Hi everyone. I have 2 Apple IIc's. The one I use more or less often and is in my house has maintained its color pretty well. The seond one I have, which was stored in the Attic, inside bubble wrap packaging has turned yellow! How can this happen since it doesn't have any contact with the Sun's rays?
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heat has yellowed the plastic. Attics are notorious for getting hot.
Thanks, I didin't know that! I thought it was sun rays! I was keeping my 2nd IIc as a backup collectible, now it looks worse than my daily IIc.
There are several threads about whitening a yellowed //c case. I've never done it, and if you find a method that works for you it would be great if you share it here.
What do you use your //c for ?
Here's mine when I used to travel with it in the 80s:
Apple ::c Prairie Portable Power Pack.jpg
Well, of course, the BMOW Floppy EMU is a recent addition.
I use mine for writing BASIC programs and mostly for reliving my youth. I save programs on disks (its still going strong). I'm also doing some 6502 Assembly lately.
Of course, I also run a few games now and then.
Im not a pro for apple stuff - but for nintendo and co -
in some versions of the nintendo snes case there is a chemical mixed in to prevent burning. (bromine)
so these cases yellow very strong even without beiing exposed to sunlight or nicotine.
some people "retrobright" them with a bleach (gel) and plastic foil. most of the time this results in an uneven bleaching and is no good.
my technique is easy - just buy a big (really big) bottle of h2o2 ( check out swimmin pool supply) - then on a sunny day you put the case in a clearbox and submerse it completely in the h2o2 and put it in the direct sun for a few hours. it will be shiny new after that - for at least a few years depening on how much of these chemicals are used in the plastic.
rgds dario
Thank you for the info!
Javier Rivera is the undisputed master of RetroBrite and his method is foolproof, if followed closely.
There are other ways to do it, but if you follow his procedure carefully your de-yellowing results will be flawless.
https://youtu.be/3Jjh8gC-apY
Thanks for the link!
I didn't watch the whole video, yet, but this seems to be a method, where you mix your own cream and retrobright it be puuting the cream on the plastics.
This method is far from being foolproof... if you miss to massage the package regularily you will likely get a very stained result.
I recommend submerging the case in a Water-H2O2-Mixture, as the 8-Bit-Guy does in several of his videos.
And one of his videos:
https://youtu.be/_GH0ZpaTwqs
I don't understand why there isn't a simple paint spray that one can spray the machine while covering the keyboard and some other parts. Wouldn't that be the simplest method?
You would need a properly tinted paint for every device out there that yellows. A //c is a different color than a IIgs, which is a different color than a Super Nintendo, etc. But they all yellow overtime. This works on any shade of plastic. Plus paint can scratch off fairly easily. And maybe things have gotten better in paint technology over the years, but it used to have a lousy track record for sticking to certain kinds of plastics.
You can spray paint a II/II+ or IIe easily, in fact I have done this with a clone already, the result was better than I expected. Biggest problem is to find the exact color for the case.
Unfortunally you cannot spraypaint a IIc, because there are some markings (Reset, 40/80, ...) printed on the case, which you would have to restore, too. And I do not have any guess, how these things could be reprinted on the maschine.
Well, if you own a IIc Monitor, it is easy to get the original color: just take the painted monitor stand to the hardware store and let them mix the correct color.
But as I mentioned above, there is another problem with paintig the case.
I have the IIc original little monitor with the stand. It's as yellow as my 2nd IIc. If I only had known about the heat...
First off retrobrighting is easy. Secondly if you ever sell the machine YOU NEED TO DIVULGE IT WAS PAINTED. Many of us dont want modified/painted computers. I bought a IIgs that someone painted a light shade of yellow! I thought it was just yellowing but he painted the thing that color?!? It took so much work to strip the paint then retrobright the computer and make it look nice. I never ever would have bought it if I knew it was painted. Why? Most people dont know how to paint properly for one thing...
Not the keys. The keys don't change color (except the spacebar). The keys are made of PBT and that does not contain the bromine that causes the yellowing. If you're taking a IIc, its fairly trivial to take it fully apart. < 15 screws total to get the top, bottom, and rear panel pieces out.
Hmmm, that doesn't sound too difficlut. I thought because it is compact, it would be harder. I'll remove the screws tonight as a first step, thanks.
Here's two good videos:
Apple IIc Restoration and video jack repair - YouTube
Troubleshooting and fixing a dead Apple IIc - YouTube
Thanks.
You gotta be kidding!! LMAO!
That is indeed, hilarious. I'd chance that the seller thought the same.
Who paints a system urine yellow?! Perhaps they wanted it to match their accessories. 8)
My retrobrite-esque tips: You need strong UV to activate these solutions. Go to your local pet store and buy some reptile UV lamps, and use those in and around a glass tank if you can. (I used to have a full lab set-up for this.)
Second, do not use a paste. Use a full, submerged, liquid solution in an aquarium, and the UV lamps on all six sides. Suspend it with metal hanger rods that gently touch the inner lips of the case. This allows a uniform distribution of UV light and a uniform distribution of H2o2. Be sure to gently stir the mixture every 12 to 24 hours, and replenish the H2O2 as needed. In my experience, a gentler solution with good UV lighting over a longer period of time works best.
Is there anything definitive yet on long term effects? Specifically, whether these treatments weaken the plastic?
I keep all vintage computers including documentation is plastic containers in a very cool and dark room, other than UV Light and heat, moisture or the occasional roaming insect can show up even in places you least suspect.
Apple IIC - 2.jpg
Screenshot 2025-03-05 100100.jpg
You can buy a new DARK SIDE VADER case from MacAffects, it will be glorious once again!
... and in post #29, 'baldrick' reported that he did not see any issues with his retrobrighted computers.
My own experiences with both the gel and the liquid 'Retrobrighting' process also were good, except for one issue I repeatedly saw on key caps. They tend to get a dull spot at the location where the fingers touch them. Inspection with a stereo microscope showed that the structure of the plastic (typically, ABS) was damaged in these spots. The best word I can offer for what I saw is "spongy". In other words, more hollow spots than normal. My theory is that somehow the mechanical abrasion from the typing fingers may have worn down the shiny (when new) surface of the keycap until it got rougher, and finger fat closed these voids, so it still looked shiny, but the 'Retrobright' process somehow removed the finger fat and then these rough spots look dull.
The remedy is to apply plastic surface restorer normally used for plastic parts of older cars, but avoid those with silicone oil - the latter give a shiny surface by always make the key caps feel slippery and nasty. Some of these products seem to be some sort of fluid wax emulsion, which will dry and can be polished with a rag to be shiny. Shady used car dealers use these products by the bucket to turn ugly neglected cars with dull plastic noone would buy into attractive beauty queens, buyer beware. Same applies for retrobrighted computers.
- Uncle Bernie
It would be interesting to test the effects of hybrid wax-ceramic coatings on objects like key caps. These coatings are applied like a wax but are very hard and hydrophobic once dried, and quite durable also.