Actually it's not THAT dangerous, just put the lamp in a closet and don't open that closet with the lamp on. A second or two of exposure aren't fatal, although should still be avoided. This includes sunbathing without strong sunscreen
@@jwhite5008 The biggest danger would to be to your eyes if you look at the light source, especially since its invisible to the eye. An EPROM eraser uses such a light and has a switch that turns the lamp off if you open the drawer.
Neighbor kid's mom: lives in Austin with "other dad".
5 років тому+29
There was even some "investigation" here, in the local TV news, why people put "old computers bathing in water to the sun". It was very funny to watch, TV people trying to figure out what's going on, with total strange ideas ;-P I guess they didn't ask right people about the "mystery" :)
I appreciate you showing your "failures" as well as the successes. I often feel like I'm not always successful at a restoration project and it is nice to see that I'm not the only one who has that problem.
I just cannot believe this man's maniacal commitment to detail. I could not care less about these machines, but through his eyes, there is such beauty in this.
When I do my badges/labels I always go vector. I use as many sources as possible, get them overlapped with correct perspective in GIMP (image editor) and line them up in InkScape to vectorise. I try my best to source the highest quality print I can, some of my electronics have "battery choke hazard" warning badges that are very small, yes the font is quite remarkably high DPI (I never put them under a microscope to inspect, I should do that!). I tend to keep all my badge vector files too, so if I end up sourcing a better print service I can swap to that and do an even closer-to-original output. Takes hours to get a solid, original looking design - only for most of it to be muddied up at the print.
I still use Paint Shop Pro 7.04 (released in 2000), because it has very easy to use vector layer mode and vector drawing tools you can overlay over bitmap images. After 7.04 version they made a lot of changes both UI and functionality I never got used and it was eventually sold to Corel.
8-Bit Guy has the most heart but sometimes his craft leaves me wanting. Sometimes he hand-waves terrible quality stuff without just admitting that he simply doesn't have the resources to do it correctly. At some point its like, why bother? I like to imagine that restoration is more detail oriented than this.
When doing your retro Brighting I'm wondering if a small aquarium heater inside the vat would help to raise the temperature of the water and help the the process along a little quicker
@@Coolshows101 I thought it would be better to find a cheaper way of doing it because the peroxide could destroy that thing. Heat and oxidizers do strange things to medals after all.
@@ImpetuouslyInsane immersion heaters are stainless, so unless you're running voltage through the water it'll be fine. I'd be more worried about the plastic.
Hi, I used to clean a lot of old telephones in a previous job. I found the best thing to remove adhesive is called oil flow. It is available at floor laying supply shops. I think you should try it :-) it works wonders for old labels and things like that.
Had one of those Excelerator Plus drives for most of the time I had a 64 as a kid. Much less likely to go out of alignment than a genuine 1541, and easier to realign when it eventually did. Solid, if legally dubious, product!
The 8-Bit Guy is truly one of the most professional productions on UA-cam! He has the wonderful talent of making even the most technical subjects highly entertaining and informative. The 8-Bit Guy is very popular in the UK and Poland!
I think here in Germany he is too, at least I know a ton of people who know amd watch him, too. Also watching his videos boosted my english grades quite a lot
Those small CLEAR bins nest in each other. You can line a "dry" bin with the aluminum tape to create a reflective container, then put a second bin, a "wet" bin, inside that to keep the cleaning liquids separate from the tape, allowing it to work on the various computer bits. Might want to use two of the bulbs in that case, as there is a level of opacity to the clear plastic that needs to be overcome. Otherwise, maybe visit some cooking supply stores to see if you can find some large, clear glass pots, bowls, or basins you can use, just wrapping the outside with aluminum foil (shiny side in!) for the reflectivity and less opacity from the glass.
A difference in yellowing between parts on the same device (if all are original parts of that same unit) is frequently due to different chemical mixing of the plastics during the manufacture of the parts. This is most often seen on the Super Nintendo (SNES) where either the top or bottom shell case (or the cartridge door) is grey, but the other side (top or bottom) is highly yellowed. The chemicals of one plastic part was mixed correctly, and the other part was mixed poorly or unevenly, so the bromine yellowing becomes far more pronounced in only one plastic shell part, even though the entire unit was exposed to the same amount of sunlight. Also, nice to see the "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) hat-tip at the beginning! (Also paraphrased in 1974's "Blazing Saddles") It's good to know that older (pre-1977) films are still being appreciated, even if it's mostly through their famous quotes. ^_^
@@moosemaimer Just in case anyone doesn't get the reference to "UHF", that's the _Weird_ _Al_ _Yankovic_ movie of the same name. So now that means you need to watch it.
I was honestly surprised that you did not attempt to use the Souz-Vide immersion cooker you got in a donation for this, seeing how it is winter. You could even combine that method with the black fluorescent bulb.
This is exactly what I came to the comments to suggest. They also sell long fluorescent tube UV lights at Walmart that would give more even coverage. Seems worth trying.
Hey, I tried your baking soda trick the other day to clean the thrift store wax pencil/crayon price marking off a set of Creative Labs speakers I bought. I had been worried that it might affect the texture of the plastic somewhat when I had seen you do it in the past, but in this case it removed the markings with no perceptible change to the plastic itself. So, thumbs up for that cleaning tip, it works a treat!
Man, seeing that excelerator plus makes me so nostalgic for my C64 setup I had as a kid. I had a paper route, and earned my own money to buy a refurbished C64 and 1541, and then at some point later bought the excelerator for a 2nd drive. I don't remember it having any compatibility issues and was so much smaller than the 1541, and its multicolor LED was pretty cool too.
Printing labels with SVG instead of PNG prevails algorithms of numbers, making up for pixelated prints with "fine" resolution: Hence when printing with SVG, your labels and anything else you have in mind--looks professional as the real deal. :) Love the video and thrilled seeing people doing stuff I dreamed of too! :D
That might be a long video. I'm trying to remember all the different types I've used or worked on. Thermal, electrostatic, wax transfer... trying to recall the printers used with Tektronix storage tube terminals, some sort of video capture. Impact printers using 9- and 24-pin printheads, multi-hammer band printers, daisy-wheels. Actual Centronics printers. And we could include plotters, too!
