Amiga 500 Restoration and Retrobrighting

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Full restoration of a Commodore Amiga 500: Cleaning case and keys, retrobrighting with hydrogen peroxide, removing rust from RF shields and painting them with galvanizing zinc spray. The change is stunning.
Music by nene opengameart.org/content/theme...
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[@JARVIS1187]

Unfortunately my Amiga 500 was trashed around 20 years ago. Seeing videos like this always make me sad…. but also happy, knowing, there are still more of them outside, treated well by people like you! :)

[@siamsurf]

How do you know you've watched too many of Noel's videos? When you wake up and realize that your entire dream had the time-laps music as a theme song.

[@NoelsRetroLab]

Haha, well, you can download it for free (see links in description) and play it even when you're not watching the videos! 🤣

[@Wallygjs]

Noel, have you tried using superglue and baking soda to fill holes in cases as I have found particualrly on the A600 and A1200 which are more of a white colour you can pretty much hide holes with that technique and some careful sanding. I have toyed with adding something like tea to the mix to give it the slightly beige colour of the A500's. The technique is to add a very small amount of superglue to the hole and then sprinkle a small amount of baking soda onto it. Leave it to dry and then add some more glue and again sprinkle on some more soda. The glue and soda turns into a hard plastic like material which when left a good while to harden fully can be sanded smooth to fill in the hole. You sometimes have to go back and touch up any air holes that appear but eventually it fills in the gap completely.

[@MattRix]

Great video Noel!

[@NoelsRetroLab]

Thanks Matt!

[@SteveHacker]

Amazing! I’m looking forward to doing this on several of mine!

[@juanjosesaenz3566]

Genial la limpieza de ese 500. Ahora toca ponerlo en marcha.

[@djdublo]

What a difference! Have memories of playing with my cousin's Amiga A500, either getting the voice program to say rude things to each other or playing Buggy Boy for ages!!

[@NoelsRetroLab]

Haha, we've all done that with some computer or another 🤣

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Amazing result, good work. I think I'm going to try a similar thing this summer on my A500 and A500+

[@cemc.852]

Great job, well done !

[@NoelsRetroLab]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@geekyprojects1353]

What a nice balcony!

[@lorzete]

Great video, as usual :)

[@bobbymalta73]

Brand New! Thks for Sharing Mate!

[@NoelsRetroLab]

You're welcome! Yeah, that came out pretty good at the end.

[@nrvous67]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@CorruptSystemsUK]

Great video mate. I'm about to restore one using knowledge gained from your video.

[@mogouk]

Nice Job Man!

[@RobertvandenBreemen]

OMG thanks for the inspiration.

[@pedrorodrigo2107]

Fantástico trabajo. Me acabo de quedar con la boca abierta.

[@NoelsRetroLab]

¡Gracias!

[@felippeboulderdash8453]

Wow! Let's do that again 😅

[@fkthewhat]

I do like the "Amstrad Locomotive Basic Blue" bathroom colour scheme you have there xD

[@konsolendoc]

THX for your Video

[@jarekfranczyk880]

9:40 Super!

[@16815]

Thanks for the video. Can you list the items you used. What strength peroxide for the 40 volume should i get? Which product is the spray and what product you used for the keys? Thanks a lot.

[@tony359]

Great video! I didn't know that retrobrighting could go wrong - I am waiting for a sunny day to do my Apple //e and now I am concerned I may ruin it!

[@NoelsRetroLab]

Thanks! Just do a search for retrobrighting fail and you'll see what I mean :-) Good luck with the Apple //e!

[@Daz555Daz]

Retrobrighting with the gel/cream style hydrogen peroxide is easier but has a greater risk of marbling which looks nasty. I never use the cream and instead use hydrogen peroxide liquid and submerge the plastics in it completely. When you submerge the plastics you remove the risk of marbling entirely. The 8-bit Guy does it this way after his many years of experiments. I also built a box to use indoors (not much sun in the UK) that uses 2x30W UV LED lamps.

[@tony359]

@@Daz555Daz Thanks Daz. Yes, I discovered it myself - too late unfortunately! :) No major damage but indeed submerging is the way.

