SNES Discoloration

[adsfgk]

I know it's a common problem for the original SNES systems to have yellow discoloration. Personally, the SNES that I just picked up doesn't have this problem. It's a later version of the original SNES design (with the only noticeable difference being that the word 'eject' is molded on the eject button instead of being printed in white) and I'm wondering: do these later versions ever yellow?

The bottom half of the outside of my SNES is a slightly darker shade of gray compared to the top half, and I'm not sure if this is the beginning of a gradual yellowing process or what. If you're an owner of one of these later SNES models, what does your console look like?

[Loremaster]

Technically speaking, all of them will eventually yellow, but as far as I am aware, later model SNES do not have the problem of premature yellowing.

Yellowing is caused by an oxidation reaction of the plastic with the air, but a certain fire retardant additive present in certain earlier batches of SNES plastic causes the plastic to oxidize much faster than normal. This process can also be sped up by overexposure to Ultra Violet radiation, though this will usually result in a more uneven yellowing pattern.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. If it does get yellow, then there is always that Retrobright stuff.

[Ro-J]

Technically speaking, all of them will eventually yellow...

With apologies to Margaret Mitchell:

"Death, taxes and yellowing! There's never any convenient time for any of them."

[retroman]

mine went yellow many years ago....as long as it works great..who cares what color the bottom half is.

[Astrocade]

I'm one of the rare owners of the original run who has luckily not experienced yellowing at all, knock on wood.

[goldenegg]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. If it does get yellow, then there is always that Retrobright stuff.

WOW!!! That's actually the first I've heard of RetroBright and it looks terrific! I have a few systems I'd love to try that on!

[adsfgk]

mine went yellow many years ago....as long as it works great..who cares what color the bottom half is.

Do you own one of the original runs or the revision like I do?

[Seaquest]

My snes has eject written on it but it has very little yellowing. The trick is to keep it out of direct sunlight. The U.V. rays speed the yellowing process.:bigmac:

[Logicdustbin]

be warned, it is not just the colour that changes, the plastic becomes VERY brittle when it turns yellow.

[Gentlegamer]

I'm one of the rare owners of the original run who has luckily not experienced yellowing at all, knock on wood.*raises hand* My SNES, purchased on launch day in 1991, is untouched by the yellow as well.

[Astrocade]

*raises hand* My SNES, purchased on launch day in 1991, is untouched by the yellow as well.

Mine was a launch day unit too. Purchased at K-Mart on August 13, 1991. :-D

[BetaWolf47]

I'm one of the rare owners of the original run who has luckily not experienced yellowing at all, knock on wood.

Well, mine just has the controller ports yellowed. Then again, I got my system in 1993 or 1994.

[ShinobiMan]

The bottom half of my original SNES purchased in 1991 is yellow like a drunkard's piss. It became yellow sometime in the late 90's. Congrats on being one of the lucky ones!

[Greg2600]

If you do it properly, the OxyClean/hair bleach solution will take the yellow out. The resulting color is not exactly the original, its duller, but not yellow.

[Gameboy415]

Well, mine just has the controller ports yellowed. Then again, I got my system in 1993 or 1994.

Mine is the complete opposite! LOL

I have a launch model I got on my 8th birthday that is yellow everywhere EXCEPT the controller ports, av/power inputs, ext port (on the bottom), and the small raised plastic around the game pak slot.

[Arkhan]

my SNES top half is yellow, but the bottom is not.

It was never in sunlight either, so I dunno.

[dreamcaster]

mine went yellow many years ago....as long as it works great..who cares what color the bottom half is.

Because the North American SNES is already as ugly as sin and having one that's turned yellow is just an eyesore.

I've been considering painting my US SNES black but what I would really like to have is a nice, non yellowed one. Unfortunately shipping from the US to Australia is just so expensive that I can't justify the price...yet.

[Nintega Grafx-16]

Do the SNES Minis turn yellow too?

[spoon]

AFAIK SNES Jrs do not yellow. I've never seen or heard of it. I'd guess the plastic is different.

Here is a link to the Retr0Bright recipe:
http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/Retr0Bright+Gel

I am going to be trying this out on some really yellow SNES' I have this weekend or next.

[Leo_A]

I know it's a common problem for the original SNES systems to have yellow discoloration. Personally, the SNES that I just picked up doesn't have this problem. It's a later version of the original SNES design (with the only noticeable difference being that the word 'eject' is molded on the eject button instead of being printed in white) and I'm wondering: do these later versions ever yellow?

My later SuperNes console that was purchased at the end of 1995 with the molded eject button has only shown some signs of discoloration around the controller ports, which I presume is a seperate piece from the lower and upper shells.