*Jeff Finch:* While not as up to date as you're describing, there is series 3 of _The Secret Life of Machines,_ with *Tim Hunkin.* No episode specifically about printers, but they do cover related technologies such as the fax machine and the photocopier.
There is an restoration channel called Odd Tinkering where he uses a transparent plastic crate wrapped around with UV LED strips for his plastic whitening process (including but not limited to yellowed game consoles and controllers), instead of a bulb light.
To your UV comment near the end of the video. I live in Canada, so retrobrighting is never an option in the winter, so what I use is a metal halide bulb suspended over my bathtub. I cover the pieces I want to retrobright in peroxide creme and wrap them in saran wrap before placing them on a baking tray in the bathtub. This type of bulb requires a ballast and I had an external one made with a switch, that way I can place it outside of the bathroom and turn it on and off with the bathroom door closed so I'm not exposed to the UV light. I'll check the status every several hours (with the light off) and rotate the pieces and make sure the peroxide is evenly distributed. This method has worked very well for me!
I love the dedication of how you went and did a number of these logos simply by just replicating them in a paint program by hand. Instead of the speedier option of using Photoshop and looking for a similar font style and editing it to look like the logos. Kid me would've certainly done the same if I had never discovered or used Photoshop. od
I have been using various types of a4 sized paper for my printer that works as stickers. I have both clear and white backed "paper" which works great for this exact thing. It's propably something you should look in to using to get rid of the overlapping lines as is on your PC jr badge and you can print as high of a ppt as your printer supports so they should also fix any resolution "issues" that you might be having on some of the badges to. Just something to think about if you plan on making a lot of these badges.
@@psygn0sis why are you attacking him? Is it the first time you're on the internet? People quote some things in comments when they like to share their favorite quotes from a video, because they liked them. That's very common. What is not very common are aggressive comments like yours.
@@InvisibleMan2 Too be fair aggressive comments are just as common if not more so, albeit not by someone as truly triggered and crotchety as psygn0sis seems too be. It's quit funny though, very "Ok boomer" esque
In my retro-bright experiences, I have used a large aluminum baking tray to reflect the blacklight. It is a cheap tub like tray used for cooking turkey in the oven. Usually a 2-pack is a couple of dollars. I also used 2 4-foot blacklight bulbs in a cheap shop light fixture. I have retro-brighted old consoles (SNES) as well as GI Joe and Star Wars toys in this manner with great success. Left in solution for 24 hours. I have found temperature has less to do with the process than a good UV source.
16:50 From that photo, I can see that the fonts used were from the Eurostile family, which is used with most products both then and now. I recommend getting the fonts for any future projects.
Here are a few ideas with building your indoor cleaning tub: 1) Try using glass container for your tub, such as a 1-piece aquarium without the silicone seams or a large glass Pyrex casserole/lasagna pan, 2) Instead of putting the reflective tape inside of the tub, attach the reflective side of the aluminum foil around the outside of the glass tub so it won't react with the chemical mixture, 3) go to an aquarium store to find a temperatue adjustable and submersible water heater that's built within a test tube. Hope this helps and gives you ideas with your design and construction.
Great video and adding the classic "We don't need no stinking badges." THAT WAS GENIUS!!! Oh and next time you need to do some wider scraping ask your brother if he has any wood chisels that would work, they can be sharpened to razor blade sharp. It might be worth investing in some.
Hi, I watch a bunch of reconditioning videos on UA-cam including lots of yours (Thank you!). Your channel is where I learned about retro-briting (is that a real verb?). Every time I see anyone trying to remove labels and marks from various pieces of equipment, I always wince at their efforts with Isopropyl Alcohol and/or WD40. Although WD40 works a lot of the time, there are better substances out there that require much less labour. One is Non-Chlorinated Brake Parts Cleaner (Automotive store), and the other is Methyl Hydrate (any Paint store/department). The brake parts cleaner is better than any of the purposed label removers like Goo Gone etc. It will soften just about any label glue and, unlike the other stuff, it will not touch the plastic. The only down side is that it has a pretty intense odour. You can even use it on some oil or solvent based stains on clothing. It works kind of like dry cleaning fluid. Methyl Hydrate is much better than Isopropyl Alcohol at removing marks and has no odour. It instantly removes Sharpie marks without hurting plastics as well. It can be had for about $5/litre at any paint store. I used to be a signage installer, and we used these chemicals all the time to remove vinyl lettering and removing tape goo and labels after installing or removing signs. Cheers!
If the air temperature is low, that means the ground water is cold. It could take hours or even days to heat that much water up with a fish tank heater. Probably better to use sous vide heater.
I’d be curious if a fish tank in general would work better... perhaps with something reflective on the OUTSIDE. Perhaps the seal would break down with the chemicals? Just an idea, never seen anyone try it.
i watched a guy who restores gaming consoles. he made a giant box with tin foiled walls, floor and ceiling. Then he would place the clear container in the box with the peroxide solution and then used black light LED's on strips, kinda like how Christmas lights are on strands so that they could be placed all over the box and therefore the UV light would get in every crack and corner of the box. you could even re-adjust the LED strips as needed if needed. and his plastics would come out beautiful and brand new looking, and some of these things were truly ugly going in. maybe you could do something similar to this. i hope you read this and it gives you some ideas. love your channel. keep up the good work.
Great stuff! Note: Some of these plastics re-yellow when the plastic is in a light free environment! I've found that on a mouse I did a few months ago.
Yeah. My Sam Coupé was pristine when I put it in its box 20 years ago. Was shocked at how it had yellowed when I took it out a couple of months back. Even more noticeable on the Sam as MGT used white plastic.
Spot on. In fact in many cases the yellowing will occur faster, and will cause some plastics to yellow where they had not before. I have watched videos that actually ask, "to retrobrite, or not to retrobrite, that is the question." And they named these problems among others as arguments for not retrobriting. I think though, that one of the most convincing arguments against it, is collectors shunbthe process and feel it devalues the things they are trying to collect. In David's case, he is trying to present content in a historical format and it is interesting to see this old tech in its original condition.
Back in the day I loved making custom badges as the final touch for a mod project. I think my first was the old "Evil Inside" intel logo fascimile. I was lucky enough to have a father with a laserjet and would print on clear overhead transparencies.