[@paulmichaelfreedman8334]

I was wondering, what do you degrease the metal parts with before zinc coating? I use brake cleaner , has given me best bonding results when spray painting.

[@frankowalker4662]

Ha Ha, you think that was yellowed!! You should see my A1200, it's dark tan. LOL. But it's a work horse, not for display. :)

[@frankowalker4662]

@Kevin Morris It's easier to write music on using Octamed.

[@brunomoyano8727]

Si estas al norte de España podrías poner subtítulos al español

[@diesalweasel]

Hi noel..nice video i have amiga 500 here. . Any idea where you obtained the keyboard removal key from please

[@user-ji8wi2nz1y]

great video and explanation! why you not used the cream also for keyboard ?

[@andrewenglish3810]

@Noel's Retro Lab you know they make a paint that matches the A500 case called Satin Almond which might be better than retro brighting as you don't have to retro bright the case again.

[@andrewenglish3810]

@@HansCampbell Do a video showing this Satin Pebble is a closer match than the Satin Almond. Because when I look at Krylon's website Satin Pebble is much darker than my retro brighten A500+ case, almost 2 shades darker.

[@Wallygjs]

I think there are two distinct versions of the A500 case as I have quite a few of them and some are a more grey beige and some are a more browny beige. I think depending on where the cases were made there may be two different formulations of the case plastic. So it could be you are both right and depending on which version you have one will be right and the other not.

[@RakaShar]

Nice work. What´s the name of the song playing in the background during reassambly?

[@NoelsRetroLab]

Shoot! I meant to update the credits sequence to be explicit about it. It's the same author as the credits song, Nene opengameart.org/content/theme-song-8-bit. I'll update it for the next video.

[@RakaShar]

@@NoelsRetroLab Thanks!

[@bignellrp]

Other restore videos use UV light and hydrogen peroxide to restore the colour and get rid of the yellowing. Still a great job done here. Thanks.

[@MietoK]

Yeah, I was wondering this. I have a UV curing machine for the resin printing and I was wondering that would that work as well. I assume that it probably is much faster as well. I mean with 3d printed models the curing time under sun is like 2 to 4 hours and in UV light its 2-5 minutes (for small objects)

[@ElectronGordo]

And for the springs? What do you use? How to clean them up when there is oxide inside the spring or outside? thanks

[@petar6906]

Hi @Noel's Retro Lab! I have a question. Will I be able to retrobright Amiga in a plastic box with UV lights? I would put Amiga in a some kind of a plastic box and poke big holes on the lid so the UV lights could go through, also, I would put water in the box so it wouldn't dry. As you recommended, I won't use a plastic wrap. Would that work?

[@AdmiralHorror]

Noel, any chance you could get your hands on a 68010, try it in the A500 and make a review of that?

[@FernandoelChachi]

Totalmente de acuerdo con lo que dices del retrobrighting y no usar plástico encima. Jamás lo he usado y en mi opinión puede ser mas perjudicial que beneficioso. Yo no lo diluyo, (el que yo uso es 20vol, 6%), pero sí que le añado Oxígeno activo del que venden para lavadoras. Sobre usarlo en las teclas, lo mejor es dejarlas montadas y de esa forma están todas de cara al sol (rotándolas de vez en cuando). Luego es cuando las limpias con agua y Pronto para muebles después. No sé el por qué nadie le añade a la mezcla el oxigeno activo, yo es que hace ya muchos años lo primero que hice fue entrar en Wikipedia y lo dice bien clarito: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retr0bright

[@GianmarioScotti]

What did you do with that NiCd battery for the RTC?

[@NoelsRetroLab]

I just desoldered it, but I haven't replaced it yet.

[@austfox2170]

@@NoelsRetroLab I’ve fixed a few of these with leaky batteries before and ended up replacing them with a standard 3V lithium coin cell (ie CR-2032). There is enough room to fit a holder, and you’ll need a diode in series to prevent charging of the battery. Seemed to keep the time fine with the supplied 2.4V, but not sure how long they lasted before the voltage was too low.

