Yellow Fever

[CelGen]

Oh my god.......

So we have TWO Applevision 1710AV displays, the smaller AppleVision monitor with the HDI 45 connector, an ImageWriter LQ, an ImageWriter I, a IIe joystick, that A/ROSE NuBus ethernet adapter, the GeoPort modem, a Global Village Power Port Platinum, an Apple Personal Modem and a trackball.

Everything seems to of come out of the house of a smoker.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Ick. I can just hear the hacking cough of phlegm just looking at those!

And HAH! I wanted to look up more about the Apple Personal Modem, and lo and behold, what should the first search result return? Your video about it!

 

[goncalo]

Throughout this liberation process I’ve come across some dirty ol’macs.

You just can’t scrub it out – it will always have that nasty smell once it starts warming up.

And believe me, I do wash them quite thoroughly.

I did smoke for sometime, but quit back in 2004 :rambo:

 

[CelGen]

And HAH! I wanted to look up more about the Apple Personal Modem, and lo and behold, what should the first search result return? Your video about it!

Yeah, there's like....no details about the thing anywhere but now I have the Canadian and US variants of the modem all the sudden.

 

[Carboy7]

Retr0brite, anybody? Get that bleach ready, you'll be needing it.

 

[Cory5412]

It would be interesting to see how these clean up without retrobright. I worry just ever so slightly about that as a chemical process happening to that plastic. That is, perhaps, however, an unusual amount of yellow. Are all three monitors from the same environment or is there a situation where maybe one of the 1710AVs and the AudioVision 14 were in the sun, but the middle 1710AV was in some interior part of a room/office/building?

 

[Anonymous Freak]

I've gotten one "so yellowed it was brown" device - it was mostly surface soot, some scrubbing with a damp rag with a little soap got it back to "ready for Retr0brite" status, at least.

 

[Carboy7]

Instead of looking like this: It looks like this! :beige:

 

[MJ313]

 I worry just ever so slightly about that as a chemical process happening to that plastic.

I am curious what your concerns are. Are you meaning the plastics are being degraded in some way by the retrobright process? Making them weaker or something? Just wondering exactly what bothers you.

 

[CelGen]

FYI, I won't be Retrobriting these.

Once plastics are yellow, they're yellow. While some of that might be nicotine the actual process to making and using retrobrite is comparable to cooking meth, only with a group of cheese-eating idiots who argue whose formula is the best and less damaging to the plastics so they can get a few more years before it leeches out again.

If a cleaning doesn't help they're staying AS-IS.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I am curious what your concerns are. Are you meaning the plastics are being degraded in some way by the retrobright process? Making them weaker or something? Just wondering exactly what bothers you.

Yes, Retrobright has been shown to cause damage to the plastics. The degree varies as CelGen alludes to.

 

[MJ313]

Yes, Retrobright has been shown to cause damage to the plastics. The degree varies as CelGen alludes to.

How so? If an improper mixture causes superficial blooming and discoloration that's one thing to be aware of, obviously. If the free bromides continue to leach out over time and the initial regrobright 'improvements' degrade over time that's another (and pretty much to be expected). But in terms of damaging the plastics? That's what I am interested in, if you have any source you can point to.  I see a casual mention of it on wikipedia, but that's about it.

 

[unity]

Damage to plastics is just a guess and never, ever proven. But some people, like most things on the net, believe everything they read even when unfounded.  Really the most damaging thing to plastics is time.

Anyway, for general cleaning I used Scrubbing Bubbles. It penetrates the textured surface well and does not take long to do. Spray, soak, rinse with rag. Twice sometimes needed.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

http://aktuelbevaring.natmus.dk/afrensning-af-plast-med-retrobright.html

I mean, I guess a museum isn't a valid source? Ultimately if you want to preserve them long term it may not be the best choice.

 

[unity]

I dont consider microscopic etching of the plastic damage. If thats the case, then most Macs are already heavily damaged from scratches, etc. And the study they did not was not peer reviewed nor do they go into any details on formulation strength, etc. Nor did they seems to compare it to other cleaning methods....

So no, not a valid source at all.

 

[Carboy7]

If thats the case, then most Macs are already heavily damaged from scratches, etc.

Remember the rubber case of the PowerBook G3? That thing gets awful scratches. Then they get all green, and icky.

And my iMac G3? Ouchie.

 

[Byrd]

Yuck - I've been looking for one of those 14 or 17" AppleVision displays for ages.  I'd give it a good shot to clean out the smoker's tar and turn them into keepers.  And that's assuming they work - they were known to be flaky monitors, but the "good" ones just keep going.

 

[Juror22]

Their study did not include an examination of brominated ABS plastic within the 'POPART' project, so the results, including the micrographs, are not pertinent to the use of Retrobrite on vintage computer plastic.  I agree with Unity that their conclusions are not relevant or authoritative and I have found no anecdotal evidence of embrittlement or other issues with properly Retrobrited items.

I think it is nice that some (Celgen in this case) want to celebrate the golden-yellow goodness that age brings to these items.  Take good care of these, since I have found the AV monitor plastics to get rather brittle by now.  I had two of these that I got from someone in Northern Indiana and on one I had placed a small cardboard box.  A few months later, the pressure of grabbing the empty cardboard box off the top of that monitor's vents shattered the top vent area.

I had one of the 1710AV's back in the day, that came along with a PowerPC 7600 that I bought new.  The thing took an enormous amount of desk space, but it was my favorite monitor until its untimely demise.

 

[CelGen]

Take good care of these, since I have found the AV monitor plastics to get rather brittle by now.  I had two of these that I got from someone in Northern Indiana and on one I had placed a small cardboard box.  A few months later, the pressure of grabbing the empty cardboard box off the top of that monitor's vents shattered the top vent area.

Too late.

When I was loading the car a buddy of mine placed a box on top of the monitor, not realizing that the modem was sitting on top. The prongs didn't shatter the top but it cracked a fairly large area.