Is there anyway to clean the yellow off an NES?

[Darkness X]

I'm about to try bidding on an NES ROB set on Ebay pretty soon, everything looks great accept for some slight yellowing on Rob and the NES door. Anyway, I'm just wondering is there anyway to remove this with out hurting the system so it will look like new?

Sorry if I'm asking in the wrong place, but I need to know this quick!

Thanks in advance! ;)

[Ed Oscuro]

Ah yes, another of our Evergreens - not the NES, the topic :)

The yellowing is due to cheap plastic. I take it old PCs have the same problem but you really can't do anything permanent - if you strip off an outer layer, the next layer will then yellow and you've damaged an item for no real reason. Sort of like me being a kid and rubbing on a Walking Liberty half dollar with a pencil eraser, you know, bad LOL

I believe it's been confirmed here that this yellowing occurs with or without sunlight - i.e. the inside of the shell yellows, so I'm guessing it's a sort of oxidization process.

We have had topics about this in the past; don't have a link handy at the moment though. Restoration or Classic Discussions forum, maybe?

[MarioAllStar2600]

Nope. The systems were made with rather cheap plastic that changed color well it aged. So that is just aging plastic that you see. :o
I may be wrong but this is what I have been told.

[sniperCCJVQ]

I don't think it's possible (unless you paint it)

If the ROB was expose to the sun or to another thing, the "atomic particles of the plastic" (if i can said that) was change directly in is structure.

[Ed Oscuro]

Once it's gone yellow, you can't go back (and so on).

Also affects some SNESes, Super Famis, and at least some Super Famicom carts (back shells of my Super R-Type and Final Fantasy IV Easy Type).

What's odd is it appears that despite the fact this problem persisted in products throughout various regions for years afterward, there are NESes that don't yellow - like the one I bought at Goodwill; it looks brand new (yay!) - perhaps they have had multiple plastic vendors and had to sort out bad lots multiple times.

So, be thankful eBay gives pictures and stay away from that unit unless you don't mind the color :)

[Darkness X]

:o Oh man, that sucks(I guess I see why it was so cheap now). Thanks for the warning, since the auction is still on for about an hour I guess I will try and find some other topics about this subject(just to see what they have to say about it).

Thanks again :)

[Ed Oscuro]

If the ROB was expose to the sun or to another thing, the "atomic particles of the plastic" (if i can said that) was change directly in is structure.
Is there some sort of feature about forums that lets people read just the first post and no others? LOL

I'm pretty, er, very much sure I'm not wrong about it NOT being sunlight - you can look on the inside of a bad shell (like the inside of one of said carts) and it's yellowed, so right there's your answer. It's not light, or else we'd see half yellowed units and the like (though - has anybody seen one of these?)

It's either the plastic actually having a reaction internally - which would be easy enough to find out if somebody wants to saw through a shell of a cheap cart or busted SNES, of course that supposes the yellowing problem has the same cause for all yellowed Nintendo products but I think that's a relatively safe bet - or it's having a reaction with the elements. My guess would be oxygen, but suddenly I'm wondering if there isn't some reactive element/impurity in the plastic itself that's doing it.

What's more, you could tell if it's the air or internal if there was a sticker somewhere on the yellowed part that had been there since you bought it or before it yellowed completely, and lifted it enough to see what it looked like underneath. If the amount of yellowing is different, it would be air.

Has anybody seen a NES/SNES/cart with odd yellowing patterns?

[sniperCCJVQ]

Is there some sort of feature about forums that lets people read just the first post and no others? LOL

Yeah :D

I guess i was too quick on the trigger to do a reply. But your explanation was exactly what i was thinking anyway.

[Ed Oscuro]

Is there some sort of feature about forums that lets people read just the first post and no others? LOL

Yeah :D

I guess i was too quick on the trigger to do a reply. But your explanation was exactly what i was thinking anyway.
I'm not 100% certain about stuff myself (obviously! ha) but I feel that if we don't read what's going on we certainly won't get anywhere. Anyhow, thanks for not taking offense to that (was banking on Mr. Smiley to help me out).

