Dirty NES Top Loader

Oneinchbiceps

Here are a few photo's of a NES Top Loader I purchased from the Flea Market this weekend. My question is how do they get this dirty? Like did this thing live it's life in a coal mine? It doesn't appear to be mold and it doesn't really smell like cigerette smoke. It took quite a bit of magic eraser to get the power port portion this clean. Anybody have a clue what did this? It was mainly on the back and bottom part of the shell. I didn't notice it while making the deal so it was surprise when I got it home and saw this. 



https://flic.kr/p/24fKWZ4



https://flic.kr/p/2dLhuom



https://flic.kr/p/24fKX2P



https://flic.kr/p/2dLhurh



https://flic.kr/p/24fKX4x

Tulpa

Must have been shoved in a dusty attic or something. Dust and grime can really get into the plastic if it's left to build up.

Boosted52405

Woah, that was straight filthy. The cleaning is coming along nicely - does it work?

darkchylde28

Maybe smoke damage from a small/contained fire? I wouldn't think that normal dust and dirt would accumulate to quite that amount and tone just sitting around in storage. If it's not laid down in any sort of fingerprint/hand pattern, smoke is my best guess.

Tulpa

Originally posted by: darkchylde28

 I wouldn't think that normal dust and dirt would accumulate to quite that amount and tone just sitting around in storage.

If it's left alone for years without being covered in something protective it can, especially for light colored plastics. For some reason dust just grinds its way in.



edit: The more I look at it, the more I think it was left in an entertainment center or something for a decade and the gunk built up, since the rest of the toploader is fairly clean. No one bothered to clean the rear end. If it was smoke damage, I would expect it to be all over.

darkchylde28

Originally posted by: Tulpa



If it's left alone for years without being covered in something protective it can, especially for light colored plastics. For some reason dust just grinds its way in.



edit: The more I look at it, the more I think it was left in an entertainment center or something for a decade and the gunk built up, since the rest of the toploader is fairly clean. No one bothered to clean the rear end. If it was smoke damage, I would expect it to be all over.

I've left plenty of things alone for years in my parents' house without being protectively covered and never had anything magically "grind" its way in like that.  A mild gray or yellowy tint, sure, but not ground-in, sticky looking black like that.  My guess about smoke was it drifting up past the back of the unit versus collecting and sooting everything.  I know from personal experience that smoke from a kerosene heater will make things sticky and yellow over a long enough time (parents' house had electric heat which wasn't always enough, so a kerosene heater was run frequently in the winter), but not blackened.  Maybe non-penetrating mold/mildew?

Oneinchbiceps

It not really sticky. I'd say maybe a fire but man it's inside and everything. I started with magic eraser inside then was like forget it, it's on the inside nobody will see it. I could tell it was gonna take awhile and alot of effort to remove it from the inside shell.



In answer to the question if it works. I tested it out before cleaning and it played fine. I removed power connector since and put it back so also cleaned on the pcb a bit I'll need to test it out again. I'm sure it still works though. Just gotta let it dry after washing the pcb like I did.

supercoupe91

Yup sure looks like smoke damage. I'm guessing they wiped off the outside but forgot the back