Yellow-bellied Consoles

[Daigohji]

Over the last couple of years I've noticed, to my dismay, that parts of my Dreamcast's outer case have started to yellow. This baffled me a bit, as I'd thought that plastic only discoloured this way due to prolonged UV exposure, and the DC has spent most of its time in the cupboard. While searching around the internet for information about this issue, I found the following article. It doesn't offer a magic solution, but it is well researched, and an interesting read.

http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/189

Has anyone else fallen foul of this annoying problem?

[blizzz]

The article doesn't offer a magic solution, but it links a chemical one Retr0bright sounds like a good option against yellowing plastic. I didn't have the need to try it myself, but if the console is already yellow there is little to lose.

Just use the normal precautions when handling chemicals that can harm your skin and eyes.

[Grambo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ewI7nMgrB8

[Daigohji]

Interesting. I'm not too keen to start messing around with hydrogen peroxide, but I may give this a try at some point. However, unlike the linked video, my DC has yellowed in patches rather than evenly across a whole piece of plastic, so I don't know how even the results would be.

[Holograph]

I've heard of using H2O2 + Oxy-clean, but the xanthan gum to thicken it up seems like a good idea too.

[beatsgo]

From what I understand from the video and little research, there is going to be some problems with the retr0bright if you're not cautious with how much mixture you're using and what's the concetration level of peroxide.

Retr0bright's Discussion on its pitfalls