How to Clean and Apple II case?

[Sam Latella]

Anyone know how to clean an Apple II case, getting the yellow out and back
to it's original state?

Any off the shelf cleaners from the local hardware or grocery store?

Thanks,
Sam

[David Schmidt]

On 11/14/2012 2:32 PM, Sam Latella wrote:
> Anyone know how to clean an Apple II case, getting the yellow out and back
> to it's original state?

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/

> Any off the shelf cleaners from the local hardware or grocery store?

No.

[D Finnigan]

First off, which model are you trying to clean?

If it's an Apple II, II Plus, or early model IIe, the case is painted, so
you need to be careful how you go about cleaning it.

--
]DF$
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Receive comp.sys.apple2 posts by email digest:
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[Sam Latella]

D Finnigan wrote:
> Sam Latella wrote:
>> Anyone know how to clean an Apple II case, getting the yellow out and
>> back
>> to it's original state?
>>
>> Any off the shelf cleaners from the local hardware or grocery store?
>
> First off, which model are you trying to clean?
>
> If it's an Apple II, II Plus, or early model IIe, the case is painted, so
> you need to be careful how you go about cleaning it.
>

First challenge is the Platinum IIe and then a regular Apple IIe and a
couple of rough looking apple iigs's

[Jeff Miyares]

> Any off the shelf cleaners from the local hardware or grocery store?

I've had good luck with this stuff and a scrub brush.

http://www.clorox.com/products/clorox-clean-up-cleaner/

[Kevin]

I did a poor mans version buying crap peroxide from dollar tree and oxy clean knockoff, and a little water to top it off. Took my dried mustard yellow //c to original color in a spring day ... though 2 years later its settled back to a meh tan

considering how yellow this machine was its still a major improvement, but you would not believe how much crap came off the case just using warm water and some liquid dish soap.

[patric...@yahoo.com]

I too have had great luck with Soft Scrub! Be carefull on the II+'s just go easy on it , don't take too much of the layer of paint off! I think there was a guy on Applefritter at one time that was doing painting for people . He had the exact color match and sprayed the cases to the exact color! Turns out they were awesome in the end! But I think just using Soft Scrub will be good enough.

Patrick.

[xprocomp...@gmail.com]

get a uv light. get hydrogen peroxide at a hair store. put peroxide on yellowed plastic under the uv light for 24 hours, should look brand new!

[osgeld]

ghetto mix I used involved drug store grade peroxide and a lot of oxy clean and a full mild spring day outside, much cheaper since everything was bought at the dollar store.

my IIc is starting to yellow again hard core after 5 years with no UV protectant, but the thing was mustard yellow to start with, came out looking brand new, settled on a light tan for many years, and has just recently started taking off again to the yellow side

[Michael J. Mahon]

Very interesting.

Do others have experience with the longevity of "case-cleanings" for
different methods?
--
-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon

[Polymorph]

On Wednesday, February 19, 2014 8:42:52 PM UTC+11, Michael J. Mahon wrote:
>
> Very interesting.
>
>
>
> Do others have experience with the longevity of "case-cleanings" for
>
> different methods?
>

Whilst I only applied retro brite to one of my IIgs' about 6 months ago (using Tezza's recipe), I have since read on the retro brite forums of people (including Tezza of YouTube fame) experiencing the yellow returning to their vintage equipment after a few years. Even one of the "inventors" of retro brite came out and basically said that he had feared that might happen.

Still, if we only have to apply retro brite every few years to keep our machines looking like new, I think it's probably a fair trade off - unless of course it is found that the repeated treatment negatively effects the plastics in some way that we have yet to experience (in which case we may curse the day retro brite was ever invented! :-) ).

Cheers,
Mike

[osgeld]

yep, the reason the case yellows in the first place is still in the plastic (fire retardant) retrobrite can only go so deep, so you keep doing it or seal it up with some UV protective clear coat.

which I have not tried the clear coat, nor multiple applications or brite. so only experimentation will tell

[Michael J. Mahon]

Or just come to appreciate the "patina" of an older machine. After all,
none of us still looks like we did when we were new. ;-)

[drk...@gmail.com]

I never bought into the retrobright thing. Peroxide is extremely corrosive and no one has adequately demostrated that it is safe for the long haul. I find that much of the dirt can be removed with rubbing alcohol and a ScotchBrite scrub sponge or, if there is signficant grime, an ammonia solution instead of the rubbing alcohol. Duck adhesive remover is good for glues and gums.

