On 08/30/2015 05:55 PM, Tothwolf wrote:
Wrong type of UV. You are mostly getting long wave UVA outdoors, so
blacklight lamps would seem to be the correct (and MUCH safer)
choice. When I looked at 24" T8 bi-pin blacklight lamps, they were
going for about USD $10 per lamp.
UVC germicidal lamps would also require an enclosure to protect the
user from exposure to short wave UV. This isn't as necessary with
long wave UVA (unless someone was going to be around it for long
periods of time on a regular basis).
Some digging for anectodal evidence (there's very little methodical
technical stuff) on the process indicates that the ordinary
aquarium-style UVA lamps work extremely slowly; the germicidal UVC lamps
work very quickly, but overexposure to UVC is counter-productive in that
it furthers the breakdown of the flame retardant bromine-containing
stuff that caused the yellowing. So perhaps UVB is the best compromise,
assuming that Planck was onto something...
Note that much of the material on the web does not concern computer
equipment.
The most disturbing reports were from the people to de-yellowed
gloss-finish items reporting that said items come out less than glossy,
particularly when percarbonate (Oxiclean) was added to the mix.
Reports were varied and interesting. UV was cited repeatedly as a
suspect when it came to causing yellowing in the first place This flies
in the face of my experience in that I've had gear that's spent almost
all of its life in a closed storage cabinet that yellowed anyway.
Regardless of all of this, it seems that yellowing does recur, which is
what one would expect from what amounts to a surface treatment.
No, I don't plan on using this process...
--Chuck
