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Tiagocang
08-27-2022, 09:01 PM
Hello guys, anyone know a way to try remove the "yellow" colour in the white plastics 54478

allan
08-27-2022, 10:07 PM
Here look at this. Search for videos of guys doing this at home.


Retr0bright - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retr0bright)

copyman
08-27-2022, 11:32 PM
Get the peroxide that is used in beauty salons to color hair (see attached) Amazon sells it. Brush it on plastic, cover with clear wrap and put in sun for 30 mins each yellow side. Will turn as white as a baby's ass!

Hansoon
08-28-2022, 02:36 AM
.
Since longer, we use for the real cheddar cheese like discolored plastic a secret substance called:

PAINT

:D

Sick of all the scrubbing, using peroxide, bleach etc., I took once a clean bright cover to our hardware store where they scanned the plastic with their equipment and got from them water based paint 99.5% exact the same color as the panels. The formula is stored in their system, so when I need it again it is very easy.

Sounds complicated, but is easier and taking much less time than the other above-mentioned methods. We apply two coats with foam rollers. No spray nor brushes, just coarse foam rollers to achieve a slightly rough surface like the original plastic.

Hans

copyman
08-28-2022, 01:35 PM
.
Since longer, we use for the real cheddar cheese like discolored plastic a secret substance called:

PAINT

:D

Sick of all the scrubbing, using peroxide, bleach etc., I took once a clean bright cover to our hardware store where they scanned the plastic with their equipment and got from them water based paint 99.5% exact the same color as the panels. The formula is stored in their system, so when I need it again it is very easy.

Sounds complicated, but is easier and taking much less time than the other above-mentioned methods. We apply two coats with foam rollers. No spray nor brushes, just coarse foam rollers to achieve a slightly rough surface like the original plastic.

Hans


What about the machines stick on labels, model #, serial, etc. Do you buy them and replace?

I remember back in the day when the machines were completely rebuilt by taking machine apart almost to the frame and while rebuilding sending the panels out to a place to get repainted. It was a big business back in the 80's / 90's. But most of the panels had badges on the front cover that could be removed then put back on after painted. Also several companies use to sell copier paint "Ricoh beige", etc

Hansoon
08-28-2022, 01:59 PM
On the "white" covers there are luckily mostly no labels and when, I re-make them with self-adhesive clear copier foil.

Ninety percent of our machines are rentals and must be perfect, are perfect and must look perfect too. Most of our customers are lawyers, accountants or medical doctors with modern fancy offices. For me, it's a horror to come there with machines with yellowed covers. No Way!

More than once when we came in with our machine - neatly wrapped with foil and packing material - customers asked, if that is a new machine....?

For many of our colleagues here this would probably be too much work, but for my colleagues and me, it's easier to repaint a cover than all that stupid scrubbing with chemicals and lost time and anyway less perfect results.

Hans

blackcat4866
08-28-2022, 03:11 PM
My only caution is that IF you're going to paint the covers, remember that they're painted. Chemical cleaners like Zep Fast505, and Orange-Sol, which do a very nice job of cleaning plastic covers ALSO do a perfect job of removing paint.

During my IKON days we got some Canon machines refurbed at a factory location in Mexico. The covers were all powder coated and looked nice ... at first. Then they started to get fingerprints (no surprise) so I'd scrub them off with Orange-Sol. The first few times, no problem. Then you'd see that the paint was getting transparent, or you'd get bare spots.

Glass cleaner or water does not do as good a job of cleaning, but it does preserve the paint.

Hansoon
08-28-2022, 03:54 PM
Cat, this water based acrylic paint I'm using since years and have not seen yet any negative experiences. It also seems not solvent or cleaning materials sensitive at all when it is cured.

Hans

KenB
08-28-2022, 04:08 PM
My only caution is that IF you're going to paint the covers, remember that they're painted. Chemical cleaners like Zep Fast505, and Orange-Sol, which do a very nice job of cleaning plastic covers ALSO do a perfect job of removing paint.

During my IKON days we got some Canon machines refurbed at a factory location in Mexico. The covers were all powder coated and looked nice ... at first. Then they started to get fingerprints (no surprise) so I'd scrub them off with Orange-Sol. The first few times, no problem. Then you'd see that the paint was getting transparent, or you'd get bare spots.

Glass cleaner or water does not do as good a job of cleaning, but it does preserve the paint.I remember those so-called refurbs.

I think some were done by a US company, too.

They never even bothered to change consumables, such as feed tires.

