Strange White Stuff on Atari 2600

[NavesRegge]

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/6547/cccrap.jpg

This has been bothering me for a while. It seems as if the plastic has been "stained" or something and it's not some sort of gunk I can just scrap or wash off. How would one go about fixing this to look more like it should?

[Robivy64]

Sounds like someone was playing X-Man or Custer's Revenge.

[Karakasa-Obake]

Strange white stuff is never a good sign. Have you licked it? If so, is it salty?

[N.Saibot]

Can't you really wash that off? Take some stuff they use for dishwashing.
I'm serious, take strong washing liquids, take the Atari apart, wash the
plastic with something similar to that "Fairy" stuff, or "Cilit Bang" or whatever.

You also can wash the electronics themselves (use hot water only). If you
washed the electronics, be sure to let the console dry, opened, for 24 hours
at least.

Water is absolutely of no danger to electronics, as long as they are not plugged
in, while moisture is on them.

[Nunzio]

Have you tried rubbing it with Goo Gone or lighter fluid?

[Robivy64]

Can't you really wash that off? Take some stuff they use for dishwashing.
I'm serious, take strong washing liquids, take the Atari apart, wash the
plastic with something similar to that "Fairy" stuff, or "Cilit Bang" or whatever.

You also can wash the electronics themselves (use hot water only). If you
washed the electronics, be sure to let the console dry, opened, for 24 hours
at least.

Water is absolutely of no danger to electronics, as long as they are not plugged
in, while moisture is on them.

Close, but you want to make sure you hand dry as much as you can before letting it air dry. Water can be corrosive to some metals, even with short-term exposure.

Don't use any solvents (on the PCB itself), and don't use hot or cold water on the PCB, only use room temperature water. You don't want any unnecessary expansion or contraction on 30 year old solder joints.

[Enigmus]

Does it smell like sweat, lube, and shame?

This is why porn games on the Atari 2600 are CLASSICS. :D

There's my two cents.

[Deo]

I recently cleaned off my grandparent's old 2600 that had been sitting in storage for the past 20 years and it had the same exact stuff on it. No idea what it is, maybe it's 2600 mold or the paint just attracts all the crap in the over time.
I used hydrogen peroxide and a pack of Q-tips to get it off.

[Rusty Venture]

Is it 20 years of dust that have gone sentient and fused with the Atari plastic?

[NavesRegge]

Is it 20 years of dust that have gone sentient and fused with the Atari plastic?

Great Scott!

[Rusty Venture]

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t266/jeepers_bucket/doc-brown-great-scott.jpghttp://pneumaticaddict.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/doc_brown-full-1.jpg

Great Scott!

FIXED to add more jawusumeness

[NavesRegge]

FIXED to add more jawusumeness

I would have done that if I weren't using my iPod Touch at the moment. :p

[QuickSciFi]

Strange white stuff is never a good sign. Have you licked it? If so, is it salty?

LMFAO. XP

[NavesRegge]

Alrighty now: I've dabbed the area lightly with a damp towel and when water touches the "white stuff," now to be known as Oreo frosting ;) (but isn't, really), it disappears and then reappears when it dries.

[Guntz]

...

[Knuckle Duster]

I've seen black plastic electronics from the early 1980s develop white 'spots' that look like drops of paint on them that you can scrape off, but will come back like mold. Something in the paint oxidizes I guess. :?

Not sure if this is the same though.

[Rusty Venture]

I would have done that if I weren't using my iPod Touch at the moment. :p

The lesson we learned today is: iPod Touch is not able to deliver jawusumness.


Maybe in the next revision. ;)

[Pulstar]

-b5aW08ivHU