I also invested in a good ultrasonic cleaning system for smaller parts, such as disk drive cases, mice, key caps, etc. Hot water/ammonia in the ultrasonic bath works wonders.

I agree with you Michael, there is something to appreciate about the "patina" of the older machines - trying to rid all signs of aging is probably a loosing battle anyway. Clean the case thoroughly, then keep it out of direct sunlight and I cover mine when its not in use, mostly to keep dust and dog hair from coating it!

[Polymorph]

Yeah, I have only applied retro brite to one of my machines which was really quite yellow and looked pretty bad. It was more of an experiment, and I have to say there is something quite pleasing on bringing the plastic back to near-new looks - especially in the extreme cases of yellowing. I will be leaving my other machines to age gracefully however. ;-)

There is even some conjecture that it is not necessarily the UV causing the issue - it probably accelerates it though. From Tezza's particular example, his retro brighted hardware had been stored in a box out of direct sunlight (with occasional removal for play!) and yet the yellowing returned after a few years.

Really looking forward to the day when we can simply hit the print button and have a new case "printed" for us on a 3D printer.

Cheers,
Mike

[D Finnigan]

This is the capital reason why computer "collecting" could never be taken as
a serious pursuit. It seems to be the *only* area where the collectors are
in a mad dash to clean everything. You'd never clean your antique firearms
collection. You'd never strip down your antique furniture. You'd never scrub
down your bronze sculpture collection.

--
]DF$
Apple II Book: http://macgui.com/newa2guide/

Usenet: http://macgui.com/usenet/ <-- get posts by email!
Apple II Web & Blog hosting: http://a2hq.com/

[Sean Fahey]

On Thursday, February 20, 2014 3:43:31 PM UTC-6, D Finnigan wrote:

> This is the capital reason why computer "collecting" could never be taken as
> a serious pursuit. It seems to be the *only* area where the collectors are
> in a mad dash to clean everything. You'd never clean your antique firearms
> collection. You'd never strip down your antique furniture. You'd never scrub
> down your bronze sculpture collection.

Incorrect correlation - the collecting community ascertains what condition their collectibles should be in and prioritizes their preferences through a process of normalization.

Don't car collectors meticulously restore vintage vehicles to their original condition? Several electronics hobbyists specialize in restoring radios, record and tape players to their original condition.

It's apples... and oranges.

[osgeld]

On Thursday, February 20, 2014 3:43:31 PM UTC-6, D Finnigan wrote:

im not a collector, and my computer never was or will be a museum piece (mustard yellow case and 30 year old coffee ate traces off the motherboard), but to your point, people dont blow snot and spill coffee on their antique firearms or statues, if they did I am sure it would be cleaned off

[Michael Black]

I haven't a clue about antiques. But if you collect "old radios" you
probably will spend time and money to bring it back to "new" condition.
So you'll get rid of that rust on the metal, and refinish the wood cabinet
(if it has it). But when replacing components, some will go as far as
taking the old capacitors and putting new ones inside the old casing, so
it looks "original".

I think really it varies with the item. Some things, like
furniture, get so old before they become "antique" that there
perhaps is worry that in erasing actual use from the thing,
damage will be done to what was there at the bginning.

Computers are a relatively new thing, and one which many have lived
through. I doubt anyone will try to find new old stock components that
match what were on the boards originally. If you clean up a case, you
aren't erasing a lot of time, just a few decades and you can remember thta
time. Cimputer collecting hasn't yet reached the same distance from the
origins that many other collecting hobbies have reached. I'd guess nobody
has really defined it that much, just that some people saved their
computers instead of tossing them or giving them away, others have bought
or taken computers that others no longer wanted, so they have that KIM-1,
that OSI SUperboard II, those Radio Shack Color Computers, that Radio
Shack Model 100, that Amiga 500, that Sun 3/50, those Macintosh laptops,
that PowerMac, that Apple II, that Apple IIGS and so on.

