with the results (they matched my other SNES unit that had not yellowed). The SNES has a natural purplish color cheers to a minor amount of blue paint added to the plastic blend. I wasn't certain if it would revert to the original colour but it ended up pretty darn shut. It's interesting that the INSIDE of the example was as well yellow despite having never been exposed to straight UV. This is considering the chemic reaction "reverberates" through the plastic and tin can excite bromine molecules not in the affected expanse.

Wow! This is the same ugly SNES in the previous photograph. She cleans up nicely, wouldn't you say?

The reassembled Advantage worked like a champ and looks great! As for the former SNES, I was able to society a replacement motherboard from Diamond Life Sales. Because the motherboard was made for newer SNES systems, I had to sand down a superfluous plastic mail service inside the case to have the new motherboard fit. I also removed the lower RF shield. This tin can be relatively easily modified using a Dremmel tool to fit the new motherboard. I put it all back together and like a Phoenix rising from the 16-bit ashes, the one time forsaken SNES came back to life, set to play Super Metroid and countless other classics.

The dramatic before and after. I tried to use the aforementioned light and didn't use any photoshop filters but hey, I'yard not Ansel Adams.

The bottom line: retr0bright works and information technology was a fun and inexpensive project to undertake (the most expensive affair was the replacement motherboard for the SNES, which had nil to practise with the yellowing). Plus, I was probably the only person in Boulder who bought a bunch of chemicals and a plant-based UV light growing system that wasn't doing annihilation illegal.  I learned a picayune chemistry, how to tidy up some onetime systems and in the end, peradventure a little about love. Ok, the last part probably isn't truthful. Merely at to the lowest degree my passion for classic gaming will go on in manner, thanks to my unsullied, retr0bright renovated ABS plastic.

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Source: https://www.mountainouswords.com/mountain-air/retr0bright-restoration-project/

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