Author: Shalroth (host213-1-10-253.host.btclick.com)
Date: 09-28-2000 12:55
AFAIK, it's a result of the plastic reacting with oxygen and discolouring permanently. My 65XE has a fine grey case, but the keys have gone almost totally yellow! My Apricot computers and keyboards have done the same, they're the same colour as they're the same age. Except where there was a sticker covering the plastic - well, the plastic under the sticker would have been protected from the air.
My STE has gone yellowish too, but the grey colour has mellowed because my workstation was in direct sunlight most of the time, and it was in constant use there for over five years. Smoke don't help either.
I don't think there's a way to reverse the chemical process. Cleaning doesn't help, I've scrubbed the keys with abrasive paste (well, one of them anyway) and tried every solvent I could think of that wouldn't bubble the plastic - nothing helped. Atari should have stuck with blcak plastic - my Lynx II, 800XL and Jaggi have not yellowed at all ;)
I'd be *happy* to be proven wrong about the process being irreversible, bear in mind that here in the UK we don't have access to all the cool compounds and solvents you do in the US.
|