Michael

[Don Bruder]

In article <dog_cow-1...@macgui.com>,

D Finnigan <dog...@macgui.com> wrote:

> This is the capital reason why computer "collecting" could never be taken as
> a serious pursuit. It seems to be the *only* area where the collectors are
> in a mad dash to clean everything. You'd never clean your antique firearms

Um... as a walkin', talkin' example of the species "antique gun owner",
I beg to differ. My antique firearm gets cleaned and lubed regularly,
and otherwise serviced as needed to keep it in
near-as-possible-to-like-new condition. It also goes to the range for
practice on a regular basis, where it performs its designed function as
flawlessly now as it did when it was "factory fresh".

Of course, if I'm to be completely transparent, as seems to be the
current politically correct thing to do, there is the fact that I own it
specifically as my carry piece, and consider any "collectible" value it
might have to be an irrelevant side-benefit, since I don't foresee
selling or otherwise parting with it anytime soon.

Further fact: Wave a ridiculously big enough wad of cash under my nose,
and I just might take you up on it - then turn around and use the
proceeds to step up to its less-antique .357 Mag big brother. :)

--
Security provided by Mssrs Smith and/or Wesson. Brought to you by the letter Q

[Bill Buckels]

"osgeld" <ke...@hackaday.com> wrote:
>blow snot and spill coffee...

You forgot something:)

Sneeze and spew, hack and cough, blow (tobacco and other) smoke, drop ashes,
then splash cola (coca, jolt, and now diet) and various other (body and
non-body) fluids.to seal the coating-in in with the dust and cat and beard
hair.

I am more into a computer as a testing tool than a codpiece so use my
emulators much more.

After cleaning my old computers occasionally I put them away unless I am
working with them. Generally only half a dozen or so are sitting on desks in
my lab which has no direct sunlight.

I won't be driving them in any computer parades anytime soon either.

Bill

[Bill Buckels]

"Bill Buckels" <bbuc...@mts.net> wrote:
>I am more into a computer as a testing tool than a codpiece...
In my career as a software developer a computer is a tool, a user is a
customer and a consumer, and a program is a product or a commodity.

Domain experts can be gamers if that is the current market, or they can be
enthusiasts or collectors.

In my current business as a food producer (commercial fish
producer/fisherman and fish products vendor), cleanliness amounts to product
quality and integrity. The safety of the consumer heads the list from a
cleanliness perspective. All product development and production directly
paralells all other product development and production.

I have quite a collection of equipment like boats, trucks, trailers,
snowmachines, and smaller tools like knife-sharpeners and weighing scales,
etc. Like any other tool they must be cleaned and maintained and kept in
working order for an agggregate of reasons.

So really there is no difference between my worktruck or any of my equipment
including my old computers, and the equipment in the kitchen of my customer;
all things must be clean and maintained.

Whether a man is a garage mechanic or a woman is a mother and a homemaker,
the paper towels and cleaning supplies are usually close by but safely
stored.

There is of course the old addage that you don't clean the kitchen until you
finish baking the cake. But in the fish business as in any other business
including the business of keeping the home, cleaning is part of the work
cycle.

This thread to me is very important when it comes to making sure my old
equipement continues to function as close to new as possible because it is
irreplaceable, and I truly appreciate those who have pursued the restoring
of old cases etc, and whether any of my equipment ages gracefully or not, I
shall still clean it and maintain it, regardless of what I use it for.

I do however agree with David's observation that some gun collectors are
different than some computer collectors. Stereotyping gun collectors is a
dangerous business though especially south of the Canadian Border where
handguns are part of the culture due to the right to bear arms.

In Canada we have no such right. The licenced and regulated privilege of
hunting and pistol shooting and collecting of guns is not entrenched in our
constitution except perhaps implictly in First Nations harvesting of game
for domestic use; it makes sense to me that a family who has enjoyed fresh
moose-meat for thousands of years should do so for thousands more even if
modern technology is used. But a functional and used 357 magnum's value as a
tool is limited to the boys and girls who collect them and compete with
them unless the dark side of our culture is considered. I feel no pressing
need to get a handgun or a cross-bow to hide under my pillow in case an army
walks over the North Pole and attacks me in my sleep. I don't believe that
Canadian police generally buy the guns they wear at work on ebay either.