[Aussie2B]

I've seen half-yellowed units, and I personally own a half-yellowed Super Famicom cart.

I'm still convinced that heat plays a factor (hence why direct sunlight would make it more likely to happen), which is why I believe all of my systems, in Washington's mild weather and under my TV table in the shade, never got discolored in the slightest.

[digitalpress]

Perfect topic for the Restoration Society.

>> shuffle <<

[Ed Oscuro]

I've seen half-yellowed units, and I personally own a half-yellowed Super Famicom cart.
You mean one shell out of two is totally discolored, right? I mean *one* shell having "stripes" - doesn't happen. If you mean you've seen that happen, I'd be interested to hear it for sure.


I'm still convinced that heat plays a factor (hence why direct sunlight would make it more likely to happen), which is why I believe all of my systems, in Washington's mild weather and under my TV table in the shade, never got discolored in the slightest.
That's an interesting theory. I don't care to test it out, personally, but how hot has your NES ever gotten? I've seen enough cartridges and units half yellowed that I'm pretty sure a good deal of them can't have been in direct sunlight.

If you need heat from direct sunlight (which can get pretty hot), then at least half the yellowed NESes out there have absolutely no business being yellowed.

[Ed Oscuro]

Not heat, but ultraviolet light (on older computers at least) according to this page (http://66.240.157.66/personal/randall/pages/Museum/Museum%20Articles/Classic%20Computer%20Restoration.htm):


The yellowing process is caused by ultra-violet light and computers near windows with UV-coatings definitely fared better than those next to plain windows. If the case is a little yellowed and it is yellowed evenly, it usually isn't noticeable. However if the case had something covering up part of it for any length of time, for instance a Post It Note, it will have a very visible "tan line" and there's nothing to be done about it.
Still wondering about there being unevenly "tanned" NESes out there, though. I can't really imagine that the back of a Super Famicom cart saw much sunlight, either. :o

[Ze_ro]

I always thought it was odd how many SNES's seemed to have seperate panels that yellowed differently. You would think that the type of plastic would dictate this kind of behaviour, but I don't see much point in using two different types of plastic of the same color and consistency in the same product. Perhaps the plastics that are yellowing happened to be subject to some sort of contamination or poor processing or something of the sort. If that is the case though, then it would seem that the different panels of the SNES were made from completely seperate batches of plastics (or perhaps even in different factories), which also seems odd to me.

--Zero

[davidleeroth]

Here's what I did with wirewool and one my NES's:

http://www.students.tut.fi/~tiainen2/nes.html

[sniperCCJVQ]

I'm not 100% certain about stuff myself (obviously! ha) but I feel that if we don't read what's going on we certainly won't get anywhere. Anyhow, thanks for not taking offense to that (was banking on Mr. Smiley to help me out).

No offense against you Ed, you was right even if it's not my style to do this. I always read the other replies, i guess i was to enthusiastic. OK, back to the topic. ;)

[Pedro Lambrini]

As far as I'm aware it really is as simple as cheap plastic ageing badly and because it's cheap some plastic ages different to other bits because it's inconsistently made. It's like buying clothes from a cheap clothes shop - sometimes they fall apart, sometimes they don't even though they've went through the same machines and are the same materials (does that make sense!?).

[Ed Oscuro]

@ sniper: Thanks man :D

Yeah, Pedro, it does make sense! I was looking at the FFIV Easy Type cart I mentioned and it's yellowed rather unevenly. There's some yellowing on the inside lip, but only apparently on one half and then not a lot, some more in the middle of the outside (the back half of the shell is the only part yellowed) and raised bits (text) seem to get grey.

Bought another Performa (637cd, now I'm covered on the 68K and PowerPC side for Performas) and the case was a bit yellowed in spots; not terribly, but noticeably compared to the Performa 6290cd's case.

[Ze_ro]

I always thought cigarette smoke had some sort of effect here too... Perhaps just a contributing factor or something.