So they're certainly able to suffer from this issue.

Not much of a problem these days with that formula that is available. Not sure why anyone would consider doing something like painting when it's pretty easy to restore it to it's original appearance.

[dreamcaster]

I looked up this Retrobright formula this morning and it looks promising. That said, I'm hoping I can find all these chemical products easily.

[adsfgk]

My later SuperNes console that was purchased at the end of 1995 with the molded eject button has only shown some signs of discoloration around the controller ports, which I presume is a seperate piece from the lower and upper shells.

So they're certainly able to suffer from this issue.



Yeah, the controller ports on mine are beginning to yellow too. What I'm really wondering about, though, is the slightly different shades of gray between the top and bottom halves of the console (bottom being darker than the top) - what is this caused by? I'm also wondering if those who had their system yellow can confirm/deny that something like this was a 'symptom' of the eventual yellowing.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow if it'll help.

[Urzu402]

My original model SNES hasn't discolored, it has Eject written in white on the Eject button. I bought it at a used game shop some time in the Early 2000's so I don't know how late of a release it was.

[BetaWolf47]

I didn't know about the eject button difference. There's one that has it engraved, and one that has it printed?

Does this difference determine whether the SNES has the cart locking mechanism too?

[Leo_A]

my SNES top half is yellow, but the bottom is not.

It was never in sunlight either, so I dunno.

Sunlight has nothing to do with the yellowing process going on with things like the SuperNes and most older computer hardware. Plenty of people have reported it happening to items in their original packaging stored away, happening to the plastic from the inside as well as the exterior while if you broke the plastic it's still normal inside, etc.

It's the fire retardant causing it.


I didn't know about the eject button difference. There's one that has it engraved, and one that has it printed?

Does this difference determine whether the SNES has the cart locking mechanism too?

I always assumed so. But I can't give a definitive answer.


Yeah, the controller ports on mine are beginning to yellow too. What I'm really wondering about, though, is the slightly different shades of gray between the top and bottom halves of the console (bottom being darker than the top) - what is this caused by? I'm also wondering if those who had their system yellow can confirm/deny that something like this was a 'symptom' of the eventual yellowing.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow if it'll help.

I don't know so I couldn't say. I only own two SuperNes consoles, my original and one of the redesigned models in the last day's of the console's lifespan to act as a spare. So I haven't experienced it first hand beyond the discoloration of the controller port area.

But your hypothesis seems to make sense if it wasn't always that way if you're the original owner of it. If you just picked it up and are wondering if it's going to start yellowing due to what you've noticed, I wouldn't worry. It could just as easily be that both halves of your console are from different manufacturing runs which could account for the slight variation in the coloring of both halves.

[Astrocade]

Sunlight has nothing to do with the yellowing process going on with things like the SuperNes and most older computer hardware.


Sunlight plays a very significant role in the oxidation of old hardware, especially the white, off-white, cream, and Oxford Grey (Super NES) that was used up so commonly up until the mid '90's.

Nintendo's official explanation is this:

The Super NES, as well as our other systems, are made with a plastic containing flame-retardant chemicals to meet safety guidelines. Over time, the plastic will age and discolor both because of these chemicals as well as from the normal heat generated from the product or exposure to light. Because of the light color of the plastic of the SNES and NES, this discoloration is more easily seen than with other darker plastics such as on the N64 and the Nintendo GameCube.

Nintendo experimented with different UV dyes during the production run of the SNES and NES, which is why the top half of one system may be yellowed (but not the bottom half) or the controller port (but not the main body of the console).

My theory, and I base this on my experience working for DuPont for six years, is that when the SNES launched, it had a stable dye coat. This is evidenced by the majority of launch-day and early run consoles that seem to not have the yellowing issue.

Then, when Nintendo dropped the price on the SNES, I theorize that they experimented with a cheaper dye, hence the majority of middle-run consoles that seem to yellow the most.

Then, when they realized that the cheap dye was not stable, they went back to the original coating, which would explain why the majority of later-run SNES consoles do not exhibit yellowing all over. Being that some controller ports or bottom halves yellow (but not the entire system) leads me to believe that the early and latter batches of the middle run were comprised of materials that came from all over the factory; some had the good dye and some had the bad dye.

The SNES has several strikes against it. First, the console itself is made of ABS plastic, which does not reflect UV rays as good as most polymers, which over time can make it brittle if stored in direct sunlight.

Second, Nintendo used bottom of the barrel, cheap-as-can-be chemicals when coating their consoles. They were built as inexpensively as possible, and it (literally) shows on the discolored units.

