Batboard

I dug out my DTR650's the other day and the outer rim of the body (basically the entire top, bottom and sides) was covered in white residue!! It looked like it had been painted white!! I've seen this on Motorola antennas...but it was many times worse on the DTR650's...much thicker residue .

Any idea what causes the white residue...does the radio rim material react with something else that was in the storage box or does it happen naturally? It comes off when you rub real hard with a damp cloth but I think I'm taking a layer off..I feel I should be adding something back...I tried some WD40 which provides a waxy finish but I think it is no better than using water.

I bought one that looked that way too. Thought a painter used it. Bought a new plastic housing, looks great. If you go that route dont forget to order a new display cover, it doesnt come with the housing

Standard on certain Motorola rubber items. I see it on knobs and other rubberized items that have been in storage.

I used a damp cloth and rubbed real hard and eventually the white residue started to come off...I got a black residue on the cloth which I guess was the top layer of the rubber. I think the black rubber residue left on the cloth provided a bit of abrasion which helped get more of the white residue off. I also used an very firm old toothbrush to get inside the corners etc. I read that others have used Pledge but I think I would have ended up with a polished white case ...but it might have worked. I wondered whether contact cleaner might have worked but that might have dissolved the rubber. Anyway, rubbing real hard with a damp cloth has sort of worked.

I've noticed the whitening of the rubber for sometime now. I read somewhere a while ago that said it could be the result of the chemicals in the plastic basically outgassing and evaporating, leaving the plastic dry and brittle. I don't really have anything to add to the removal discussion, but I have wondered whether something like armor-all would help prevent it from happening, since it basically stops the same thing from happening in tires.

I wouldn't want a greased up radio to use daily, however if something as simple as a wipe down with armor-all before placing a radio in storage would prevent it, then I'd have no problem doing that.

Please note, I have not tried this, so I have no idea about if it would work, it was just a thought. Are there any sciencey-types here that would have any input?

It is caused by oxidation. Haven't found a good woy to stop it from happening, yet. It least it's not like the old foam rubber earpieces and headsets that just disintegrated.