Retr0bright Support Thread

[Marc]

I honestly wouldn't mind doing that

It's just working out a fair price considering that I would be standing on the shoulders of giants!

Its a simple process that you should try yourself! And seeing as I had so much luck with the pre-made gel surely you can find similar locally

 

[StrontiumDog]

I honestly wouldn't mind doing that

It's just working out a fair price considering that I would be standing on the shoulders of giants!

Its a simple process that you should try yourself! And seeing as I had so much luck with the pre-made gel surely you can find similar locally

Well, nobody else has started one up so the oppotunity is there should you wish to do it.

Can you PM me the brandname of the hydrogen peroxide gel? I'll see if I can get hold of same or simillar brand locally.

 

[Marc]

Its an own brand of the local supplier I use.

However I posted the ingredients in a post earlier. You should be able to find something similar.

 

[fitzsteve]

Put them in a bag with some bluetak and post them.. I'll return em for free

Can't have you doing it for free mate

I'll sort you out some beer tokens unless there are any small Amiga items you need I can put in the package - I'll drop you a PM.

Appreciate you offering to do this

Steve.

 

[Merlin]

I'll help the Essex boy out, if there are any members in the North of England that want their stuff given a Retr0bright makeover.

@ all

What you are looking out for is called "Creme Developer", but just be careful to check the label to make sure it doesn't mention terpenes, or any solvent stronger than alcohol. Wasagi's list earlier in the thread is a good guide, as long as you can read Latin

 

[StrontiumDog]

I think I'll give the neat 12%, a bit of TAED and some Xanthan Gum mixture a whirl. The UK is supposed to be getting back the hot weather this weekend so it'll be an ideal time for a few tests of the gel in sunlight.

-------------------------------

The follow-up.....

Oh yes indeedy! Worked like a charm

I used the following:

100ml 12% h2o2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) - Ebay
1 level tablespoon Xanthan Gum - Ebay
1 half of a teaspoon of Oxyclean laundry whitener - Wilkinsons

Blitzed it up in a blender for 10 seconds and began painting the A1200 case. Covered with cling film (plastic wrap) and left in the sun for 4 hours.

 

[clueless]

Steve, I have a box of keys that have been retrobrighted. Pics of the process are on this thread somewhere. Anyway, I had to replace a membrane on my 1200 with the one from this keyboard, so I never bothered to put it back together. So they are just sitting there, yours if you want. The white keys are nice and white, the grey keys have gone a bit streaky however. If you dont need them I am going to put them in the recycling thread anyway. I have a few bits that need to be shifted.

---------- Post added at 14:17 ---------- Previous post was at 14:11 ----------

I think I'll give the neat 12%, a bit of TAED and some Xanthan Gum mixture a whirl. The UK is supposed to be getting back the hot weather this weekend so it'll be an ideal time for a few tests of the gel in sunlight.

I do recommend the cream peroxide highly. You just pour out what you need, sprinkle the vanish into it and whap it on. The consistancy is easy to work with, the results are just as good and storage is easy as it comes straight from the bottle.

 

[fitzsteve]

Steve, I have a box of keys that have been retrobrighted. Pics of the process are on this thread somewhere. Anyway, I had to replace a membrane on my 1200 with the one from this keyboard, so I never bothered to put it back together. So they are just sitting there, yours if you want. The white keys are nice and white, the grey keys have gone a bit streaky however. If you dont need them I am going to put them in the recycling thread anyway. I have a few bits that need to be shifted.

That would be absolutly amazing

I'll PM you about that and they can go in the same jiffy as the CF cards.



Steve.

 

[TheoryBoy]

Started doing a bit of Retr0brighting yesterday.
My mix was 10% peroxide, 500ml, 1 table spoon of trag gum, and 1 tea spoon glycerine 1/2 tea spoon oxy. I didnt have any of the gum listed in the wiki but had some trag, although not as strong did the job when 1 table spoon was used.

