plastic conservation

[Giancarlo]

Hello,
a little bit out of topic but still interesting.

Please see the following attachement where it seems that plastic artifacts will soon fall apart:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/scien...getty.html

Thanks

Giancarlo

[Helix]

Thank you Giancarlo (nice first name )
This article is relevant to calculators! The following video shows how the old plastic of the HP 200LX brittles. It certainly increases the risk of a hinge break:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wLD24qZpiI

[Giancarlo]

Hello Jean Charles ( nice first name!),
Yes this is relevant to all our electronics.
I am trying to understand which are the best conservation rules for modern artifacts based on some conservators, modern artifacts are more complex to preserve than antique ones.
The best system to me would be to control higrometry through silica gel cassettes in a sealed environment and have a timer fan powered filter to absorb pollutants generated by our plastic and electronic component. There are today good filter media based on activated carbone able to intercept Volatile Organic Compounds (vocs) and some other pollutants.
Thanks for pointing out the video.

P.s. Another solution would be to sell all our collection, go to Bahamas with the same money and buy new calculator (prime) to avoid obsolescence.

Cheers

Giancarlo