But then we did not throw the King's teabags into our harbours and kick the
buggers out up here either, because we were the buggers back then. So the
cultures evolved with different values, but guys my age still read Sgt. Fury
and not Sgt. York as kids and dreamed of wiping-out a nest of gooks when we
grew-up. So a modicum of tolerant understanding generally pervades us old
fogies.

I also think that if a yellow patina would bring a higher price for a
computer some folks would probably find a way to yellow a case instead of
restoring it no matter what country they live in.

So, changing the subject again, at what point do you think stating one side
of a controversial issue in a usenet group and waiting for a response from
the other side becomes trolling?

My daughter who will be 30 has been online and programming etc. since the
BBS days (essentially since she was born and my knee) recently took the
matter forward:

http://beta.slashdot.org/story/198219
Download the pdf here:
https://umanitoba.academia.edu/ErinBuckels

I predict that preserving our history and our culture including the cleaning
of old cases will become quite an important matter in the years ahead for
reasons that we can't begin to fathom today. When Erin embarked on the final
leg leg of her journey toward her Phd in Pyschology I would never have
guessed in a million years that she would be formalizing such
multi-disciplinary knowledge and leaving the reviewer with more questions to
be asked than answered.

The saga continues! It did not stop with my wikipedia articles and my
resurrection of the Aztec C65 compilers nor with here husband's Software
Development Career which IIRC started before I met him when I was
cross-compiling for the Apple II on the side of my MS-DOS development. Apple
II Forever!

Bill

[D Finnigan]

Don Bruder wrote:
> In article <dog_cow-1...@macgui.com>,
> D Finnigan <dog...@macgui.com> wrote:
>
>> This is the capital reason why computer "collecting" could never be taken
>> as
>> a serious pursuit. It seems to be the *only* area where the collectors
>> are
>> in a mad dash to clean everything. You'd never clean your antique
>> firearms
>
> Um... as a walkin', talkin' example of the species "antique gun owner",
> I beg to differ. My antique firearm gets cleaned and lubed regularly,
> and otherwise serviced as needed to keep it in
> near-as-possible-to-like-new condition. It also goes to the range for
> practice on a regular basis, where it performs its designed function as
> flawlessly now as it did when it was "factory fresh".

That's a good point: you clean it because you intend to fire it.

My example was referring to collectors who have their pieces on display, but
don't actually fire them.

Now we can bring it back to computers: computer collectors like to clean and
repair their systems because they intend to use them.

That's why I clean and repair my stuff! :-)

[Scott Alfter]

In article <dog_cow-1...@macgui.com>,
D Finnigan <dog...@macgui.com> wrote:

>This is the capital reason why computer "collecting" could never be taken as
>a serious pursuit. It seems to be the *only* area where the collectors are
>in a mad dash to clean everything. You'd never clean your antique firearms
>collection. You'd never strip down your antique furniture. You'd never scrub
>down your bronze sculpture collection.

As a counterexample, I offer up the people who take apart old cars, put
everything back to like-new (or sometimes better-than-new) condition, and
then put them back together. Cars that have gone through this treatment
are, for the most part, the ones that are fetching insane prices at
Barrett-Jackson and similar auctions. With the six- and seven-figure sums
of money involved, I'd think that would qualify as a "serious pursuit."

That said, there's also room for the unrestored beaters, ratrods, and
survivors.

Not everything's destined to be a museum piece. The restoration approach
the Air Force Museum will take with Memphis Belle (high historical
significance, will never fly again, destined to be one of the museum's
signature exhibits) will no doubt be different than the approach the
Confederate Air Force took with Sentimental Journey (a regular on the
airshow circuit, and you can catch a flight on her for a few hundred
dollars or so).

_/_
/ v \ Scott Alfter (remove the obvious to send mail)
(IIGS( http://alfter.us/ Top-posting!
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