As someone who lives where it's cold 8 months out of the year, I'm really excited to see what you come up with for an indoor setup. I've experimented with a few things, but I'm always kinda nervous investing time and money into things that might not work, or worse, damage what I'm trying to clean up. Rock on sir!
Anytime I think of retro computer stuff, the first words I hear in my mind are _"Greetings, and welcome to an _*_LGR_*_ thing,"_ in Clint's voice. I even woke to a _Thrifts_ dream this morning.
Well done! And not to worry about the drive with little bit of yellow on the sides; because compared to what it was originally, it looks great! All good wishes.
Voultar has a good setup for retrobrighting. He has an opaque bobby bin lined with foil or reflective tape, and then UV led strips. Since you retrobright so much, it's probs worth investing in building a rig like that. Great vid!
I'm sure half of these comments are going to be suggesting retrobright techniques. But I've done a lot of experimenting myself (peroxide hair cream, industrial peroxide solution, high power LED UV strip light, sunlight, ambient light, various temperatures etc) Without going through every iteration, I basically found out that blasting it with UV light doesn't make much of a difference from ambient sunlight. However, heating the solution makes a massive difference. I now have a clear plastic tub similar to yours with lid and a sous vide heater. I put the parts in undiluted 12% food grade H2O2 @ 60-70 deg C and leave them on a window sill during the day. It takes 1-3hrs this way. You can dilute the mixture 50% and it takes twice as long. A really interesting thing to note is I did this at first and thought the parts still looked a little yellow, I dried them off and left them on the side overnight and in the morning they were perfectly white. I have no idea how this could happen though :S I'd definitely recommend heating the solution over any other kind of method and a sous vide cooker is the perfect way to do this accurately.
Look up the recipe for “secret sauce” that us sneaker heads use to remove the oxidation on the clear soles of older air Jordan shoes. The process is much quicker than using so much liquid and the results will surprise you
@@prismstudios001 Most likely referring to some folks selling pre-mixed hydrogen peroxide (the most effective strength is hard to come by since it's only sold to licensed beauticians) with a thickening agent so it sticks to surfaces long enough to do its job.
RailRide that is correct. It’s a mixture of the peroxide solution with corn starch as a thickening agent. It’s then brushed on and covered with regular store bought shrink wrap to keep from drying out and left out in the sun or under up light until desired results
I never tried it myself but I would attempt a used fish tank (20 gallon) coated with mirror paint (many many coats. Finished with black paint. You could leave a hole on the bottom for (or other sides) for additional lights. You’re the expert I’m just spit balling. Love the channel and love your work. I hope it helps.
"So small that nobody's really going to notice." I did, even before you told us. Since you have the label on that drive still basically intact, why not scan it and then edit it to clean it up, and then use a regular printer with transparency sheets, with the right color of printing, instead of on the label maker, for best results?
Ugh, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought they looked like crap. A piss-poor quality label maker is mostly to blame (I don't know how the HELL you end up with those artifacts on a flat horizontal/vertical line of pixels...) but if he's gonna be drawing letters by hand anyway instead of trying to track down a font, then he really should just do them in vector.
Oh yeah, vector! Good point, @@ValkyrieTiara. Or in this case it might even be easier to just scan the existing drive label at a good 600+ DPI and then clean it up in raster drawing software (like he was using). I can see using vector for scratch, but if I have something to scan that I can just clean up, I'd rather go that route. Thanks for your reply and like!
I can't believe he used a microscope to prove that the results on his low res printer were the same no matter how good the source was. The point is so totally missed. "Hey, maybe you should use 1080p instead of 720p for your video? It might look better?" "When I play it back on my CRT using composite video it looks just as bad either way. Zoom in real close and you can see it." Either way, the original source regular or doubled wasn't close to a high enough resolution for good results on a good printer with clear sticker paper or other transparent sheets.
I have no idea why your content is so damn enjoyable. I mean you retrobrighted some plastic and made a couple labels and yet I was thoroughly entertained. Lol Whatever it is you're doing, keep it up man. Cheers!🍻
now you know, have the reflective surface OUTSIDE the reaction chamber... in which case normal foil would also work, probably, but could also just tape that aluminium tape to some cardboard or something...
Thank you for the video content and all the unforeseen segments. I enjoyed it very well, so from my point of view, maybe you did a better job than you might have anticipated yourself. I also found it nice to get a glimpse of your brother and some of his work, thank you for mentioning his channel.
2:08 Likely from a Commodore product, lolz Looks like it came out decently enough. Yes, do assert caution with UVB/C lighting, and with procurement of it because it's one of those things that people love overcharging for...
ive been a gamersince i was a kid, never in to old computers except for the few i got to play with in the 90s (half life, blue shift, opossing forces (illegal copies)) but i LOVE your videos. You and Clint both, glad you get to do what you love to make a living, keep it up, we appreciate you.
I had some succes lately with the retrobright of a GameBoy. I applied 12% poeroxide gel, which hairdressers use. I covered the whole piece using a brush then wrapped it into plastic foil. Stuck it under UV light for 8 hours. Worked like a charm.
I had one of those Oceanic drives... I got it very cheap as the previous owner had issues with it. I had a great run with it though... Way back then it was terrific to not have the HUGE shoe-box sized 1541 on your computer table/desk!
Hello, 1. I saw a guy removing old badges heating them, using a hairdryer or a similar professional tool; 2.. Acetone can dissolve and clean superglue BUT damage /change the plastic color and surface. I think metallic surfaces (ink free)are not modificated by acetone; 3. After print the new logos/badges you can protect them with a special spry to protect paintings. It's not the same original protection but can help. Attention, apply this spry before apply the badges on the device. Thanks for the great video, from Seoul, Tito.
You should just wrap the outside of the tub with aluminium foil to prevent any chemical reaction. You can just stick it to the tub with double sided tape or even just tape it on. Or use two tubs (the ones that store inside each other) and put the foil between the two of them... Great video as always, thanks
Just watching this video. I can't read through all of the comments, so apolgise if this has alrready been said, but why don't you stick the tape to the outside of the box?