--Zero

[Sosage]

I think cig smoke is a different type of "yellowing", as I've seen it yellow stuff other than cheap plastic (I'm no scientist though... :D ).

I have to admit that I originally thought yellowing of certain consoles was a sign of just someone who didn't keep their stuff clean. Now I know. :)

[Pedro Lambrini]

I think if cigarette smoke was the cause you'd be able to clean it even just a little - this is definately in the make-up of the plastic. Also if it was jsut lack of cleaning!! :D

[davidleeroth]

Lookie me link I posted above. NES no made of cheap-o-plastic. Rub layer off, comes clean. LOL

[whoisKeel]

what's wirewool? like a brillo pad without soap? wouldn't that scratch the plastic aweful bad or no?

[Ze_ro]

what's wirewool? like a brillo pad without soap? wouldn't that scratch the plastic aweful bad or no?

Wirewool is basically a lump of thin metal wires that you use to scrub things. You only use it for extreme cases.

As for scratches, that's sort of the idea here. The plastic itself is stained, so you have to scrape off some of it to get down to the stuff that (hopefully) isn't stained yet.

--Zero

[davidleeroth]

Yes, the yellowing is only on the top layer. There's a feathering effect as well as straight lines on the yellowing pattern so sunlight must be the main cause here.
It looks like a NES cart made that pattern.

I don't doubt that tobacco will yellow it too, that stuff just yellows everything.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hmm, Ze_ro's been visiting Bash.org :P

@ DavidLeeRoth: I guess that settles the question; it's damaged caused by ultraviolet radiation. I looked over the old Performa I mentioned and all the yellowing was on top, and actually more along one side than another. :/

[suppafly]

this is divine punishment for buying cheap nintendo consoles instead of sega systems LOL

[ApolloBoy]

this is divine punishment for buying cheap nintendo consoles instead of sega systems LOL

And you bumped this thread just to bash Nintendo? Geez... :roll:

[rbudrick]

Oh boy. This topic has been beaten to death before on this forum. I'm too lazy to link the threads, but the sunlight theory is just plain wrong. There a few problems with this:

1) people who have opened sealed new SNESs recently have found yellowing.
2) the discoloration is on the inside of the yellowed systems too. They sure as hell didn't have suns in them.
3). I, and others have stored SNES/NESs, etc that used this plastic in rooms that had no windows. They yellowed over the years anyway.

The yellowing is purely an oxidization problem. Like rust.

Oh, and smoking isn't it either. That washes off of stuff (though very sticky and can stain sometimes anyway) and plently of non-smokers have SNES that went yellow.

Now someone managed to scratch down a layer and it was gray...weird. I think I remember hearing stories of the plastic being yellow all the way through to the middle....hmmm....could be wrong....could happen, I guess.

-Rob

[Jibbajaba]

...the sunlight theory is just plain wrong...The yellowing is purely an oxidization problem. Like rust.

Really? Where did you get your chemistry degree from? What's that? Oh, you don't have one... Well, I do. So here's the answer to this question and hopefully people stop asking.

The yellowing of the plastic is caused by oxidation, much as rbudrick said. Oxidation can be caused by a number of airborne chemicals such as ozone, but oxidation of organic compounds (read: plastic) occurs at a much faster rate by prolonged exposure to ULTRAVIOLET FUCKING RADIATION!!!!!!!!!! This is why if you leave a computer or game console which is made of easily oxidizable plastic exposed to sunlight for a long period of time, the side or sides of that object facing the sunlight source are more yellowed than the rest of the object. This is also why car paint gets oxidized after time unless it is stored in a garage for the vast majority of the time.

Now before anyone says "But Jibbajaba, rust is a form of oxidation and it isn't caused by sunlight...", ferrous compounds are not succeptable to ultraviolet radiation, probably due to their decreased reactivity.

So to sum up: sunlight bad, air less bad, yellowing inevitable, yellowing irreversible. Now some mod can come along and yell at me for being rude.

