Just as a quite warning- retrobright will make the plastic of the dreamcast white, but it will also make it more brittle, and it’s not a permanent solution. It WILL yellow again, and repeated applications of retrobright will make it more and more brittle.
Comment on Built to last
sanity_is_maddening@piefed.social 15 hours ago
Is anyone else’s Dreamcast yellow now?
I bought it in the year it was released and it was used quite a bit (euphemism) back then. But I dug it from the closet it was stored in and now is yellow. Remote control and all. All the consoles stored along with it still look the same. All the older ones looking the same as they always were, but Dreamcast decided to have that “we’re fucking old” moment with me. Haven’t tried turned it on out of fear of mortality being the next reminder it has in store for me.
ysjet@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
sanity_is_maddening@piefed.social 9 hours ago
Oh, thank you for the heads up. I got excited at the prospect of restoring it. I like to restore stuff when I can. Usually is more wood related items. Sad to hear this, but thank you for informing me though.
Maybe I’ll just have it like it is. I’ll call it a “sepia vintage” look as a cool spin to pretend I’m not jealous that others got better and more durable plastic for the same price as me.
Cheers and thanks again.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
Fair warning it will also continue yellowing and getting more and more brittle if you do nothing. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade, but it does undergo aging in a way that makes it less durable than traditional materials. Wood can be kept from biodegrading, metal can be kept from corroding, but aging plastic just gets more and more brittle and just really wants to become microplastics
eleijeep@piefed.social 13 hours ago
Let me be the one to introduce you to the rabbit hole that is retr0bright. There are numerous videos on youtube of various different methods of retro-brighting.
The most scientifically thorough treatment of the phenomenon that I’ve seen is this paper: https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/The-Retrobright-Mystery.pdf
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 10 hours ago
Soak the plastic in hydrogen peroxide and oxy booster stain fighter
For the rest of you ADHD havers who don’t have the patience to get that write up to fit on your phone screen.
sanity_is_maddening@piefed.social 13 hours ago
Wow. This has to be one of the most phenomenal hacks that someone has presented me in a long time.
I had no idea of this.
Thank you very much.
eleijeep@piefed.social 12 hours ago
No problem, let me just say that I haven’t tried it myself but I’ve watched a lot of videos of other people trying it and the worst results that I’ve seen have been the ones using a gel that they paint onto the plastic and then cover in plastic wrap. This tends to leave a streaky effect because the substance is not equally thick in every area and so it has more whitening effect where it’s thicker.
The best results that I’ve seen have been the ones that have completely submerged the plastic in a liquid peroxide solution, or have suspended the plastic above the solution to immerse it in the vapors that evaporate off from the peroxide (pure oxygen). These methods give completely uniform coverage so they whiten the plastic equally in every place.
It seems that you also need strong UV, and people that live nearer the equator have better success using the sun. But in the absence of good UV lighting, heat also seems to have some effect.
Good luck!
The_Picard_Maneuver@piefed.world 14 hours ago
Mine's still white, but I'd always heard there were different types of plastic used in consoles (and computer cases) back then, some of which would become discolored, and others wouldn't. Might be true, unless anyone in your house has been a smoker in the last 25 years.
sanity_is_maddening@piefed.social 13 hours ago
No. No smokers. And the console was stored in the original box in a closet. Not in the corner collecting dust. So it must be the plastic it was used somehow. Sad. I always really liked the Dreamcast look. And it is still one of my favorite controllers after so many years.
SparroHawc@lemmy.zip 13 hours ago
Look up a cleaning solution called ‘RetroBright’. It’s designed to remove the yellowing from the ABS housings of old electronics. I’m pretty sure the recipe for it is available free online, or you can order pre-mixed bottles of it. You have to be a little careful with it because it’s mostly hydrogen peroxide, but I hear it works great.
ysjet@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
You are correct, it’s the plastic. Or rather, the fire retardant mixed into the plastic.
tempest@lemmy.ca 5 hours ago
If I recall correctly it’s related to a fire retardant additive that oxidizes
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
My Dreamcast is pretty normal, but good God my NES.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 13 hours ago
My DC is still bright white, but my snes looks like it used to smoke.
Grass@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
that description is so on point
Wispy2891@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
I bought it 20 years ago it was already yellow lol