Third, getting back to the chemicals, Nintendo used an industrial grade flame retardant on the SNES, which is not stable on plastic at high temperatures. The heat generated from the SNES is enough in itself to start the oxidation process, which is what actually turns the plastic yellow.

So, sunlight, heat, air, tobacco use, etc- none of these by themselves are likely to cause the system to yellow, but taken all together you have a recipe for yellow plastic.

Unfortunately, there's not really anything you can do about it. If it's going to yellow, it's going to yellow. If it's not, it's not. I think that if you have one in your possession right now, whatever yellowing it presently displays is probably going to be the extent of the damage from here on out; if there's no yellowing on it now, it probably won't yellow in the future. You can try to slow the process by not letting the console get too hot (keeping it off of carpet is a must) and by not letting the sun shine directly on it. Tobacco smoke is even less likely to yellow it, but it may give it a dull brown sheen.

This link explains things in more detail:
http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/189

[adsfgk]

But your hypothesis seems to make sense if it wasn't always that way if you're the original owner of it. If you just picked it up and are wondering if it's going to start yellowing due to what you've noticed, I wouldn't worry. It could just as easily be that both halves of your console are from different manufacturing runs which could account for the slight variation in the coloring of both halves.

I'm not the original owner of the console, so I'm not sure how it looked back in the 90's. I'm leaning towards it being a production run thing (I think you see the problem of one half being darker than another with a lot of SNES game carts, too, so maybe this is the exact same issue). Here are some pics of my SNES so you can see what I'm talking about:

Front (http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/9420/dscn2371qd.jpg)

Side (http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/8250/dscn2369.jpg)

Controller port (http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7793/dscn2373l.jpg)

As you can see, the bottom isn't really yellowing (I'm assuming that the top half is closer to the color of the original SNES), but it's still somewhat noticeable.

[Greg2600]

Dude, I'd call that SNES perfect coloring! That's barely any discoloration. Just don't leave it in the sunlight.

Second, because you're EJECT button's lettering is part of the mold, you have a later model 1 SNES, which usually don't yellow. They might loose color in the plastic, like your controller ports, over time.

I've yet to see a later run SNES that went yellow. The early/middle run units had EJECT printed on the button in white, and weighed about twice as much as the later ones. I had a "middle" one, bought in 1992, that the top yellowed bad. I did the "Retro-Brite" treatment, but messed it up a little. I had a later run SNES that broke, so I swapped the top halves (plastic shell) only. Bottoms are not interchangeable exactly, because the boards had screw columns of different heights.

[Urzu402]

Here is a picture of my SNES

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/7776/snesnoy.jpg

Some parts are darker than others but no yellowing.

[Gentlegamer]

*raises hand* My SNES, purchased on launch day in 1991, is untouched by the yellow as well.
Upon further investigation prompted by this thread, it appears the SNES console currently in my possession is a later model with the molded "Eject" button, and not the console I purchased on launch day.

My brother took possession of the console in the late 90s when I was in college. I recovered it in 2005 - sometime in the intervening years he must have "swapped" it with another SNES console for some reason.

I still have the original instruction manual and poster that came with the launch console which clearly shows "Eject" printed in white on the lever.

My console looks pretty much identical to the photos posted by adsfgk.

[tentencanidae]

August 13th was launch day?!?! That was my birthday. I didn't get one till X-Mas... My parents have some explaining to do.

[GarrettCRW]

I'm not the original owner of the console, so I'm not sure how it looked back in the 90's. I'm leaning towards it being a production run thing (I think you see the problem of one half being darker than another with a lot of SNES game carts, too, so maybe this is the exact same issue). Here are some pics of my SNES so you can see what I'm talking about:

Front (http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/9420/dscn2371qd.jpg)

Side (http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/8250/dscn2369.jpg)

Controller port (http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7793/dscn2373l.jpg)

As you can see, the bottom isn't really yellowing (I'm assuming that the top half is closer to the color of the original SNES), but it's still somewhat noticeable.

Is that the Super NES I sold a few months back? If so, I can give a bit more details on its life:

The system was a Christmas present in 1993, and had the then-new Super Mario All-Stars as a bonus cart (IIRC, this point was emblazoned with a sticker on the front of the standard Super NES box). The reason I sold the system and traded up to a Super Famicom was solely because of the controller ports, which were/are starting to show signs of yellowing. I never really noticed a difference between the top and bottom halves, in part because the expansion covers match the bottom perfectly in terms of color.

For the last 6 years of its life with me, it received no sunlight due to thick curtains to keep out the oppressive afternoon sunlight. Before then, it received indirect sunlight when the weather permitted. No smokers in the house(s), and the temperature was as regulated as can be in Vegas.