Chris

[omnedon]

OK. Does this UV discolouring permeate the plastic? Would this explain the yellowing on the inside of the consoles as well? SNES's that are yellowed, are yellowed inside and out, through and through.

[Jibbajaba]

Like I said, they yellowing is caused by both UV radiation and agents in the air. The outside will yellow faster because it is exposed to UV, but the inside also yellows because oxidation-happy compounds such as ozone creep through along with the air. If you live in an area where the air has an unusually high concentration of oxidizing agents (perhaps if your area is high in air pollution) then your consoles will be equally yellowed on the inside and outside (assuming that you always keep it away from the sun.) For the vast majority of people, however, the sun will be by far the major contributor.

My main point in my last post was not that simple atmospheric exposure can't cause oxidation, but that UV radiation is the major cause of said oxidation, and for someone to say that the sunlight "theory" was "just plain wrong" is just plain wrong itself, and proves that someone is making a statement when they don't really know what they are talking about. Looking back on it this morning it was probably a bit harsh but I am a big believer of admitting my ignorance when I know very little about something, and as such one of my big pet peeves is someone spouting off on a topic about which they are not well versed.

Chris

[rbudrick]

Really? Where did you get your chemistry degree from? What's that? Oh, you don't have one... Well, I do. So here's the answer to this question and hopefully people stop asking.

Hmm, just what we need...people bragging about their higher education in a videogame forum. And being pompous snots about it! Sweet! Congrats. I for one, am most impressed and am currently bowing to you. -_- It is interesting you assume I don't have a chemistry degree. I guess that degree came with a few classes in how to tone your sixth sense, because you are right, I don't have a chemistry degree! Damn. You are good.

I bet you would bow to my degrees too, but we won't go there.

I think it is very interesting that you completely ignored the fact that many have opened BRAND NEW SEALED snes units and found them yellowed. Gee, let's see...it doesn't take a chemistry major to know that UV light is not going to be an effect here. UV light is unlikely to pass through (to any measurable extend that would matter) the cardboard, styrofoam, and plastic bags and then straight into the SNES. Especially not when stored in some store or warehouse for years and not in the hot sun or under a UV lamp. Even if it could, that would mean that if I took it out into the sun, it would instantly vaporize if it were so effected by UV light that it would oxidize that much while in a new box. Being facitious there, but perhaps you should have majored in physics.

In addition, you also ignored this:


3). I, and others have stored SNES/NESs, etc that used this plastic in rooms that had no windows. They yellowed over the years anyway.

Oh yeah, tons of UV rays going on in my old gameroom with no windows. Right. Come to think of it, I rarely even turned on a lightbulb in there, usually using the light from the TV for sight.

UV light CAN certainly speed along the process, but is most certainly NOT the major cause in the vast majority of yellow SNES cases. I didn't mean to imply that it couldn't happen, only that it is extremely far from being the major cause of yellowing Nintendos. I just really very highly doubt many people had their SNESs in the sun. Especially not somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of people who owned SNES (a fair estimate of the yellowing cases). I know a crapload of people who owned SNESs and not once did I see one sitting on the windowsill or sitting outside or even in direct sunlight. Most people position their TVs away from sunlight anyway to reduce glare. If we could count the people here who say their SNESs were in the sun all the time and then if we could count the cases where people did not do that, I would bet the number of yellowed cases would be far higher in the latter group, mainly because the group would be larger. However, the percentage in both cases would likely be the same, though I would imagine slightly yellower cases in the former group. It would be a good experiment for a scientist such as yourself. It would be quite interesting to see your hypothesis tested in a scientific unbiased manner. Being a chemist, give it a shot.



Looking back on it this morning it was probably a bit harsh but I am a big believer of admitting my ignorance when I know very little about something

Well, we're waiting... LOL. JK. Seriously, you are ignoring a vast amount of evidence.