It's possible the box itself will absorb some of the UV light. Putting the reflective surface inside the box will maximize the already uncertain effectiveness of the UV.
Metal halide lamp and the Peroxide cream stuff will fix those sides or at least I would think so anyways. I've seen you use the cream along with plastic wrap before I was surprised you didn't try that method. Great video and as a C64 owner and user since 1985 I must admit I never heard of those Knock off Drives before. Very informative!! Great work!
3:47
This isn't sped up, this is his real scrubbing speed after years of restoring computers.
@@eiron6490 wut
@@niko5008 its a joke
Looks like he deleted the comment
Wax on, wax off!
_plastic has left the chat_
“I think I can build a contraption to use them safely”
Famous last words
Actually it's not THAT dangerous, just put the lamp in a closet and don't open that closet with the lamp on. A second or two of exposure aren't fatal, although should still be avoided. This includes sunbathing without strong sunscreen
@@jwhite5008 The biggest danger would to be to your eyes if you look at the light source, especially since its invisible to the eye. An EPROM eraser uses such a light and has a switch that turns the lamp off if you open the drawer.
Wait... is there really a new ElectroBoom video today?
Jack White Just locate the switch outside the closet and you’re good.
@@nzoomed You mean EPROM with a single e, right?
'cuz an EEPROM is an "Electronically Erasable" PROM, so you don't need an UV light for that.
Neighbor Kid: Daddy, the weird Guy over there is bathing his plastic stuff again...
Neighbor Kid's Dad: Shut up junior - that man is a legend!
Neighbor Kid's Brother: okay boomer
Neighbor Kid's Sister: The future is now old man.
Neighbor kid's mom: lives in Austin with "other dad".
There was even some "investigation" here, in the local TV news, why people put "old computers bathing in water to the sun". It was very funny to watch, TV people trying to figure out what's going on, with total strange ideas ;-P I guess they didn't ask right people about the "mystery" :)
I appreciate you showing your "failures" as well as the successes. I often feel like I'm not always successful at a restoration project and it is nice to see that I'm not the only one who has that problem.
Can be quite handy to learn from others mistakes. Like you I wish people would learn to not be ashamed of others seeing them
“But that’s it for the moment.” Immediately transported my brain to Techmoan.
As always, thanks for watching.
Step 1: Have a brother with all the tools.
lol
:))
Word
i gotchu fam
Or at least a Brother label maker
Of all the places this channel could go, i was never expecting Spencer's
😥😂
Once upon a time, Spencer's was just a shop with stupid shirts, magic tricks, and fart machines. It wasn't always a hard core sex toy shop.......
Spencer's Gifts!
Because you wouldn't want to keep anything here for yourself.
So, you didn't expect a kind of Spencer's inquisition? Nobody expects a Spencer's inquisition!
Mall closest to me has Spencer's Gifts right next to Victoria's Secret.
COINCIDENCE???? I THINK NOT!!!
I just cannot believe this man's maniacal commitment to detail. I could not care less about these machines, but through his eyes, there is such beauty in this.
When I do my badges/labels I always go vector. I use as many sources as possible, get them overlapped with correct perspective in GIMP (image editor) and line them up in InkScape to vectorise. I try my best to source the highest quality print I can, some of my electronics have "battery choke hazard" warning badges that are very small, yes the font is quite remarkably high DPI (I never put them under a microscope to inspect, I should do that!).
I tend to keep all my badge vector files too, so if I end up sourcing a better print service I can swap to that and do an even closer-to-original output.
Takes hours to get a solid, original looking design - only for most of it to be muddied up at the print.
I second that idea. CorelDraw used here at my shop.
I liked the open source software being used!
I still use Paint Shop Pro 7.04 (released in 2000), because it has very easy to use vector layer mode and vector drawing tools you can overlay over bitmap images. After 7.04 version they made a lot of changes both UI and functionality I never got used and it was eventually sold to Corel.
8-Bit Guy has the most heart but sometimes his craft leaves me wanting. Sometimes he hand-waves terrible quality stuff without just admitting that he simply doesn't have the resources to do it correctly. At some point its like, why bother? I like to imagine that restoration is more detail oriented than this.
Xilefian you go vector? You never go plaid?
"It would look great if I had a few more days, but I don't have that."
"Four days later..."
we don't need no stinking badges
He was referring to the weather.
@@mina86we don't need no stinking badges
@@raven4k998 we don't need no stinking badges
Only the 8-Bit Guy could make me watch a 20 minute video about making 80s computer stickers.
9:22 That's one low-capacity backup drive.
That has more storage than my pc has ram
Thats bad, thats bad
@@billman69 ouch
@@billman69 My man is rocking sub 3 gb ram in 2021 (though maybe/hopefully he has upgraded since this comment in 2019)
I hope that's a typo. Shouldn't it be 3TB? I haven't seen a hard drive that small in over 20 years.
Be sure to tell your brother to double check the motivator on that R2 unit!
He says he's the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a resident of these parts...
I love how he casually shows his brothers awesome R2-D2
When doing your retro Brighting I'm wondering if a small aquarium heater inside the vat would help to raise the temperature of the water and help the the process along a little quicker
They do make tea maker rods that go into coffee cups to heat water. That with a pond pump might actually do it
He has a sous vide he used once.
@@Coolshows101 I thought it would be better to find a cheaper way of doing it because the peroxide could destroy that thing. Heat and oxidizers do strange things to medals after all.
@@ImpetuouslyInsane immersion heaters are stainless, so unless you're running voltage through the water it'll be fine. I'd be more worried about the plastic.
Yes, he sure should build a retro bright rig
You are like the Bob Ross of computer repairs. It's therapeutic.
Hi, I used to clean a lot of old telephones in a previous job. I found the best thing to remove adhesive is called oil flow. It is available at floor laying supply shops. I think you should try it :-) it works wonders for old labels and things like that.
Upvoted
That stuff works well but the odor is super strong. He'll need good ventilation or a mask.
i have no idea what about you talking, but seems you know it pretty well, so like.
SquareMEal huts huhu
I don't sell phones but i collect them! I post vids of them on my channel! Sorry for the ad!
Had one of those Excelerator Plus drives for most of the time I had a 64 as a kid. Much less likely to go out of alignment than a genuine 1541, and easier to realign when it eventually did. Solid, if legally dubious, product!
