What do you use for cleaning consoles?

Joe Musashi

I'm thinking of giving my Dreamcast much needed clean and just wanted to find out others are using for cleaning.

I have some cloths, cotton buds, but what kind of spray should I use?

Myrddin

A mildly damp cloth is all I'd use. If it's yellowed then no amount of spray will fix it unfortunately.

scoobyjack

Actually, yellowed plastic is very fixable...

Some lads on a C64 forum I think it was, have done a hell of a lot of experimenting, and have documented their process which they wall Retr0bright.

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/

They've had some spectacular results...

Stoner

thats a great result, for the record I have taken a couple of dreamcasts apart and popped the cases without any electronics in the dishwasher, and it did a super job, there are a couple of sponges that need a bit longer to dry on the inside of the cases but the labels were all fine, nothing melted, that was just me though I'm sure many people would never "dream" of popping a console in the dishwasher for obvious reasons, but I had no problems.

Myrddin

Stoner wrote: »

thats a great result, for the record I have taken a couple of dreamcasts apart and popped the cases without any electronics in the dishwasher, and it did a super job, there are a couple of sponges that need a bit longer to dry on the inside of the cases but the labels were all fine, nothing melted, that was just me though I'm sure many people would never "dream" of popping a console in the dishwasher for obvious reasons, but I had no problems.

Lol really? Thats mad, make sure & tell us what dishwasher powder you found the best :pac:

I was aware of the hydrogen peroxide stuff above, that is nasty nasty stuff though, it might fix your console, at the cost of your lungs Dishwasher idea sounds much safer, I'd never heard of that method before its a good one though.

Stoner

yes, it will just get them clean, I've done the same for N64 controllers, I put all the little buttons in a little net , it gets all the grime out of the A and B buttons.

An I find Finish to be the best, put them in on their own too

It wont do a thing for yellowing though, my understanding of that from when i was trying to deal with the issue with my PVC windows is that the yellowing is as a result of a chemical change and you can't change it back, but the above job looks great, kind of reminds me of those ads for hair loss.

Just read that Retr0bright page it would be good to hear if this stuff actually works, because it's a good read anyway, thanks for the link.

Retr0gamer

Hydrogen peroxide isn't that bad at all. If you get it as a 30% solution it should be more than strong enough. Use it all the time in the lab. The reason that it's so hard to get your hands on is that it can be used very easily to make explosives. I have to make piranha solution in the lab with it which involves very slowly adding sulphuric acid to it which is very easy to get. If piranha solution touches organic solvent then it's goodbye fumehood and possibly the whole lab.

Stoner

ok i have to ask,

Retr0bright , Retr0gamer ? works in a lab etc, this may call for a self ban.:)

Retr0gamer

Well I don't clean consoles fora living. I'm doing a research phd in chemistry :P

o1s1n

You can still clean our consoles on the side though, right?

I'll send my Dreamcast your way when I get it back from Enternow during the week. It's all modded up, so I might as well get the resident cleaner to give it a once over too

Myrddin

o1s1n wrote: »

You can still clean our consoles on the side though, right?

I'll send my Dreamcast your way when I get it back from Enternow during the week. It's all modded up, so I might as well get the resident cleaner to give it a once over too

Oh is that what he's doing with it? I figured he was dying his hair & parading in front of a full size dress mirror in his Cho Aniki outfit, reciting text from the game whilst holding a tennis racket :eek::D

rubadub

Stoner wrote: »

nothing melted, that was just me though I'm sure many people would never "dream" of popping a console in the dishwasher for obvious reasons, but I had no problems.

I would keep them on the lowest heat setting, usually economy. I know PVC starts to sag about 60C or so, and other materials might begin to warp & sag at high temps.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Hydrogen peroxide isn't that bad at all. If you get it as a 30% solution it should be more than strong enough.

Yes, peroxide should be OK, it will just decompose into water and oxygen. It has many uses, you can get 3 or 6% easily in any chemist, those oxybleaches would be hydrogen peroxide but could have other nasties, should be a lot cheaper than getting it from a chemist.

30% stuff would be used to bleach hair, I knew lads who bleached their hair in their teens so it must be easy enough to get your hands on it.

Augmerson

To clean the surfaces I use disinfectant wipes that are non-alcoholic. Don't really clean the insides much but I would use one of those cans of pressurised air you can get, fire it in the vents, should work.