Parts wear

[AKM_76]

Hi

I'd like to discuss here the cases which cause parts wear. The cases I know are:

1) Direct sunlight - discoloration of white parts

2) Dust - obvious

3) Smoking - parts absorb smoke

4) Pets and children - dents, etc...

5) Stickers problems (don't worry personally, I don't use them)

There is some more exotic cases I read about on this forum:

5) Tire deformation on a heavy assembled sets on a display by the time

I'm especially interested to know about the parts wear in the assembled sets, Technic and System. Here must be a collectors with a big experience who can tell if the bricks loose their connection abilities being assembled through years?

Please add more parts wear cases you know.

6) Wear of the gears by heavy load

[Sebeus I]

I have some plates which partially lost their grip, they had been used in a big ship for a long time, they stretched a bit.

I believe it's because of the combined use of different lengths of bricks and plates, encountered mostly at big creations.

The lenght of eight 2x1 bricks is not exactly equally to one 2x8 brick, I think the multiple smaller parts force the long parts to bend when assembled.

I'm talking about a MOC here though, sets are usually relatively small so the problem may occur less.

I think you pretty much summed up every case.

[Rick]

I have moved this from Technic to General as I expect it's of interest to the entire Eurobricks member base.

[Doc_Brown]

I have a yellow technic submarine from 1997, it was assembled and never played with up to last year when I brought it.

The parts are all in perfect condition and work fine, tho the hoses are "expanded" where they were connected to the cylinders or switches for such a long time. They still work tho. :)

[naf]

I was surprised that the hoses and rubber bands from my technic sets are in perfect condition, nothing deteriorated. They were stored in a cool basement in a plastic bin for over 20 years.

[dvsntt]

I had an opportunity to go through a large assortment of bricks donated by Lego for our local museum and build som preliminary models for them. about 75% of the cheese weedge pieces were split in the middle. You could not see it until you put it on a stud, and that spread the part and you could see the hairline crack\split down the center of the slope.

[TomLego]

I had an opportunity to go through a large assortment of bricks donated by Lego for our local museum and build som preliminary models for them. about 75% of the cheese weedge pieces were split in the middle. You could not see it until you put it on a stud, and that spread the part and you could see the hairline crack\split down the center of the slope.

Collecting anything made of plastic has its unique set of risks. I collect catalin (a type of plastic) radios that were made in the 30s and 1940s. The colors will change over the years and, on rare occasion, a crack will still develop in the case after all these years. Sunlight seems to be the major enemy of plastic collectibles. Especially direct sunlight through a window in your display area.

Edited June 26, 2013 by TomLego

[Blakbird]

I have many hundreds of thousands of parts on continuous display. Studs do not lose their grip over time if they are simply displayed. There will be no permanent deformation due to the clutch force. What makes them wear out is repeated use, not static display.

Very heavy cars can deform tires over time, but they will eventually resume their shape after the load is removed.

The rubber seals inside pneumatic actuators will degrade over time due to thermal cycling, causing leaks.

Heavily loaded Technic gears will generate "dust" due to wear and will eventually fail.

Rubber bands will degrade and fail if left in the stretched state.

These are all examples of actual physical wear and failure rather than just cosmetic discoloration.

[AKM_76]

So I can summarize that parts can stay in mint condition through years if treated well, independently if they are in the assembled sets or separated. Very happy to know it.

[1974]

I'm not sure about that. I've recently bought a large collection of LEGO from the early '80s up to the late '80s. On some of the sets the white/grey have gone quite yellow. But not all. The seller, which I know/trust 100%, says ALL the sets have been carefully played with (I know, I just put a Blacktron base together and it was _mint_) and stored wisely. The yellowing seems to have hit random sets though ..

Wierd?!

I'm definitely not worried about parts being stuck together for a long time. Stickers might disintegrate depending on what type they are. I don't use them either, but they an be a pain to remove once they've started to fall apart

[AKM_76]

I suppose that the sunlight, even not direct one, is quite serious problem for the sets on display (white parts). Or they can change the colors even if stored in dark boxes? Hard to believe.

[Faefrost]

Pretty much anything that is principally made of rubber or vinyl may degrade and decay over a long period of time. The best example is how some older model tires will not simply deform, but seem to partially melt onto the surface they are sitting on, or leave residue behind. Vinyl such as hoses may grow more brittle and lose flexibility. Actual Lego bricks however should withstand the test of time provided they are kept safe from direct sunlight and weird chemical interactions.