The 8-Bit Guy is truly one of the most professional productions on UA-cam! He has the wonderful talent of making even the most technical subjects highly entertaining and informative. The 8-Bit Guy is very popular in the UK and Poland!
And in the rest of the World, I'm sure he is, too.
I think here in Germany he is too, at least I know a ton of people who know amd watch him, too. Also watching his videos boosted my english grades quite a lot
@@exilsaarlander9813 That's the same for mine (I'm Italian).
Those small CLEAR bins nest in each other. You can line a "dry" bin with the aluminum tape to create a reflective container, then put a second bin, a "wet" bin, inside that to keep the cleaning liquids separate from the tape, allowing it to work on the various computer bits. Might want to use two of the bulbs in that case, as there is a level of opacity to the clear plastic that needs to be overcome. Otherwise, maybe visit some cooking supply stores to see if you can find some large, clear glass pots, bowls, or basins you can use, just wrapping the outside with aluminum foil (shiny side in!) for the reflectivity and less opacity from the glass.
A difference in yellowing between parts on the same device (if all are original parts of that same unit) is frequently due to different chemical mixing of the plastics during the manufacture of the parts. This is most often seen on the Super Nintendo (SNES) where either the top or bottom shell case (or the cartridge door) is grey, but the other side (top or bottom) is highly yellowed. The chemicals of one plastic part was mixed correctly, and the other part was mixed poorly or unevenly, so the bromine yellowing becomes far more pronounced in only one plastic shell part, even though the entire unit was exposed to the same amount of sunlight.
Also, nice to see the "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) hat-tip at the beginning! (Also paraphrased in 1974's "Blazing Saddles") It's good to know that older (pre-1977) films are still being appreciated, even if it's mostly through their famous quotes. ^_^
Also referenced in UHF.
_Badgers?_
I've seen that myself on an old MicroBee computer years ago. The top was badly yellowed, but the bottom, was almost normal colour.
I think he talked about this and the effect that Retrobrite has on pieces like that in another restoration video.
The yellowing is inherent to the ABS plastic itself, not the Tetrabromobisphenol-A added to it.
@@moosemaimer Just in case anyone doesn't get the reference to "UHF", that's the _Weird_ _Al_ _Yankovic_ movie of the same name. So now that means you need to watch it.
Anyone else find the sped-up scrubbing really satisfying?
I was honestly surprised that you did not attempt to use the Souz-Vide immersion cooker you got in a donation for this, seeing how it is winter. You could even combine that method with the black fluorescent bulb.
This is exactly what I came to the comments to suggest. They also sell long fluorescent tube UV lights at Walmart that would give more even coverage. Seems worth trying.
Dude.. the quick cut to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was hilarious.
robertd1965 you’re right!
Thank you for naming the film! Was trying to figure out which it was.
*sees title of video*
"Hey, I'm gonna quote that line from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre in the comments, that'll be SO funny."
1:03 Oh damn.
what? did I beat you to it?
I just watched that film again a month ago and I don't recall any badgers!
I'm devastated. I thought the line read, "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!" Edit: Got to 1:14. Never mind! Close enough!
Glad to see people still remember that movie, the best role of Humphrey Bogard (for most, for me his best role is Sabrina).
I only know the version from Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles". I was wondering if he was gonna use THAT version.
Hey, I tried your baking soda trick the other day to clean the thrift store wax pencil/crayon price marking off a set of Creative Labs speakers I bought. I had been worried that it might affect the texture of the plastic somewhat when I had seen you do it in the past, but in this case it removed the markings with no perceptible change to the plastic itself. So, thumbs up for that cleaning tip, it works a treat!
Man, seeing that excelerator plus makes me so nostalgic for my C64 setup I had as a kid. I had a paper route, and earned my own money to buy a refurbished C64 and 1541, and then at some point later bought the excelerator for a 2nd drive. I don't remember it having any compatibility issues and was so much smaller than the 1541, and its multicolor LED was pretty cool too.
"I think it is important to show the mistakes as well as the successes!"
*ElectroBOOM has entered the chat server!*
I think I have to rebadge the size of the thing you have between your legs :) I'm just joking :) I like to be funny :)
@@RequiemDream tf
Requim Dream Not funny, cringe
@@RequiemDream wtf dude
@@RequiemDream It's been 8 months but it still has to be said: b r u h
The printer thing is something I would like to watch even if it was a hour or 2 long
Printing labels with SVG instead of PNG prevails algorithms of numbers, making up for pixelated prints with "fine" resolution: Hence when printing with SVG, your labels and anything else you have in mind--looks professional as the real deal. :) Love the video and thrilled seeing people doing stuff I dreamed of too! :D
I'd love to see a video about the history of printers. From the old spool typewriter style all the way to modern 3D printers.
Yes that would be awesome. In fact people still use dot matrix printers to this day since they are very reliable and can print on multipart paper.
That might be a long video. I'm trying to remember all the different types I've used or worked on. Thermal, electrostatic, wax transfer... trying to recall the printers used with Tektronix storage tube terminals, some sort of video capture. Impact printers using 9- and 24-pin printheads, multi-hammer band printers, daisy-wheels. Actual Centronics printers. And we could include plotters, too!
@@bobblum5973 make it a multi part video! This is the history of tech! We should learn to preserve it.
*Jeff Finch:* While not as up to date as you're describing, there is series 3 of _The Secret Life of Machines,_ with *Tim Hunkin.* No episode specifically about printers, but they do cover related technologies such as the fax machine and the photocopier.
@@Christopher-N I actually emailed Tim a few years ago. Great guy. And the secret Life of machines is an amazing TV show
7:11 I do love that vacuum extension going to the floor, making sweeping up a breeze.
There is an restoration channel called Odd Tinkering where he uses a transparent plastic crate wrapped around with UV LED strips for his plastic whitening process (including but not limited to yellowed game consoles and controllers), instead of a bulb light.
That channel is my late-night guilty pleasure, I won't lie.
This is the way.
That's the exact thing I was going to say! Count on the Hivemind :)
This, was going to say the same.