-Rob

[Jibbajaba]

Well I'll ignore all of the personal rancor contained in that post since I guess I basically asked for it. If what you are saying were true, every SNES and NES in the world would be yellowed, and they aren't. Direct sunlight is not required for UV oxidation to occur. A well lit room will do. As for the items which you own which were stored in the dark in plastic, I can only say that those things are not airtight. If something were stored in a completely airtight and completely dark container, where the container itself did not contain some agent that itself caused oxidation, the item would not yellow. Oxidation is caused by an outside source, and does not happen in these plastics spontaneously. All I can say is that I have seen plenty of empirical evidence to show me the damaging effect that sunlight has on crappy plastics. My own PSX, which sat on my desk under a window before I knew better is a testament to that fact, as it is as yellow as a friggin banana on top but still nice and grey everywhere else. There is no way that I would believe that a sealed SNES, NES, PSX, etc. would be opened up after 12 or so years and already be yellowed. Anyone here can say that they know someone who knows someone who saw that happen but I would never believe that until I saw it with my own eyes. If you have plastic components that are yellowing in the dark then you have a serious pollution problem in that room. I have never had anything of mine spontaneously become yellow with age unless the sun was involved. I still have my original NES from 1987, and an Apple ][+ from 1979 and they are both the color that they should be.

If you disagree with the "theory" that UV is the major cause of this yellowing problem, then I'd like to hear you propose an alternate scientific explanantion other than "it just happens with age" because plently of us have seen that this is not true. I apologize for giving this thread a bad tone but your post put me in a bad mood at the time.

Chris

[Jibbajaba]

OK I've been thinking more about this and here is what I'm gonna do in the interest of kangaroo science. I have two NES's, neither are yellow. One is my playing NES and the other is a POS that I bought at a thrift store becaise I wanted the 72 pin connector. Since it has survived this long without being yellowed, I'm gonna cover half of it up and put it outside in the sun for a few days and then post the pics.

Chris

[omnedon]

My theory is that not only do we have a UV factor, and an oxidization factor, but a manufacturing factor, with varying quality ABS used by Nintendo during manufacture. This explains the perfectly half yellow and half white SNES's I see with some regularity. Seeing as they are assembled with security screws, I doubt that they are the victim of user swapping.

A good 1/3 of the hundred + SNES's that have gone through my workshop were half yellow and half white.

[Bratwurst]

Mr. Jibba what are some recourses for surface oxidization such as a 'haze' on a normally shiney plastic? Is the spot going to grow and get worse, stay the same unless environmental conditions worsened, etc? Any treatment? Is it even oxidization? :D

To clarify an example, I bought a Turbo Grafx hucard that arrived in its card condom slightly 'stuck' inside on the back. Where it was lightly adhered to the sleeve the haze was there. I don't really want to scratch the haze away or anything though since there is printed lettering (the usual warnings and care advice) on the back and it's unaffected by this haze.

Bless Sega and their midnight blackness. Is black plastic known to discolor any btw? I figure it'd just be a matter of the material getting brittle if anything happens because of age and improper storage/handling.

[rbudrick]

Check this out:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28304

Where Icarwings 55 says:


....I have seen an snes that was in a smoke free house, always kept in the box, and never used... be yellow

OK...definitely no sunlight going on there. There you go, Jibba Jabba.

Then we have an interesting theory from Sisko:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16803



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From what I heard....

Early SNES units were developed completely in Japan and then shipped to the US.

After NAFTA was established, it became cheaper to develop portions in Mexico and then ship them up to the US. However, the Mexican plants had a slightly different recipe for their plastic.

In short, the sand content in the newer units cause them to turn colors.

And here's something very interesting from Evan:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8096


I've had my snes for 10 years, and it only has slight yellowing... and for the majority of its life it was in direct sunlight.

Only slight yellowing...hmmmm. Doesn't seem the sun did too much there.

There's one other thing that is pretty important. The insides of the SNES are also yellow. Since there is a spring flap on the SNES, not much light could come through. Now, granted that oxidation can eat right through anything, the outside would still be much yellower.

The fact is that even if you left it in the light every now and then, the system is ALWAYS in the air, making air a much worse oxidizer.