[@austfox2170]

Just had a look at the Oki 6242 datasheet. Looks like it is good down to 2.0V!

[@Ravencrowwise]

QQ How do you remove the Shielding below the Board? 1:06 min. What screwdriver did you use?

[@DethroneD..]

Hello nice job,what 8bit ost is that it plays on the video?

[@NoelsRetroLab]

It's this one opengameart.org/content/theme-song-8-bit Same person who made the credits music. I had apparently forgotten to add it to the credits, so I added it to the description.

[@DethroneD..]

@@NoelsRetroLab Very nice thnx,also if it is no trouble can you donate me the amiga??

[@KalaAltheaBalik]

I guess need of shielding depends on the display used.

[@vant4888]

Is your paint conductive ? ;-)

[@NoelsRetroLab]

It probably is. Are you asking because I forgot to put the plastic sheet under the board? :-) I noticed half way through and I inserted it, but I ended up cutting that from the timelapse shot.

[@ChrisPinnockUK]

could you use citrix acid or coca cola to remove the rust from the shield?

[@NoelsRetroLab]

Probably. I haven't used them, but I've been told they work, although you may have you leave them acting for multiple days. In this case just sanding it down is easier, but that might be good in the case of rusted parts that can't be sanded down (like in my video of the Atari 65XE restoration, although in that case I used straight acid).

[@ChrisPinnockUK]

@@NoelsRetroLab i've used citric acid to get rid of rust before - might be easier than scrubbing. the other thing that comes to mind is the Rust Convertor fluid, which you can spray on then paint over.

[@thumbwarriordx]

I wouldn't recommend the cream if you can get a jug of 30% horticultural peroxide for hydroponic systems in your area. Used for cleaning, treating root infection and as a root oxygen supplement You can mix it down fairly easily from just a quart bottle instead of a dozen bottles of the 3% drug store peroxide. It's not in convenient places online due to shipping regulations (it is a STRONG chemical solution), but any local hydroponic supply store will sell it in similar concentrations to the hair cream.

[@mark12358]

OMG, you forgot it and left the battery inside and WITHOUT the metal cover. If it starts leaking that would be a mess. Remove it at your first convenience, or better asap. Cheers, M

[@NoelsRetroLab]

Yeah, I was planning on replacing the battery later and I just wanted to put everything back together. But don't worry, I'll replace it :-)

[@mannycarrion7862]

If i was you i would for getta bout it and paint it a nice red color not bright red but red change the keys get some black ones like nake it look modern you know give a new look girls love getting new looks you know like their bails and hair did so paint her and put a pi-storm in there like give her a make over thats what i would do i dnt like to be like everyone else who wants to keep them plan White color cream whatever it is i rather her get attention like you paint her a nice color she will stand out people will be like hey what kind of pc is that i like to be different i like to do things different so thats my saying do things different. Oh and the hole use silly puddy for wood and plastic or car bondle

[@ezragonzalez8936]

I just dumped in the garbage '18" Amigas and several commodore 64 I had in storage 5 were still sealed! now I feel awful for doing that but had no clue anyone not even the salvation army would want obsolete computers! sorry guys!

[@NoelsRetroLab]

Noooooooooooooooooooooo.... 😢😢

[@nathancantwell602]

Oh my. That many? Well you weren't to know, and I did the very same years back when I discovered my Amiga 500 not working. When I discovered this thriving restoration/repair scene, I felt somewhat disappointed in myself. Regret soon followed. Today is regret therapy day. Just acquired a perfectly working A500 with original Commodore monitor. I feel so elated.

[@worldsendace]

What??? People pay real Money for Working systems. I guess you just trashed a Minimum of 2000-4000 Euros. Sealed C64 Go for 500-1000. Alone. So i guess you are just joking. I mean before i throw things away, i look online what its worth.

[@serdarhyo5561]

İt has "ç" button... Turkish version 😁

[@NoelsRetroLab]

I don't think the "ñ" is very used in Turkish :-) The surprising thing is that they put "ç" in the Spanish keyboard.

[@danielhaupt2066]

@@NoelsRetroLab thats because of Catalan language, they use the ç. its clearly a Spanish keyboard :).