Oh lol i just posted a reply saying the same thing.. didnt notice yours :) So have a thumbs up :)
I'll never stop being interested in these restoration videos. I admire your dedication to preserving these old pieces of technology.
I remember the Excelerator Plus as the Oceanic OC-118N. Neat little drive.
To your UV comment near the end of the video. I live in Canada, so retrobrighting is never an option in the winter, so what I use is a metal halide bulb suspended over my bathtub. I cover the pieces I want to retrobright in peroxide creme and wrap them in saran wrap before placing them on a baking tray in the bathtub. This type of bulb requires a ballast and I had an external one made with a switch, that way I can place it outside of the bathroom and turn it on and off with the bathroom door closed so I'm not exposed to the UV light.
I'll check the status every several hours (with the light off) and rotate the pieces and make sure the peroxide is evenly distributed. This method has worked very well for me!
You have an awesome job: restore and work with retro tech from my times, draw logos, live the results... Bliss.
I love the dedication of how you went and did a number of these logos simply by just replicating them in a paint program by hand. Instead of the speedier option of using Photoshop and looking for a similar font style and editing it to look like the logos. Kid me would've certainly done the same if I had never discovered or used Photoshop. od
The Blazing Saddles "We don't need no badges" is a better badges.
god that movie was great
I prefer UHF: "Badgers? We don't need no stinkin badgers."
@@robb233 THANK YOU!
I have been using various types of a4 sized paper for my printer that works as stickers. I have both clear and white backed "paper" which works great for this exact thing. It's propably something you should look in to using to get rid of the overlapping lines as is on your PC jr badge and you can print as high of a ppt as your printer supports so they should also fix any resolution "issues" that you might be having on some of the badges to.
Just something to think about if you plan on making a lot of these badges.
"It looks like it was pulled out of a landfill - Let's try some windex on it!"
Is that comment for the deaf?
You do realize that we ALL just watched the same video as you did, right?
@@psygn0sis I was trying to emphasize that this statement is kind of funny, not just merely quote it.
@@psygn0sis woosh
@@psygn0sis why are you attacking him? Is it the first time you're on the internet?
People quote some things in comments when they like to share their favorite quotes from a video, because they liked them. That's very common.
What is not very common are aggressive comments like yours.
@@InvisibleMan2 Too be fair aggressive comments are just as common if not more so, albeit not by someone as truly triggered and crotchety as psygn0sis seems too be. It's quit funny though, very "Ok boomer" esque
In my retro-bright experiences, I have used a large aluminum baking tray to reflect the blacklight. It is a cheap tub like tray used for cooking turkey in the oven. Usually a 2-pack is a couple of dollars. I also used 2 4-foot blacklight bulbs in a cheap shop light fixture.
I have retro-brighted old consoles (SNES) as well as GI Joe and Star Wars toys in this manner with great success. Left in solution for 24 hours. I have found temperature has less to do with the process than a good UV source.
16:50 From that photo, I can see that the fonts used were from the Eurostile family, which is used with most products both then and now. I recommend getting the fonts for any future projects.
Some of them are slightly modified. Easy to do in Photoshop, too. (Convert the text layer to a shape and adjust the vectors at will.)
Here are a few ideas with building your indoor cleaning tub: 1) Try using glass container for your tub, such as a 1-piece aquarium without the silicone seams or a large glass Pyrex casserole/lasagna pan, 2) Instead of putting the reflective tape inside of the tub, attach the reflective side of the aluminum foil around the outside of the glass tub so it won't react with the chemical mixture, 3) go to an aquarium store to find a temperatue adjustable and submersible water heater that's built within a test tube. Hope this helps and gives you ideas with your design and construction.
There's something oddly satisfying about the sped-up scrubbing.
Man, just discovered your channel, you've made my day thinking back to what I used to do in the 80s ...
Next episode, David's going to have a tanning bed for his indoor retro-briting. Ha ha
Aaron Kaase that the UV bulbs he needs.
Great video and adding the classic "We don't need no stinking badges." THAT WAS GENIUS!!! Oh and next time you need to do some wider scraping ask your brother if he has any wood chisels that would work, they can be sharpened to razor blade sharp. It might be worth investing in some.
The high-speed cleaning montage at 3:45 reminds me of the episode of Family Guy where Peter Griffin discovers Red Bull.
Reminded me of the Bionic Woman cleaning her flat in the 70's. :)
I think he got editing tricks from Perifractic.
And I feel, like I just got homeeee
And I feel
lol, i love that episode :)
Hi, I watch a bunch of reconditioning videos on UA-cam including lots of yours (Thank you!). Your channel is where I learned about retro-briting (is that a real verb?). Every time I see anyone trying to remove labels and marks from various pieces of equipment, I always wince at their efforts with Isopropyl Alcohol and/or WD40. Although WD40 works a lot of the time, there are better substances out there that require much less labour. One is Non-Chlorinated Brake Parts Cleaner (Automotive store), and the other is Methyl Hydrate (any Paint store/department). The brake parts cleaner is better than any of the purposed label removers like Goo Gone etc. It will soften just about any label glue and, unlike the other stuff, it will not touch the plastic. The only down side is that it has a pretty intense odour. You can even use it on some oil or solvent based stains on clothing. It works kind of like dry cleaning fluid. Methyl Hydrate is much better than Isopropyl Alcohol at removing marks and has no odour. It instantly removes Sharpie marks without hurting plastics as well. It can be had for about $5/litre at any paint store. I used to be a signage installer, and we used these chemicals all the time to remove vinyl lettering and removing tape goo and labels after installing or removing signs. Cheers!
Have you thought about a little fish tank heater to keep the water nice and warm during retro-brighting?
Yep. I mentioned that too. They come bigger for agricultural uses, too.
If the air temperature is low, that means the ground water is cold. It could take hours or even days to heat that much water up with a fish tank heater. Probably better to use sous vide heater.
Someone donated a sois vide cooker for this, and yet he doesn't use it
Wise or not, they make bathtub water heaters that hang on the side of the tub that keep your bath warm.
