I picked up a QUV-T8 at a garage sale for a dollar, and it seems to be functional.
I was contemplating using it to bleach some small parts like floppy drive fronts, yellowed keys, etc. etc.
Is this something that would be possible? I'd think it should be much quicker than leaving the yellowed parts out in the sun all day...
UVC light (which should be in the QUV-T8) works best, in conjunction with Developer 40 ($6 for 16oz). To get the best/quickest whitening results, it should be done this way by using UVC light with the hydrogen peroxide -- it generates hydroxyl. The hydroxyl radical are an oxidizing agent and whiten the plastic really fast compared to just sunlight, just bleach, or just ozone. It should take about 3-4 hours of exposure for very noticable results.
If you can't fit stuff in the QUV-T8, you can buy ~250nm UVC high power bulbs on Amazon for pretty cheap and just build a box for it. I just bought a 25-watt bulb on Amazon for about $26. You have to be careful though -- some of the bulbs aren't 250nm, and some are shielded which won't do you any good.
Isn't that particular light rather harmful to regular plastics?