I put my key caps in a big jar approx 10% conc. 400ml + two pinches of oxy, overnight under uv and decided to put it out in the sun this morning.

After about 1 hour in the sunlight, it went exothermic , and bubbling quite vigorously. It got really hot and started steaming. Outside of the jar was approx 70C .. Nearly burned the hand off me when I tried to move it to abort the process. I just got about 15ft and had to put the jar down it was so hot. (this was with gloves on).

 

[Zetr0]

@TheoryBoy

Thats kinda of violent exothermic reaction I would say the peroxide is perhaps reacting to something already in the jar ?

at 70c I would be inclined to dilute it a bit before any damage arises my friend - top it up with some fresh cold water =)



/me ponders - I wonder if its possible that the peroxide could be reacting badly with hardwater areas?

 

[StrontiumDog]

/me ponders - I wonder if its possible that the peroxide could be reacting badly with hardwater areas?

/me lives in a hard water area and saw no evidence of this.

Question regarding UV light sources:

Would something like a facial tanning lamp do the same as a Maplin's UV lightbulb?

 

[TheoryBoy]

I dont know, I used a light alluminium cage to hold the keys under the solution, maybe it reacted with that. The glass jar had been cleaned multiple times, so I dont think anything there got added unless we need a PSA about mayonnaise and peroxide

I bought the peroxide in a 35% conc. 500ml, but I diluted that down to 10% with distilled water. And the oxy I used is standard pink container Vanish powder.

 

[rkauer]

Aluminium reacts quite violently with acids and oxides, mate. Never put iron or aluminium inside an active solution.

Direct sunlight exposure may trigger the reaction.

Next time use a heavy plastic mesh or blutack on the other side of the keys to keep they under the water. Never a metal grill.

Hope you didn't damaged the Amiga keys.

Oh, and for keys you don't need the full Retr0bright formula. Only peroxide (or diluted peroxide, in your case) and a bit of pre-diluted TAED is enough.

 

[Merlin]

:wooha::wooha:^^^ What he said, big time!!! ^^^:wooha::wooha:

Aluminium can explode if put into the wrong chemical conditions!!

Fortunately, this is a water-based solution, so the risk is slim to none; however, aluminium reacts with acids and bases as it's amphoteric.

The peroxide solution we are creating in Retr0bright is alkaline, so the aluminium will react, although not violently.

Just to be on the safe side, please don't do it again.....

 

[gazcbm]

can the peroxide be mixed with regular tap water to dilute or must it be distilled?

 

[Zetr0]

@gaz

there are trace impurities in water that may have an adverse reaction pending on the area you live.

A most common impurity in my area atleast is an over abundance of floride(s), - hence the need for a water filter as council cola (water from the tap) tastes nasty, infact on bad days you can smell the tap running from outside the kitchen

I wouldn't want to use the tap water here, instead I would plumb down to the local garage and pickup some purified / distilled H2O =)

 

[Merlin]

@ Gaz

Rainwater would be OK for this, although Evian is more expensive....

Z's right about fluoride though; I can detect it in Manchester tap water.

 

[Zetr0]

Thing is guys, Fluoride had been medically linked to some types stomach cancers =(


anyway - pop into your local stainsburys - and shuffle on over to their bottled water section - should be able to pick up 6 liters of the elcheapo-cheapstuff for less then a fiver - and you should get a couple of 3ltr bottles too - just stay away from the flavoured stuff

 

[gazcbm]

Thank god I only drink Coca Cola

So ok, this is my third possibly fourth attempt... Here is the plan

1) Different peroxide (not the stuff from sallys hair)
2) Different UV bulb, well actually going to use the sun.
3) going to make the mixture less viscous. (last time it stuck in lumps to the plastic.
4) Apply thinner mixture several times over the course of the day.

If it doesnt work...... I am going to get all my plastics in a box and send them to Merlin

 

[ajk]

A couple of photos, because we like photos