The truth about Retr0brite – busting myths with science…

Video sponsor: PCBWay: $5 for 2-layer PCBs with 24hr turnaround at https://www.pcbway.com/

Chucks video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFFDSHDtVNg
One of the situations we are often faced with when restoring an old computer is a yellowed plastic case. You have probably heard of Retr0Brite, few things in the retro community have caused as much controversy, rampant speculation and unfounded opinions as this subject. While there has been a lot of speculation and theories passionately bandied about on this subject there has not been an effort to understand the process.

A combination of research and practical experimentation was done to try and answer the questions: What it is Retr0Brite doing and what is it doing, or not doing, to the plastic. We will discover where color comes from, what plastic is, what makes plastic yellow, and what Retr0Brite is actually doing. This video is the result of an effort to get to the bottom of the matter using a scientific approach.

I ask that you please keep an open mind and watch through to the end of the video before banging out a comment on your keyboard.

Timeline:
00:00 - Welcome
02:07 – Background and research
03:27 – Where does color come from?
04:56 – What is plastic?
05:58 – The experimental setup
07:16 – What makes plastic yellow?
10:15 – The great bromine brouhaha
11:27 – How does Retr0Brite work then?
13:22 – Time for some experiments
15:15 – Sodium Percarbonate
16:21 – Summery of experiments
19:17 – How does bleach work
20:23 – How Hydrogen Peroxide works as bleach
21:16 – The electrolysis experiment
22:43 – Results of electrolysis experiments
24:44 – Conclusion
25:49 – What about SunBrite?
27:44 – Possible problems and busting myths
34:28 – My preferences
35:88 – Conclusion, further work
38:17 – Wrap up

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Links
Perifractic’s Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P1OVj0IcqY
Chucks Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CAHUTCH1000
Joes Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/umbravector
Heat mats: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083QZ7ZW3
Papers, images, data: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtH4vpaZnzX7lLsYdZN-tiTP8jwiig?e=LXxq36

Credits
Chiptune Thing No. 3 "Victory" by Steven O’Brien https://soundcloud.com/stevenobrien
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Music provided by Music for Creators https://youtu.be/ujIMRIJ1JG8
Polymer pic: Yurko, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
ABS plastic monomers: By Jü - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78113089
By Joos de Momper the Younger - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6582707