yellow stained DUO-R

[Leroy]

Hey Ninja, did you do any sort of pre-bleach cleaning or did you just dunk it in?

[Leroy]

Very nice! did you do anything to the logo before bleaching??? Or just dunk the whole thing? [no vaseline or whatever on the logo?]

No, nothing on the logo. The bleach really isn't coloring (whitening) the system so much as it's breaking up and sucking all the dirt and grime in the plastic (my assumption of course).

[akamichi]

I pulled my PCE out of the bleach after ~24 hours.   It's so minty white now!  Other than the slight scuff marks and dings from normal wear and tear, it looks close to brand new now!  

It could probably get a brighter shade of white, but I'm happy with the results.  I'm going to try my controller and my spare PCE.  It's even dirtier than the one I just cleaned.

[Ninja Spirit]

Hey Ninja, did you do any sort of pre-bleach cleaning or did you just dunk it in?

well, I first did water mixed with bleach thinking it was gonna do it. then I realized I missed the word "undiluted"

then I dunked it in.

[NEC Avenue]

Excellent work guys. I really do love the this community. Goldmine of information.

[jperryss]

Bumping cuz there's some good info in this thread.

The info in the article below seems to indicate that, short of sanding and repainting, there's no easy way to get rid of the yellowing once it starts showing up. This article also seems to squash any theories about the damage being caused by sunlight or smoking, which are usually blamed for the yellowing.

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

This makes a lot of sense, as my old SNES looks just like the one in the first pic, where the bottom is perfectly colored and the top is puke-yellow.

On my current Duo-R, the entire console is a bright white, while the disc door button is yellowed. Also, the white controller that came with it is yellowed.

I'm trying the soak-in-bleach method right now with just the controller to see how it works.

[oldskool]

Yeah I just read the thread in it's entirety myself.  I also have a Duo -R.  The -R is white, no complaints there, could be a BIT whiter, but it's not bad.  The controller on the other hand is YELL-O.  I am interested in how this works out for you, you should do a before and after picture.

I also read the link about the SNES problem.  Seems as though sometimes bleach may work, sometimes it won't.  Seems that soaking them for a good day or so does the job.  I think I am going to disassemble my controller as well.

[jperryss]

Yeah, I shoulda done a before pic but I didn't think of it!

Judging by the pics of yours, I think my pad was a little less yellow than yours. Hard to say for sure though.

[nat]

The sad thing is that all these consoles made from that type of plastic will eventually turn yellow. It's not a matter of if, only when. Kind of puts things in perspective and makes seeking out a "non-yellowed" Duo-R, for example, pretty pointless as it could turn the day after you buy it. Bleaching works, but it doesn't fix the underlying problem, and your console will be yellow again before you know it.

[Duo_R]

the future of the Duo-R could involve custom paint schemes.....


Something I am going to do differently with my Duo-R than my other consoles - not store in the garage (got a gaming room in there). Main reason for this:

* heat in the summer
* Florescent lighting in garage

read that these could be causes for the color changes.

[MotherGunner]

How about using automotive white paint?   Similar to www.colorwarepc.com   ?


I mean its one thing to be a purist but I wouldnt mind a pristine white duo-r.

[oldskool]

Wow, some of the colors they offer are very nice, and they can color match your controllers too..  AWESOME!  Looks like they even maintain the badging/words/emblems and such as well.  Someone should give them a call and see if they will do any system or just the ones they offer.

[MotherGunner]

Wow, some of the colors they offer are very nice, and they can color match your controllers too..  AWESOME!  Looks like they even maintain the badging/words/emblems and such as well.  Someone should give them a call and see if they will do any system or just the ones they offer.

Unfortunately they don't do old school (no pun intended) systems.  I was on chat with one of their reps and they said only whats on the site.  Too bad.  It looks like they do an awesome job.

[Duo_R]

It really isn't bad to paint a console, I might get my crack at it if I get this Junk Duo I am looking into. Not wanting to paint my Duo-r just yet since the color on it is a nice white hue right now.

[jperryss]

After doing the overnight bleach soak, followed by some scrubbing, here are my findings (sorry, no pics).

-The controller is definitely 'whiter'. Not bright white, but definitely less yellow than before. I can still see where the yellowing originally was, it just looks faded now.

-The bleach definitely seems to wear away at the plastic (maybe this was obvious to everyone but me). My controller was originally in mint condition except for the yellowing, but now, although it's whiter than before, it looks more 'used' so to speak. Some of the thin parts of the controller (like the edges where the two halves meet and the thin parts around the I/II buttons) don't look as nice as they did before.

Summary: I'm betting you'd get similar results with some very fine-grit sanding.

[offsidewing]

I painted my "smoker's teeth yellow" Duro-R with a type of spray paint.  If I had to do it ober again, I would have primed it first.  Other than that, it didn't turn out too bad.  Search for "Ghetto Duo-R" and you should find the pics...