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New desk is sitting in front of large window, how can I best keep some vintage beige box hardware from yellowing?

K

keenerb

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I've got a Tandy 1000 and some other vintage beige box hardware sitting on my office desk for downtime tinkering. I'm concerned that it will begin to yellow now that it's near this large window.

I have some semi-dark curtains but a fair amount of light passes through them, and I often will have the curtains open completely.

What's my best option? Blackout curtains and never look out the window? Is there a UV protective film that can help keep this hardware from yellowing?
 
This stuff maybe?

UV Blocking - Window Film - Window Treatments - The Home Depot

Get free shipping on qualified UV Blocking Window Film products or Buy Online Pick Up in Store today in the Window Treatments Department.
www.homedepot.com
I remember seeing a video by The 8 Bit Guy showing how he protected his stuff from UV (which included UV film), though I don't remember which one and I couldn't find it from a quick search.
 
Just a though, uv-filtering membrane on the window. Like the one people use on car windows.
 
Put UV-blocking film on the windows, the kind used to prevent artwork from fading:


But in my experience, once the yellowing process starts, nothing you can do will stop it. I've had computers stored in a box or cabinet, completely shielded from any light, which yellowed even worse than ones which were left exposed to natural and artificial light.
 
vwestlife said:
But in my experience, once the yellowing process starts, nothing you can do will stop it. I've had computers stored in a box or cabinet, completely shielded from any light, which yellowed even worse than ones which were left exposed to natural and artificial light.
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This. My experience as well. It will happen, no matter what you try.

UV protection is still a good idea, since UV light will make plastic brittle over time (more than it is already).
 
I've had stuff that spent its entire life in a windowless room. It still yellowed. What was interesting, however is that some pieces making up the gear yellowed, while similarly exposed pieces did not.
This convinced me that yellowing was inherent in the plastic formulation and not necessarily one exclusively of UV exposure.
 
They can yellow based on simple contact with human hands in my experience. It's not an unfixable problem. If I was really worried about something, I'd probably stuff it in a closet.

Or close the window.
 
Window tint will reduce both light and heat coming from the sun. Same reason it's used on cars.
 
vwestlife said:
But in my experience, once the yellowing process starts, nothing you can do will stop it. I've had computers stored in a box or cabinet, completely shielded from any light, which yellowed even worse than ones which were left exposed to natural and artificial light.
Click to expand...
I completely agree with that ... my Zenith SupersPort lives in it's case in a cupboard yet every time I drag it out is seems to have yellowed even further ...
 
A lot of my stuff I keep covered with pillow cases or small sheets when I am not using them. Also helps keep the dust off.

But yea, I also have a few plastic beige items that I'm sure have been stored inside all their life and yet are slowly yellowing. Yet I have a full tower AT case that was sitting in a hot outdoor storage shed for a number of years but the plastic still looks fine.
 
There seems to be no logic to it indeed .... I have a HP 110 Portable which is still pristine white and a HP 110 Portable Plus which is white but with a slightly yellow bottom ... maybe HP used different stabilizers in their plastic, who knows.
 
Brian Todd said:
There seems to be no logic to it indeed .... I have a HP 110 Portable which is still pristine white and a HP 110 Portable Plus which is white but with a slightly yellow bottom ... maybe HP used different stabilizers in their plastic, who knows.
Click to expand...
Hard to put a finger on it. I have a Tandy 1000SX that I've had since1986 and it's still white - no yellowing. Caveat: It sits on shelf in a closet in my PC room and never sees the light of day until I take down to play with.
 
Agent Orange said:
Hard to put a finger on it. I have a Tandy 1000SX that I've had since1986 and it's still white - no yellowing. Caveat: It sits on shelf in a closet in my PC room and never sees the light of day until I take down to play with.
Click to expand...
Tandy painted their plastic cases. That's why you'll never see a TRS-80 Model 4 yellow, because it's painted -- at least on top. The bottom panel isn't painted, and can and does yellow, even though it's usually not exposed to any sunlight.
 
Heat sunlight and ozone will yellow plastics. Ozone can be found around older laser printers and some air purifying equipment (ionizers).
 
I vote for that weird Acer green.

js9rN.jpeg
 
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