I’d be curious if a fish tank in general would work better... perhaps with something reflective on the OUTSIDE. Perhaps the seal would break down with the chemicals? Just an idea, never seen anyone try it.
i watched a guy who restores gaming consoles. he made a giant box with tin foiled walls, floor and ceiling. Then he would place the clear container in the box with the peroxide solution and then used black light LED's on strips, kinda like how Christmas lights are on strands so that they could be placed all over the box and therefore the UV light would get in every crack and corner of the box.
you could even re-adjust the LED strips as needed if needed. and his plastics would come out beautiful and brand new looking, and some of these things were truly ugly going in. maybe you could do something similar to this. i hope you read this and it gives you some ideas. love your channel. keep up the good work.
Great stuff! Note: Some of these plastics re-yellow when the plastic is in a light free environment! I've found that on a mouse I did a few months ago.
Yeah. My Sam Coupé was pristine when I put it in its box 20 years ago. Was shocked at how it had yellowed when I took it out a couple of months back. Even more noticeable on the Sam as MGT used white plastic.
Spot on. In fact in many cases the yellowing will occur faster, and will cause some plastics to yellow where they had not before.
I have watched videos that actually ask, "to retrobrite, or not to retrobrite, that is the question." And they named these problems among others as arguments for not retrobriting. I think though, that one of the most convincing arguments against it, is collectors shunbthe process and feel it devalues the things they are trying to collect.
In David's case, he is trying to present content in a historical format and it is interesting to see this old tech in its original condition.
I think yellowing is also heat-related on top of being light-induced.
@@Chaos89P I think it depends on the individual plastics and the mixture/chemistry involved.
@@Chaos89P In this case - cold related! It has been in the coldest darkest area of the house in a box! Yellowed again after maybe 6 months!
Back in the day I loved making custom badges as the final touch for a mod project. I think my first was the old "Evil Inside" intel logo fascimile. I was lucky enough to have a father with a laserjet and would print on clear overhead transparencies.
"So that's it for the moment"
Ok techmoan
As someone who lives where it's cold 8 months out of the year, I'm really excited to see what you come up with for an indoor setup. I've experimented with a few things, but I'm always kinda nervous investing time and money into things that might not work, or worse, damage what I'm trying to clean up. Rock on sir!
"That's it for the moment"
Paging Technoan.
@@dgpsf Cue the strains of 'Cuba Baion' (originally from a Teifon cartridge) and his Muppets acting daft at the end ("Flippin' 'eck...").
Anytime I think of retro computer stuff, the first words I hear in my mind are _"Greetings, and welcome to an _*_LGR_*_ thing,"_ in Clint's voice. I even woke to a _Thrifts_ dream this morning.
We need an 8-bit puppet.
I was thinking the same thing! Techmoan much? I know I do!
“Technoan”
If he edits the comment, this is what it said before
Well done! And not to worry about the drive with little bit of yellow on the sides; because compared to what it was originally, it looks great! All good wishes.
"I think its important to show the failures" I still remember that video with the sparks! :P
What video?
Brilliant idea!
The only thing you forget is a heater to maintain the water with peroxide warm.
BTW the idea is brillant.
This makes so much since he’s your brother, you guys are into the same thing
brother looks better equipped with variety of power tools, constuction bench and even computer+photo printer for stickers
NERDS!!!!
Voultar has a good setup for retrobrighting. He has an opaque bobby bin lined with foil or reflective tape, and then UV led strips.
Since you retrobright so much, it's probs worth investing in building a rig like that. Great vid!
This channel makes me so happy. I do a chair dance when I hear your synth-y intro. 🎶🎵🎶
I would also suggest to use a bunch of UV lamps. That way you'll also get a much more consistent result.
Facial tanners work really great.
This is a restoration video in disguise
I'm sure half of these comments are going to be suggesting retrobright techniques. But I've done a lot of experimenting myself (peroxide hair cream, industrial peroxide solution, high power LED UV strip light, sunlight, ambient light, various temperatures etc) Without going through every iteration, I basically found out that blasting it with UV light doesn't make much of a difference from ambient sunlight. However, heating the solution makes a massive difference. I now have a clear plastic tub similar to yours with lid and a sous vide heater. I put the parts in undiluted 12% food grade H2O2 @ 60-70 deg C and leave them on a window sill during the day. It takes 1-3hrs this way. You can dilute the mixture 50% and it takes twice as long.
A really interesting thing to note is I did this at first and thought the parts still looked a little yellow, I dried them off and left them on the side overnight and in the morning they were perfectly white. I have no idea how this could happen though :S
I'd definitely recommend heating the solution over any other kind of method and a sous vide cooker is the perfect way to do this accurately.
"We don't need no stinking badgers!" Lol didn't know UHF parodied another scene!
Same here, I thought that was just totally random yelling about badgers!
Wow I just learned this too
I too learned more than I thought, today.
@ Ye, judging from your comment I bet you saw The Treasure of the Sierra Madre premier day or something in 1948.
@ When in your life did you realize the asshole life didn't chose you, but you decided voluntarily to be an asshole?
Perfect summer morning outside and a new 8-Bit Guy video. What a wonderful day it is!
*sees the wrenches places as weights*
"Well, talk about throwing a wrench at the problem!" =P
Honestly, it's a good idea!
Every time I hear your intro music, I know I'm gonna have a good time and learn some things as well. Quality from start to finish.
Look up the recipe for “secret sauce” that us sneaker heads use to remove the oxidation on the clear soles of older air Jordan shoes. The process is much quicker than using so much liquid and the results will surprise you
B2D 327 That’s the stuff on a Big Mac?,
@@prismstudios001 Most likely referring to some folks selling pre-mixed hydrogen peroxide (the most effective strength is hard to come by since it's only sold to licensed beauticians) with a thickening agent so it sticks to surfaces long enough to do its job.
RailRide I’m sure. You can get concentrated H2O2 from taxidermy supply houses. It’s used to bleach bones.
RailRide that is correct. It’s a mixture of the peroxide solution with corn starch as a thickening agent. It’s then brushed on and covered with regular store bought shrink wrap to keep from drying out and left out in the sun or under up light until desired results
@@prismstudios001
Big Macs don't actually have "secret" sauce. That stuff is special sauce.
I would absolutely love to see a video comparing different plastic pieces with similar levels of discoloration after UV A, UV B, and UV C treatments.
19:19. But that's it for the moment. Sound familiar? Well, read it in Techmoan's voice.
