H.C. Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 So what actually causes this phenomena? The infamous burn mark across the plastic varying in degree on how the control cable was laid to rest albeit during a long period of storage. Chemical reaction between the hard plastic of the toy and plastic insulator of the wire? Any insight greatly appreciated. I have a fairly nice robot with this burn mark and it's bugging me as too how it got there... :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SH MIKE Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 sometimes its a chemical reaction between two kinds of plastic but I think it's how the toy was stored. If there is any heat where it is stored for years at a time, I think the wire inside heats up to a point that melts the wire into the plastic on the body. the rubber insulation from the wire can take the heat more than the plastic body. If the wire is wrapped around the toy, that is the worst way to store it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 Its a chemical reaction, we have discussed this in the past archives. Even the soft plastic ears of the Ranger Robot where they touch the hard plastic head was discussed. New toy that have syrofoam inserts in the box and the toy has a flexible plastic control cable the cable seems to eat into the foam. Best not to store these flexable plastic wires/cables in contact with other types of plastic for long periods of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robotnut Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 John is correct, it is chemical...I consulted a friend in the plastic biz and there are a groupof chemicals called Thalates. Thalates are added to the plasticformula to keep it flexible indefinately. If a soft plastic contactsa hard plastic, thalates will transfer from one to the other,making the hard plastic soft. When this softening occurs it isirreversible, the only way to stop it, is remove the damagedarea. If the damaged area is small, it can become hardagain if it is left to the air for several years. Even soft plasticwill eventually "dry out". I've notice many new toys have startedto melt right on the store shelf. My son who has a huge actionfigure collection, has noticed that soft accessories transfercolor and stick to new toys right out of the box. He nowdisassembles these toys and stores the soft accessoriesseparately. The only way to avoid this is to collect only tin toys... :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.C. Posted April 17, 2003 Author Share Posted April 17, 2003 The only way to avoid this is to collect only tin toys... :( I'll take my chance with the plastic. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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