They quickly picked up the nickname of “Windex Rebuilds”.

blackcat4866
08-28-2022, 04:42 PM
I remember those so-called refurbs.

I think some were done by a US company, too.

They never even bothered to change consumables, such as feed tires.

They quickly picked up the nickname of “Windex Rebuilds”.

That's a good name for them. They disassembled the machines down to the frames, and cleaned EVERYTHING!
But they didn't change a single part. Not even to make the machine operable. Typically, it was the salesman's job to run the machine in the office for a week or so to identify the typical failures for that model, and change out the parts that were needed.
=^..^=

copyman
08-28-2022, 05:09 PM
I remember those so-called refurbs.

I think some were done by a US company, too.

They never even bothered to change consumables, such as feed tires.

They quickly picked up the nickname of “Windex Rebuilds”.

Almost sounds like what the unscrupulous dealers that do very little to a off lease or trade in machine before selling "Spray & Pray"

copyman
08-28-2022, 05:15 PM
On the "white" covers there are luckily mostly no labels and when, I re-make them with self-adhesive clear copier foil.

Ninety percent of our machines are rentals and must be perfect, are perfect and must look perfect too. Most of our customers are lawyers, accountants or medical doctors with modern fancy offices. For me, it's a horror to come there with machines with yellowed covers. No Way!

More than once when we came in with our machine - neatly wrapped with foil and packing material - customers asked, if that is a new machine....?

For many of our colleagues here this would probably be too much work, but for my colleagues and me, it's easier to repaint a cover than all that stupid scrubbing with chemicals and lost time and anyway less perfect results.

Hans

I fully understand about how a machine looks if yellowed. I've actually bought higher meter off lease machines because they had white covers.

What is weird and could never figured out is why some of the paper drawers turn yellow but the machine could be nice and white. My guess is the drawers are made out of different plastic or were in a place the sun just hit that part of copier.
Forget about back in the day when workers were allowed to smoke in offices, talk about yellowed covers!

Hansoon
08-28-2022, 05:20 PM
I fully understand about how a machine looks if yellowed. I've actually bought higher meter off lease machines because they had white covers.

What is weird and could never figured out is why some of the paper drawers turn yellow but the machine could be nice and white. My guess is the drawers are made out of different plastic or were in a place the sun just hit that part of copier.
Forget about back in the day when workers were allowed to smoke in offices, talk about yellowed covers!

It's even worse and there paint will not work: The BH-4xxx series have keyboard buttons which are partially yellowed. I think there is a slight difference in the plastic material and the buttons are not produced at the same time.

Hans

tsbservice
08-28-2022, 08:38 PM
I fully understand about how a machine looks if yellowed. I've actually bought higher meter off lease machines because they had white covers.

What is weird and could never figured out is why some of the paper drawers turn yellow but the machine could be nice and white. My guess is the drawers are made out of different plastic or were in a place the sun just hit that part of copier.
Forget about back in the day when workers were allowed to smoke in offices, talk about yellowed covers!

I wondered too and came to conclusion yellowed faster covers are made from recycled plastics. Which is good for environment but bad to see. However as a tech I would prefer parts inside machine to be in good shape than outfit but fully understand what Hans talk.

Hansoon
08-28-2022, 08:52 PM
The problem is, that almost all customers -being non-technical - judge a machine according to its appearance alone. Your machine can have all critical and essential parts brand new, but when it looks from outside, because of its appearance and color, like a used up oldie, it's hard to convince them about its qualities.

Hans

KenB
08-28-2022, 09:46 PM
That's a good name for them. They disassembled the machines down to the frames, and cleaned EVERYTHING!
But they didn't change a single part. Not even to make the machine operable. Typically, it was the salesman's job to run the machine in the office for a week or so to identify the typical failures for that model, and change out the parts that were needed.
=^..^=They didn’t update firmware, either.

I only had a few of these POS gems, and they were all either extremely old if not original versions. :mad:

Updating firmware took much longer to perform back in those days.

blackcat4866
08-29-2022, 01:35 AM
It's a funny thing about those plastics:

Certainly, the ultraviolet rays from the sun accelerated the process, but it went by batches too. I remember specific machines in which most of the covers had yellowed a bit, and one tray specifically turned almost brown by comparison. Individual batches of plastic yellow much more than others in the same environment. =^..^=

shinchan
08-29-2022, 11:12 AM
1. disassembly the yellow plastics part
2. sand it down with fine grit sand paper
3. spray it using pylox / can spray paint
4. wait 20-30 minutes to dry
4. spray clear / doff coat

it will last a long time.

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