There’s something on YouTube for everyone, no matter what your “thing” is. Case in point: I personally like watching videos where people clean and restore old tech. First of all I usually remember the thing from when it was new, and it makes me sad to see it looking so beat up. Then of course I love the idea that you can take something that old and still give it some use. It’s an extra added bonus that most of these things look brand new when they’re done, which is similar to the way I remember them looking.
This television was made in 1989. Which, to my way of thinking, wasn’t that long ago. And yet it’s far enough in the past that this little 5″ beauty looks like a creature from another age. Which I suppose it is. After all, you haven’t been able to watch TV in a moving vehicle since 2009, and that was 20 years after this TV was made.
This TV gets torn down, given a lot of love, and put back together. In the end it works if you’re playing Nintendo but still doesn’t get over-the-air broadcasts because broadcasting tech has changed since then. Still, it’s a neat little project to bring it back from the dead.
Personally I have to admit to some curiosity about the “retrobright” process used in this video. Retrobright is a term for a process that involves combining hydrogen peroxide, UV light, and a little heat to turn old yellowed plastics back to white. There are a lot of different methods but in the end it’s peroxide, UV, warmth, and time. If you live in the southwest, you get three of those things for free. The fourth isn’t so expensive.
From what I can tell, the process was first discovered in the mid-2000s seemingly by accident. A lot of electronics in the 1980s even before used white plastic. It was just the style back then. Depending on the particular composition, the white plastic had a tendency to turn yellow. It’s interesting to look at some of these old devices where they used two different plastics. Old keyboards generally turn yellow except for the space bar. Because that was bigger I guess they used a different composition.
So apparently over time, UV light causes chemical changes in the plastic which cause it to turn yellow. And even more oddly, more UV light when bathed in peroxide will reverse the process. Generically this has become known as “retrobright” although apparently purists will tell you it’s only “really” retrobright if you use some sort of catalyst in the peroxide. But others will tell you it works pretty well no matter what. You can use weak peroxide or strong, and it seems to take a different amount of time. If the sun is strong enough and you’re willing to wait a couple of weeks you don’t even need peroxide apparently.
I don’t know anyone who’s actually done this. Is there anyone who’s read this article who’s actually tried it? I kind of want to try it myself but I’m not sure what piece of yellowed plastic I’d start with. So many to choose from…
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Case in point
This television was made in 1989. Which, to my way of thinking, wasn’t that long ago. And yet it’s far enough in the past that this little 5″ beauty looks like a creature from another age. Which I suppose it is. After all, you haven’t been able to watch TV in a moving vehicle since 2009, and that was 20 years after this TV was made.
This TV gets torn down, given a lot of love, and put back together. In the end it works if you’re playing Nintendo but still doesn’t get over-the-air broadcasts because broadcasting tech has changed since then. Still, it’s a neat little project to bring it back from the dead.
Retrobright
Personally I have to admit to some curiosity about the “retrobright” process used in this video. Retrobright is a term for a process that involves combining hydrogen peroxide, UV light, and a little heat to turn old yellowed plastics back to white. There are a lot of different methods but in the end it’s peroxide, UV, warmth, and time. If you live in the southwest, you get three of those things for free. The fourth isn’t so expensive.
From what I can tell, the process was first discovered in the mid-2000s seemingly by accident. A lot of electronics in the 1980s even before used white plastic. It was just the style back then. Depending on the particular composition, the white plastic had a tendency to turn yellow. It’s interesting to look at some of these old devices where they used two different plastics. Old keyboards generally turn yellow except for the space bar. Because that was bigger I guess they used a different composition.
So apparently over time, UV light causes chemical changes in the plastic which cause it to turn yellow. And even more oddly, more UV light when bathed in peroxide will reverse the process. Generically this has become known as “retrobright” although apparently purists will tell you it’s only “really” retrobright if you use some sort of catalyst in the peroxide. But others will tell you it works pretty well no matter what. You can use weak peroxide or strong, and it seems to take a different amount of time. If the sun is strong enough and you’re willing to wait a couple of weeks you don’t even need peroxide apparently.
I don’t know anyone who’s actually done this. Is there anyone who’s read this article who’s actually tried it? I kind of want to try it myself but I’m not sure what piece of yellowed plastic I’d start with. So many to choose from…
The post FUN FRIDAY: Mini Car TV appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