There's about 5 threads on this already in the DP forum. From what I read from various posts, they basically said the same as me: The air oxidized the plastic, but keeping it out of sunlight probably only retards the process.

Evan's case is pretty compelling though.

JibbaJabba, you mentioned:

There is no way that I would believe that a sealed SNES, NES, PSX, etc. would be opened up after 12 or so years and already be yellowed.

Ok, well then you've gotta keep in mind simple physics. Cardboard, plastic bags, styrofoam, etc are porous, and air can easily pass through them, and does. I've never opened a game system box that made the vaccum sound of a soda can when I opened it. Air definitely gets in. My newly opened systems never looked like one of those vaccum sealed coffe bags. They were pretty loose. All the evidence is far more compelling for making the case that AIR is the prime culrprit.


If what you are saying were true, every SNES and NES in the world would be yellowed, and they aren't.

True, they aren't ALL yellow (many are still completely gray), but my argument still holds. Probably half of the yellowed SNES are HALF yellow. I've seen hundreds of them and I believe that's a fair estimate. When Nintendo caught on to the problem (or perhaps when they changed manufacturers or factories or whatever) they still used their extra "yellowable" cases they had left over (or half cases). Many here can attest to their bottom half of their SNES being perfect while the top half was yellow (RIGHT ALONG THE SEAM- a perfect division). Many SNESs were made with better plastic, and have not and probably won't ever yellow (in our lifetimes). Not all SNESs were created equal.

Also, another interesting tidbit: The yellow case are brittle. They crack easily and sometimes even taking the screws out can snap the pole the screws extend into. Be careful with your yellow SNESs!

-Rob

[Jibbajaba]

Look, you said that the sunlight "theory" is completely false. You exact words were "the sunlight theory is just plain wrong." That is an absolute statement. I have said that oxidation from air is a definite factor. So I don't understand what the problem is. You are now backtracking and admitting that sunlight is a contributing factor. If there are different types of plastic that have been used throughout the SNES's production cycle, I didn't know that. I can only speak to the plastics that I have had direct experience with and they were oxidized by the sun. I have seen compouter monitors that are VASTLY more yellowed on the side facing a window than on the shady side. Maybe one side had more air on it. :roll: If the SNES was at times made from certain types of plastic that are extremely susceptible to osidation by airborne toxins, then that changes things, but then it should have been stated from the beginning that this was only a problem with these certain SNESes. In any case, I never made the claim that air had nothing to do with it. You are the one who said that the sunlight theory was "just plain wrong", and that statement is what made me reply to this thread to begin with, because that kind of statement tells people that it is OK to leave your gaming eqiupment in an area that is bathed with sunlight without having to worry, and my poor yellowed PSX knows better. I have only spoken from personal experience and education here. I have not made any absolute statements, but only said that I would have to see certain things personally before I would accept them as fact. And I certainly never made a statement such as "the theory of oxidation due to atmospheric exposure is just plain wrong."

This is a dumb thing to argue about and as such this is going to be my last post in this thread. Go ahead and say whatever you want to me or about me because it is going to go unchallenged. I stand by everything that I have said in this thread and I have nothing more to add that would be constructive or helpful to the conversation.

Chris

BTW I liked all of your references. Kind of an "I read it on the internet so it must be true" sort of thing.

[rbudrick]

Beautiful. Twist what I say and then say, "I'm not gonna reply, so nyah!" Real cute. Doesn't that just make you the man? I'm so impressed. :roll:


BTW I liked all of your references. Kind of an "I read it on the internet so it must be true" sort of thing.

Yeah, and I love your encyclopedia and scientific journal references. Don't you rock? At least I used sources. You only used yourself as a source. Personal experiences of others is certainly an admissible source. Are you doubting the word of those who posted that info? Then why not PM them calling them liars? That's practically what you are doing. Why would you want to alienate those folks? That's not really fair to them. They certainly didn't do anything to you. It is certainly childish of you to doubt those sources, as if they would wildly make up a lie about their yellowed SNESs solely to contradict you some time in the future when this thread was created.