I suppose that the sunlight, even not direct one, is quite serious problem for the sets on display (white parts). Or they can change the colors even if stored in dark boxes? Hard to believe.

The white parts yellowing is not a result of sunlight, although sunlight will speed the process. It comes from the chemical flame retardant that gets mixed in with the plastic as a safety measure. It's that chemical that will eventually yellow.

[AKM_76]

The white parts yellowing is not a result of sunlight, although sunlight will speed the process. It comes from the chemical flame retardant that gets mixed in with the plastic as a safety measure. It's that chemical that will eventually yellow.

So there is absolutely no chance that the white brick from 80-s can be as white as the modern one? Or it depends of luck?

Edited June 27, 2013 by AKM_76

[TomLego]

Here's some interesting information about plastic discoloration.

http://www.tested.com/tech/2505-why-your-old-super-nintendo-looks-super-yellow/

[AKM_76]

Ok, bein a rather crazy person I feel sad now after reading that information about white parts. I know that nothing lasts forever including first of all myself but anyway. Do you know if they add that unflameable chemistry to the parts with another colors? So that parts also change they color slightly over time but it is not so noticeable as with whites?

[Sato]

2) Dust - obvious

Can't dust simply be washed off with some water and perhaps a brush?

[AKM_76]

Yes, sure. My sets are not so exposed to dust so some brush wipes are enough to solve this. You may search this forum, I don't remember the exact topic, but they discussed the best solutions how to wash and to dry parts with minimum damage to them, using a towel, a soap (and maybe a toothbrush?).

...just thought that the water when it dries leave some noticeable signs, if you as crazy as I am then I'd suggest using distilled water :D

[fred67]

I have to agree that dust shouldn't be listed as something that contributes to part wear. I use compressed air to dust my display items occasionally - have resorted to display cases for some things, but that's not feasible for large models.

I do not normally build technic, but I do have motors and remotes and build tanks and cars (strictly to play with), and have had gears and axles wear out.

The link that TomLego posted is right on.. only in the case that I have gotten a large amount of used bulk LEGO do I resort to washing with dish detergent, and sometimes an extra soft toothbrush; and then a retrobright formula (hydrogen peroxide and oxi-clean as a catalyst) works wonders on discolored LEGO.

[Faefrost]

Ok, bein a rather crazy person I feel sad now after reading that information about white parts. I know that nothing lasts forever including first of all myself but anyway. Do you know if they add that unflameable chemistry to the parts with another colors? So that parts also change they color slightly over time but it is not so noticeable as with whites?

It's probably most visible outside of old white parts, in old classic light grey parts, which take on a faint more yellowish cast. We don't notice it as much because the old grey naturally looks yellower than the new bley. Yellows may darken slightly. It does not substantially effect red or darker parts since the actual color shift is not really yellow but brown and they are already deeper into that side of the spectrum. Blues don't seem to color shift so much as lose their brightness or vibrancy, at least to my eye.

[Sebeus I]

Blues don't seem to color shift so much as lose their brightness or vibrancy, at least to my eye.

I have a lot of discolored blue bricks, in my experience blue, white and (old) light gray are most sensitive to shifting color.

[Faefrost]

I have a lot of discolored blue bricks, in my experience blue, white and (old) light gray are most sensitive to shifting color.

Actually yeah you are right. The lighter blue bricks do get that kind of yellowish tinge. I tend to forget. I don't really have a lot of old blue.

[naf]

Out of all my old parts (mostly from the 80's), only the white, light gray, and blue parts are discolored. White gets a yellow tinge, light grey gets a less noticeable yellow tinge, and blue starts to get a slight green tinge (due to the brown/yellow bromine color mixing with blue). Retr0bright has restored most of these bricks to their original colors. Some parts did not clear up with retr0bright however. My white flexible tubes (only the flexible part) http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/73590a , and white rack pieces http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/2428 stayed yellowed. They seem to be made from a different type of plastic.

[1974]

Well, the flexible tubes are made of rubber I guess? I have a bunch of those racks as well (in yellow, though) and they do feel different than 'brick ABS' ..

I don't mind the yellowing on grey bricks as I use a lot of them for Castle/Space MOCs and it just makes them look old and battered. I like that

Blue however is irritating me as I've been trying to MOC a modular building with a lot of arches (which can only be found in old sets) and I cannot seem to buy any that looks okay

Yellowed white bricks I just throw out, unless it's superspecial parts