I'm pretty sure retromancave did some intricate indoor experiments on his youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/RetroManCave/videos), though I'm unable to rediscover it on a quick look through.

jan beta just did it in his shower with a grow light. in his last c128 restore video.

Is there a link (video or text) which mentions in more detail a type of cook book recipe for using a grow light? Ideally, I'd want to use the most minimal requirements for the job. I'm a little concerned that the police might come knocking on my door though. Apparently, the utility companies can detect who is using these fancy bulbs. "The grow light is for my beautifying my computer cases" I'm sure that will go over real well. But I have no other option for natural UV until next June...

Umm... I think they’re more concerned with people using a hundred of the things all at once.

feipoa wrote:

Apparently, the utility companies can detect who is using these fancy bulbs.

yeah, no. thats garbage.

How about glowing light shining thru the shades in the middle of the night then?

Pot will apparently be fully legal in Canada as of next month. Just hide the computer behind a thicket of pot plants. Nobody will bother you then.

Errius wrote:

Pot will apparently be fully legal in Canada as of next month. Just hide the computer behind a thicket of pot plants. Nobody will bother you then.

🤣

What is it, 5 plants or something? So, you can have a grow shelf, probably not a grow closet, definitely not a grow house.

Let it grow, let it grow, gonna save a lot of dough. Let it grow, let it grow, why I'm rhyming, I don't know.

Right, but maybe hold off posting here while under the influence of 'vintage computing'

I'm probably going to do a test sample of retrobrite this evening. I have a used grow light that I'll setup in the garage, though our garages have windows and I'm concerned how this might appear with blue light coming out in the midnight hours. I don't want to be woken up by cops.

At any rate, has anyone tried retrobrite without the UV and if so, how did it come out? I don't have Xanthan gum, glycerine, or arrowroot (except for the kids arrowroot cookies). I was going to use corn starch as the thickener.

Attached is an image of what I plan on whitening up. I've shown it next to a non-yellowed drive bezel to offer perspective.

EDIT: I have some items which have printing over areas needing retrobrite. Will the printed lettering come off in the process?

EDIT: So I've found a few more items for the first test run. The LS-120 drive and the white 5.25" drive are only in the photo for a white balance comparison. The Travan drive bezel, the DVD drive bezel, and two 5.25" bezels will be soaked. The middle 5.25" bezel isn't very yellowed, but you can see it isn't as white as the bottom bezel. It has that black arrow on it though. Will the black fade on this? If so, perhaps I shouldn't soak it.

EDIT2: Apparently, you can pour in hydrogen peroxide to a pot of water and heat it at 150 F, e.g. the warming zone, for 5 hours without needing UV light.

Here's the light assembly, ballast, bulb, and solution. Its a 400 watt bulb. It appears to have a spectral peak at the ultra-violet boarder. I hope this is adequate for a 5 hour run. I don't want to run it 24-hours.

I think heat what is important in retrobriting. Using a light source might not be optimal as light is a major contributor to yellowing. But I could be wrong. I know UV makes certain plastics brittle.

A few months ago I tried retrobriting some old keycaps in complete darkness. I warmed up a bath of 3% hydrogen peroxide using my old photo developer warmer. It worked well, but some stronger peroxide would have reduced the time.

I'm interested to see your results using the UV lamp. And I wouldn't worry about the electric company tipping off the coppers. 400 watts is nothing.

I watched a video in which the guy used standard fluorescent tube lights, the 40 W kind you find on the ceiling of your garage, and the retrobriting worked. Same for black lights. Those don't emit all that much heat.

Its not the electric company that I have concerns with, it is nosy neighbours wondering what the purple glow is coming out of my garage windows.

The bulb puts out a good amount of heat, but its 4' from the target and surrounded by a massive concrete heatsink, so I don't think the items will warm up much.

FuzzyLogic wrote:

I think heat what is important in retrobriting. Using a light source might not be optimal as light is a major contributor to yellowing. But I could be wrong. I know UV makes certain plastics brittle.

A few months ago I tried retrobriting some old keycaps in complete darkness. I warmed up a bath of 3% hydrogen peroxide using my old photo developer warmer. It worked well, but some stronger peroxide would have reduced the time.

I'm interested to see your results using the UV lamp. And I wouldn't worry about the electric company tipping off the coppers. 400 watts is nothing.

You are right about heat. All you need to do is put your peroxide + water in a tub, seal the tub to hold in the gas, and heat the water. I done it quite a few times and it works fine. Use liquid peroxide (not the creamy shampoo stuff), try to get the water between 125-175F (~52-80C). Will look just as good as leaving it out in 90 degree summer sunlight. 3-6 hours is usually enough.

Curious to see the output of this! I still think you're going to leave it on longer (than direct sunlight) to get a good result, but you can always do it over multiple days.

TBH I'd be more worried about the local weed enthusiasts getting the wrong ideas if they think you're growing in there. You can cover the windows with taped up garbage bags or mylar sheeting if you don't want anyone peeking in because that totally makes it look less like a grow-op. 😜

@FuzzyLogic - it's my understanding that both heat OR UV can speed up the reaction. Peroxide (dilution) on its own "should" do the job, but adding more energy makes the timeframes tolerable.