I never tried it myself but I would attempt a used fish tank (20 gallon) coated with mirror paint (many many coats. Finished with black paint. You could leave a hole on the bottom for (or other sides) for additional lights. You’re the expert I’m just spit balling. Love the channel and love your work. I hope it helps.
The excelerator plus label is actually dark red. With your colour blindness you might not be able to tell the difference but it's very clear to us.
OK boomer
I'm thinking the label maker is B&W only, anyway.
Meh good enough
Well yeah, good enough for the average Joe but a collector would certainly notice it within the first 5 seconds of looking at it.
@@MataNui1231 no u
Another excellent video Dave. I wondered if the metal tape would have been better on the outside of the container. Great stuff.
5:50 the irony of only getting a smooth finish when you stop using the razor...
Double thumbs up for using the clip of Sierra Madre! Love that film, got the Bluray.
"So small that nobody's really going to notice." I did, even before you told us. Since you have the label on that drive still basically intact, why not scan it and then edit it to clean it up, and then use a regular printer with transparency sheets, with the right color of printing, instead of on the label maker, for best results?
Ugh, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought they looked like crap. A piss-poor quality label maker is mostly to blame (I don't know how the HELL you end up with those artifacts on a flat horizontal/vertical line of pixels...) but if he's gonna be drawing letters by hand anyway instead of trying to track down a font, then he really should just do them in vector.
Oh yeah, vector! Good point, @@ValkyrieTiara. Or in this case it might even be easier to just scan the existing drive label at a good 600+ DPI and then clean it up in raster drawing software (like he was using). I can see using vector for scratch, but if I have something to scan that I can just clean up, I'd rather go that route. Thanks for your reply and like!
You can also set the resolution in Photoshop to something more than 72. If it's a 300 DPI printer, set it to 300!
I can't believe he used a microscope to prove that the results on his low res printer were the same no matter how good the source was. The point is so totally missed.
"Hey, maybe you should use 1080p instead of 720p for your video? It might look better?"
"When I play it back on my CRT using composite video it looks just as bad either way. Zoom in real close and you can see it."
Either way, the original source regular or doubled wasn't close to a high enough resolution for good results on a good printer with clear sticker paper or other transparent sheets.
*@Kyle Olson*
Exactly. It's like expecting photo real results on a Lite-Brite.
The only channel on UA-cam where Music Dosen t suck Ort annoy.
1:46 the drive‘s logo looks like the Blender logo…
Huh. Neat.
nice catch!
I thought so too! Thought I was losing my mind
I have no idea why your content is so damn enjoyable. I mean you retrobrighted some plastic and made a couple labels and yet I was thoroughly entertained. Lol
Whatever it is you're doing, keep it up man.
Cheers!🍻
now you know, have the reflective surface OUTSIDE the reaction chamber...
in which case normal foil would also work, probably, but could also just tape that aluminium tape to some cardboard or something...
Maybe even silver spray paint on the inside of a box.
Thank you for the video content and all the unforeseen segments. I enjoyed it very well, so from my point of view, maybe you did a better job than you might have anticipated yourself. I also found it nice to get a glimpse of your brother and some of his work, thank you for mentioning his channel.
2:08 Likely from a Commodore product, lolz
Looks like it came out decently enough. Yes, do assert caution with UVB/C lighting, and with procurement of it because it's one of those things that people love overcharging for...
ive been a gamersince i was a kid, never in to old computers except for the few i got to play with in the 90s (half life, blue shift, opossing forces (illegal copies)) but i LOVE your videos. You and Clint both, glad you get to do what you love to make a living, keep it up, we appreciate you.
Imagine David walking into Spencer’s wearing a Rick and Morty t-shirt.
gross. spencer's sucks.
Wouldn't be that surprising if he got the shirt there in the first place.
Dude, the fast motion cleaning shots... Thats Awesome!!!
I would've used sandpaper for the recessed badge place
I had some succes lately with the retrobright of a GameBoy.
I applied 12% poeroxide gel, which hairdressers use. I covered the whole piece using a brush then wrapped it into plastic foil.
Stuck it under UV light for 8 hours.
Worked like a charm.
Badges? We don't need no stinking badges. (has anyone done that yet?)
I had one of those Oceanic drives... I got it very cheap as the previous owner had issues with it. I had a great run with it though... Way back then it was terrific to not have the HUGE shoe-box sized 1541 on your computer table/desk!
Should’ve put the tape on the *outside* of the plastic tub.
Hello,
1. I saw a guy removing old badges heating them, using a hairdryer or a similar professional tool;
2.. Acetone can dissolve and clean superglue BUT damage /change the plastic color and surface. I think metallic surfaces (ink free)are not modificated by acetone;
3. After print the new logos/badges you can protect them with a special spry to protect paintings. It's not the same original protection but can help. Attention, apply this spry before apply the badges on the device.
Thanks for the great video, from Seoul, Tito.
MAAAAAAAAA! The neighbor is washing his computers in the front yard again!
TheVictorotciV LOL!
Good luck with new indoor setup. I have seen UV led strips work pretty well in man videos.
Me: hey, 8-Bit-Guy. If you could have one superpower what would it be?
8BG: real-time rapid scrub
So THAT'S what the Turbo button is for on those old PCs! ☺
I kept expecting to hear the Six Million Dollar Man sound effects during those segments! 👍
Star Simulation A UV OCCULAR DEATH RAY.
You should just wrap the outside of the tub with aluminium foil to prevent any chemical reaction. You can just stick it to the tub with double sided tape or even just tape it on. Or use two tubs (the ones that store inside each other) and put the foil between the two of them...
Great video as always, thanks
Just watching this video. I can't read through all of the comments, so apolgise if this has alrready been said, but why don't you stick the tape to the outside of the box?
It's possible the box itself will absorb some of the UV light. Putting the reflective surface inside the box will maximize the already uncertain effectiveness of the UV.
Metal halide lamp and the Peroxide cream stuff will fix those sides or at least I would think so anyways. I've seen you use the cream along with plastic wrap before I was surprised you didn't try that method. Great video and as a C64 owner and user since 1985 I must admit I never heard of those Knock off Drives before. Very informative!! Great work!