Part Degradation over Time

[dr_spock]

I had problems with tires leaching out chemicals over time. I have a 1980 fire station set that sat on a book shelf for decades. The fire truck tires are still fine but the fire station base plate has tire tread etched in like hand print in wet cement.

Electronic components can also wear down and fail over time like this 2200mF capacitor in my NXT. It exploded when the NXT was powered on with bang and smoke fanfare. It even shot out electrolyte at small capacitor.

LEGO NXT Repair? by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

[Captainowie]

The 9V electric wires are easy to replace if you're even lightly capable with a soldering iron. If you're really skilled you could possibly do it with the original crimp connections but i've had no success with PVC insulation - it's harder than the old rubber stuff and distorts the copper pins in the connector before they penetrate the insulation. The added bonus is you can make them of any length you choose, which is most excellent for busy MOC's like Grazi's tow truck.

When I replaced the wire in my cables, I found that if I shaved some of the insulation down I could use the original crimp connections - no soldering needed!

[Wimee]

After a few years LEGO parts will become brittle and discoloured caused by sunlight (mainly UV radiation)?

[J159753]

What are the possibilities for restoring sunlight-discoloured pieces? There's dilute hydrogen peroxide for white pieces, but how about grey and blue, which are the other two colours where the yellowing's most noticeable? 

[mortenm]

3 hours ago, J159753 said:

What are the possibilities for restoring sunlight-discoloured pieces? There's dilute hydrogen peroxide for white pieces, but how about grey and blue, which are the other two colours where the yellowing's most noticeable? 

I have had luck with Grey (light variants) in dhp too. 

But they tend to whiten / bleach (spell?) a bit, if you're not careful. 

[That_LEGO_Guy]

Got hold of a micromotor that didn't work, pulled it apart and the 3 coils sit on the magnet. the surface of the magnet had deteriorated and was covered in flakes that blocked the coils from rotating. I just scraped the flakes off the top of the magnet untill the coil could rotate freely and reassembled it. I'd guess there was about a mm of material removed. only issue is when it is forced to stop it needs a flick to get going again. I took some pictures after I scraped the surface and stuck them on flikr.