Urine yellow : Proper console storage

[andsuchisdeath]

So I've have two white Saturns. One for about 11 years and one for around 6. Both as white as Japanese Saturns get.

While in my possession, the former has spent most of it's life under a tv stand in the various places I've lived. The other one has mostly spent time in a Japan Post box inside a covered plastic bin.


I opened that Japan Post box today, and my White Saturn became a piss yellow Saturn. So...

1. Is this problem oxygen/storage dependent?
2. Production run/ plastic dependent>
2. Combo?

Seven months ago it wasn't yellowed. I don't want to make the same mistake again. Nor do I want to change my storage methods if they aren't the culprit. Any information is appreciated.

 

[ki_atsushi]

Could be acid in the paper fibers of the cardboard box that caused the system to yellow. A lot of different paper products have natural acids in them that yellow things (just look at old newspapers).

 

[Fuzzytaco]

ABS turns yellow with age.

 

[The Chief]

Yeah, I heard certain batches of of plastics made back in the day had some wacked out chemical composition or something causing the plastic to discolor over time. I've seen this happen with SFC/SNES systems, cart shells, JP White Saturns and some candy cabs like my Capcom Impress.

 

[Opethian]

time to make a batch of retr0brite

 

[andsuchisdeath]

Could be acid in the paper fibers of the cardboard box that caused the system to yellow. A lot of different paper products have natural acids in them that yellow things (just look at old newspapers).

Yeah maybe. Perhaps actual Saturn boxes don't have this effect (my clean Saturn does spend some time in a real Saturn box as of late.)

time to make a batch of retr0brite

Is it legit?

 

[StevenK]

Yeah maybe. Perhaps actual Saturn boxes don't have this effect (my clean Saturn does spend some time in a real Saturn box as of late.)




Is it legit?

I've used retrobrite on a horribly yellowed SNES before, it took a few treatments but yeah, worked really well, genuinely looked as good as new. Should work better in the US where there's some sunshine too.

 

[GutsDozer]

My SNES yellowed over time and it was stored in a wooden drawer. seems to be a common problem. sux that the white Saturn yellowed. Makes me want to avoid getting a JP Saturn. Anyone experience yellowing on the gray V-Saturn?

 

[Pope Sazae]

You could send your console to VGA and have them put it in one of their case/vault things. If it yellows you can get back at them for being full of shit.

 

[Comrade Porn King Mikhail]

Sounds like what happened to some of my and TeddyKGBs mini marquees despite sitting in acid-free portfolios in storage.

As I get older this stuff bothers me less. Only because I age faster and show it more than my old Nintendo games. Still, it's a major pisser when you first see it and know that it would be too expensive and time intenstive to find a proper replacement.

 

[wataru330]

*waves to Mikhail* ^_^

Retro bright wears off, over time. Not worth the hassle.

Your Saturn was just destined for this, just like my Compaq Presario tower.

 

[StevenK]

*waves to Mikhail* ^_^

Retro bright wears off, over time. Not worth the hassle.

Your Saturn was just destined for this, just like my Compaq Presario tower.

It's not that it wears off, it's that people restore their consoles, then put them back into the same storage situation again that turned them yellow in the first place.

Whether it's worth the hassle or not (you need to take all of the plastic shell pieces off and individually coat them in the stuff) depends on how much it bothers you that your console is yellow I guess.

 

[skinny503]

Is it legit?

Its 100% legit. I make the gel version and I find the 30-40% peroxide to put in it. Also do not cheap out on the ingredients. Get the xanthum gum and not corn starch!

This picture sold me on it

 

[ballzdeepx]

I remember an old article on this and it ended up being
1. The mixture of the plastici
2. Heat, light, smoke, and humidity quickening the process

If you have all parts of bullet point 2 working your console will turn into solid gold.

 

[Teddy KGB]

Sounds like what happened to some of my and TeddyKGBs mini marquees despite sitting in acid-free portfolios in storage.

 

[andsuchisdeath]

I remember an old article on this and it ended up being
1. The mixture of the plastici
2. Heat, light, smoke, and humidity quickening the process

If you have all parts of bullet point 2 working your console will turn into solid gold.

I had zero parts of bullet point 2 working my yellowed console.

I swear, it was the fucking box.

My pristine Saturn has bathed in the sun, sat through winters with the heat pumping, has had smoke blown on it here and there and has sat through muggy summers.

 

[ballzdeepx]

It probably was just the mixture of the plastic sadly. I know what you mean as I have a few SNES consoles and my most played one looks as new as the day I bought it.
Here is that article I was talking about
http://vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/189

I dunno, it just adds character so I've learned to embrace it. Kind of like my balding skullpiece.

I had zero parts of bullet point 2 working my yellowed console.

I swear, it was the fucking box.

My pristine Saturn has bathed in the sun, sat through winters with the heat pumping, has had smoke blown on it here and there and has sat through muggy summers.

 

[Rot]

This yellowing has nothing to do with sun yellowing. The only way for your Saturn not to yellow was to keep it in a vacuum.
The plastic that was used for some of the consoles, carts and what not was some cheap shit and in time due to chemical reactions with oxygen the plastic will yellow.

Interesting fact: Sometimes you can have a SNES cartconsole that is half yellow half gray. Then you know that one half was made out of the cheap stuff and the other was not.
So it is nothing you could have done about it ... box or no box this thing would have yellowed - 100% .

There are ways to restore the whiteness but it is stupidly hard and time consuming...

 

[LWK]

The bromine in the plastic wants to turn brown over time, the yellow is a small effect before the big storm. That is the worst case scenario. You sometimes only get really dark yellow.. That is why you see some units that are totally brown/yellow, mainly really old original white comp gear. Oxygen isn't just the cause. I did my super neo 29, it was totally almost perfect white, less then a half year later, its already yellow, and that is with a spray clear coat over it. This effects ABS plastic.

This is not caused by tabacco, or sunlight. Sunlight actually reverse the process, that is why you need full sun when making retrobright. Of course, sun also melts poly's, so pick a good day if you choose to do it.

 

[RabbitTroop]

The retrobrite forums and wiki have a great explanation of what causes the yellowing, why it happens at all (it's a chemical reaction due to a fire-retardant process they had to employ in the plastic) and how to make retrobrite if you want to reverse it for a while. It's going to keep happening, but yeah, it's just a chemical reaction. It's very possible the conditions you had that one Saturn in was just right to accelerate the process, but it could also have just been its time to bloom. Hard to say. I've got a Net City that is just mildly yellowing, but is mostly white. I'm sure it will completely yellow with time like many others I've seen, but honestly I think it adds some character. You can stress about it and try to make it better, but if it's just going to be to whiten it and store it again, what's the point? You won't even see the console.

 

[Rot]

BTW... one mild problem .. that everyone forgot to mention ... including me ... after some time .. the plastic that yellows will start falling apart. The effect is not just visual.

 

[SNKorSWM]

Unless you store those in vacuum.

 

[ballzdeepx]

Wooden consoles really are the answer...... son of a bitch!

 

[trenog]

Wooden consoles really are the answer...... son of a bitch!

Better get into those woody neo geo consoles and cabs then

 

[ggallegos1]

Its just the cheap plastic. Humidity and sunlight would be worse for video game boxes and paper, but I dont think it would warp the plastic all that much. I used to have a half-yellow SNES and the look bothered me too much to bear.