I only meant that sunlight as the leading cause is absolutely worng. Call it bad wording or whatever. My statement was not meant to be absolute. My later statements certainly indicated this. In fact, my later statements were absolutely clear. It's not like I couldn't have hit "edit." I didn't think it was necessary. Any rational person reading the thread would see this as obvious. I was hardly backtracking, as you say.

MANY plastics out there yellow in the sun. SNESs, however, yellow far better just being in the air, with sunlight effecting it very little, as it appears.


I can only speak to the plastics that I have had direct experience with

Exactly. You left yours in the sun, and made a generalization about everyone.


because that kind of statement tells people that it is OK to leave your gaming eqiupment in an area that is bathed with sunlight without having to worry, and my poor yellowed PSX knows better

Riiiight. Yeah, that's exactly what it says. :roll: What, do you think everyone is an idiot? Like they are going to run out and leave their systems on their windowsills! And we weren't even talking about PSXs, dude! Apples and oranges, man.


I have only spoken from personal experience and education here

And I have not. I have quoted personal experience and the exerience of others.

For someone who claims to have the scientific education that you say, you certainly take a biased unscientific approach to evidence that contradicts your personal views and personal experiences. That's very unscientific. I'm not saying this a big science experiment. It hardly is. However, if you are going to tout your high and mighty education, you should really play the part, as it is very hypocritical. I would certainly have changed my views, had it been shown that SNESs yellow because of sunlight as a main factor. That MOST certainly did not happen. No such evidence was shown and much evidence to the contrary was. I'm absolutely convinced that your PSX did yellow from sunlight, though.

Why was this being argued you ask? Because this is a forum and someone asked about the cause of the yellowing. Why give them false info? If anything, they can take both our arguments and make thier own informed decision what they think.

-Rob

[youngamer]

mabie one of the problems is the heat. you know like if you pulled a 24 hour NES or SNES marathon or its hot outside it could discolorise it :?


just a thought

[Cryomancer]

Just to fuel this fire, my nintendo products existed in a heavy-smoking house and never yellowed. They probably didn't get too much sun but the air was definetly crappy / smoke-filled, and my SNES is still pretty.

[youngamer]

Big Discovery!!! In my math teachers class, she has a whole bunch of computer monitors and they are half yellow and half white and the yellow parts are facing the sun! so the yellowing is from the sunlight! 8-) :D

[omnedon]

x_x

[Duncan]

Question: Did anyone, ANYONE on this second page even attempt to read the two dozen posts on the first page? I'm guessing not.

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:

1) Many (but certainly not all) NES and SNES units have a tendency to yellow with age.

2) The yellowing is consistent in pattern; that is, you don't usually see consoles that are partly or minimally yellowed. In fact, some have even opened up yellowed consoles to find that they are just as yellow on the inside as on the outside. In addition, consoles that have never been out of their box have been found to be yellowed.

3) Referring to point 2 -- this would seem to indicate that the problem is not based on exposure to sunlight, as can commonly occur with other types of plastic. Hence, the color shift is more probably based on a chemical change from exposure to something in the air.

4) Referring to point 3 -- the chemical change is most probably not caused by cigarette smoke or lack of cleaning, as many have testified.

5) Referring to point 3 -- it has been proposed that the yellowing comes from oxidation of some compound inherent in the plastic. This is more probable, considering the evidence related in point 2.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW YET:

1) It is possible but unproven so far that the chemical shift, assuming there is one, may be triggered by regional differences in air quality. This would most likely be hard to test, but minimal study of this idea -- based on an informal survey -- could be undertaken within the forum.

2) We have no knowledge of exactly what the oxidized compound is. Any chemists out there willing to test it (school project, perhaps)?

3) We have no knowledge of which batches of Nintendo products were affected by this difference in the plastic, or when these batches were produced. Serial number cataloging and (again) a survey might help in this regard.

Now, everyone stop bitching and let's figure this out once and for all. :o