I posted this over at the PC-Engine FX forums but I figured the information might be useful here too. I bought a PC-Engine Duo-R the other week and like most of them doing the rounds these days (check eBay or Yahoo Japan) it was a bit yellow. As a collector, this wasn't acceptable; so I set out to make wrongs right.

The below is written out for a PC-Engine Duo-R, but obviously any yellowed system should be much the same. Other PC-Engine systems or accessories, Model 1 SNESes, etc. Because the blue logo (lettering) on the Duo-R was not affected, I'm assuming the bleach isn't really whitening the system more than it's actually just breaking up and sucking out all the dirt and grime in the plastic.

Here's the process I used, you can do this or your own variation of it. You'll need some Comet or Clorox gel all-purpose cleaner, a large bottle of bleach (or two) and a toothbrush or two (medium bristle for scrubbing). The Duo is a very nice system to take apart, everything is fairly simple and friendly unlike the hell that is taking apart a PS2. Everything on the CD lid can be taken apart so you're left with just the plastic and the small plastic piece over the CD drive and lens also removes very easily. The first step is using the gel and toothbrush to scrub the system down. This should get most of the color out and loosen up the deep-in surface color. You can be as gentle or rough as you want, just be careful as you could mark the surface lightly. If you want to apply major elbow-grease perhaps a sponge would be better. After you're satisfied with the scrubbing, place the shell in a cake pan (you'll probably have to do each half separately) and fill to the top with bleach. I can't say how long to leave it in, but I left each piece in for 16-24 hours before removing. Once you remove, rinse thoroughly with cold water, towel dry what you can and leave it to dry for an hour or so. You may use a hair dryer to speed up drying, and you'll need to make sure there isn't any bleach or water left in the corners or screw holes. Piece it back together and you're done!

Now, this is what I did. Both steps may not be necessary. If anybody wants to try soaking in bleach alone (to avoid scrubbing the system) let me know how well it comes out. Take before and after pictures if you can!









Enjoy!