7100 Name badge removal

[Mark Newlon]

Hey gang, I’m attempting to retro bright my 7100. How can I safely pop the square name badge off?

thanks

 

[joshc]

It pops out with a straightened paper clip from the back of the bezel. I think from memory you need to take the front bezel off.

Bear in mind that retro bright in can weaken the plastic and the yellowing will return. Personally I advise against it as these machines are so old I think it’s perfectly acceptable to acknowledge they’ll never look like brand new again. Embrace the yellow!

Whatever you decide to do though, best of luck - will be interesting to see the results.

 

[Mark Newlon]

Thank you. I heard a lot of good and bad re: retro brighting, but I wanted to see for myself what it will do. This is not a machine I'm too worried about re:L appearance so I figured & roll the dice! lol

 

[cobalt60]

Maybe painting is a better idea? My understanding is the ABS becomes brittle because plasticizers or something leach out of it; perhaps painting would seal these in?

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

I’ve heard people talk about clear coating them after retrobriting to attempt to prevent any re yellowing, but I’ve yet to see any data on this, let alone any long term data. Would be interested to know.

I’m honestly not sure if anyone knows what causes the plastics to become brittle at all. Ive heard people say it’s BFRs, plasticizers, UV, storage conditions, shrinkage, or some combination of them all. I’d like to know the proper science behind it, with proper sources to back it up. Seems like there’s a lot of confusion surrounding it all.

 

[Juror22]

Bear in mind that retro bright in can weaken the plastic

I'm sorry, but I have never seen this occur. Bad plastics e.g. 'Spindler' items will not necessarily be improved, but I have seen other items that were severely yellowed, and following a correct, retrobriting were in better shape afterwards. Yes, they had improved flexibility as well as appearance, following the treatment than they had before. As for re-yellowing, there are ways to slow and possibly prevent that (UV protectant) and it takes a long time (on the order of years) to re-occur.

I'm guessing that if you contrast that with a lousy job of retro briting by over-bleaching the crap out of the plastics and then storing it in a garage or storage unit, without temperature control for a few years, that maybe the plastics won't fare as well.

How can I safely pop the square name badge off?

As for the main item, I have a small round steel rod that is slightly larger than a paperclip that I use for this. I have no idea where I got it from, but think it came from a printer that I disassembled, originally and it works perfectly for popping these out.