Interest check: PC Engine Duo-R whitening service

[Mathius]

My Duo-R is in decent shape. It's barely got the dreaded "yellow" disease, however in certain light a tiny bit of yellow shows itself along with a lot of smudges that I can't seem to get rid of. Is there anyone here that does any kind of service to improve the looks of a Duo-R?

[Game-Tech.US]

I've not really considered offering it as a service, for one because its only 10 seconds of work, but every half hour or so spread over a lot of time, sometimes days, and also because anyone can do it for cheap and its really quite fun!
You could also paint it, krylon fusion has plastic spray bombs that work great, I used their gloss white on an nes zapper and it looked rather modernized like a wii or apple product.

[Mathius]

I am not really looking to spray paint it. And as far as Retr0bright goes I don't really trust myself with chemicals. Plus, in my area anyone buying chemicals like that is surely making meth. I don't really want to go down that road.

[Keith Courage]

Bleach works really well with duo-r systems. You need to take the case apart to remove the insides of the duo. Also, remove the metal parts that hold together the CD drive lid and spring for the open CD button. Bleach can corrode those. Then soak the entire plastic case in a bucket of bleach for one night. Works great.

Alternatively, if you don't want to take the system apart you can also use a drywall sanding pad to rub the yellow off of it. It has to be the super fine kind. Almost feels like cloth in your hands. It rubs off the layer of yellow and does not leave behind any sanding marks this way. Here is a pic what I have used when I need to only whiten up a few spots.

[Mathius]

Bleach works really well with duo-r systems. You need to take the case apart to remove the insides of the duo. Also, remove the metal parts that hold together the CD drive lid and spring for the open CD button. Bleach can corrode those. Then soak the entire plastic case in a bucket of bleach for one night. Works great.

That won't remove the blue "PC Engine Duo" lettering?

[Keith Courage]

The purpleish blue lettering stays just fine and looks perfectly clear and not faded. Bleach also works on pc engine systems and white controllers. However, it does nothing for a yellowed pc engine CD drive. Not sure what different kind of plastic was used on those.

[GohanX]

I couldn't get bleach to work on my old Duo R controller either. It helped, but it made it a yellow instead of brown, that thing was nasty. I was wondering about the white PCE CD drives, it sucks that bleach won't work on those.

Similar to Keith's sanding pad, I've had good luck with Mr. Clean Magic Erasers on the Duo R. I've tried it on two different Duo R's and they both look brand new again, but they weren't really yellow, just covered in black marks. Be careful around the logo though, a Magic Eraser will remove it!

[incrediblehark]

I can also vouch for the magic eraser as far as cleaning game systems go, never tried it to remove yellowing.

[GohanX]

It depends on what is causing the yellowing. If it's dirt or cigarette smoke, it does a good job. If it is the plastic itself just turning yellow at random despite being kept clean, it won't help.

[ApolloBoy]

The purpleish blue lettering stays just fine and looks perfectly clear and not faded. Bleach also works on pc engine systems and white controllers. However, it does nothing for a yellowed pc engine CD drive. Not sure what different kind of plastic was used on those.

Personally I wouldn't use bleach as it can weaken the plastic while it whitens it.

[HercTNT]

i have attempted retrobright on an old snes for practice. I have to tell you its not easy. You really have to have strong enough peroxide (thats hard for me to find) and a really good source of UV light. I only had one lamp with a single uv bulb. I managed to reduce the yellow a very tiny tiny bit. I to would like to know a better, less toxic method for plastic aging.

[Game-Tech.US]

Oxy detergent and regular %3 hydrogen peroxide won't put you on the meth maker list...

[henrycsc]

Bleach is not good for the plastic.  Over time it can make the plastic brittle, and I think it can cause pits as well.

Retr0brite is really not hard at all.

Get hydrogen peroxide from a hair supply store (they use it to color/remove color I think)  6% to 12% shouldn't be hard to find.
you also need Oxy clean - the cheap knock off from Dollar General will work just fine

The other stuff is just to make a paste (which also requires less of the peroxide/oxy mixture), but you don't need it for the reaction.

The biggest issue you will have is taking the unit apart, and if you want to salvage the serial number.  If those arent an issue for you, the liquid bath is easy.

The only other components you need is a container to soak everything and sunlight.  I used a 10 gallon fish tank (flat bottom).  Something non-plastic works best so it doesnt use up some of the active ingredients.

You might need a gallon or two of peroxide to have enough to cover a duo shell, but it will be way cheaper than sending the unit off for such a simple process.

One other suggestion.  The process forms bubbles on the surface of the plastic.  Placing a piece of glass over the item to keep it from floating up out of the solution is helpful.  You just want to stir the pot every now and again to make sure you get an even coat.

[HercTNT]

I dont know if its new hampshire law or what, but i cant seem to find anything higher than 3% peroxide.  Also this time of year, sunlight for us is limited   I'm not familiar with the soaking method. what i found online was to microwave the oxy, peroxide, and arrowroot in the microwave to make a foamy paste and slather it on. apparently if it dries out it stops working and i cant get it to stop drying out. Any info on what i'm doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.

[henrycsc]

Have you checked out this thread?
http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=7383.0