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Cigarette smoke smell in electronics..... how to get rid of?

post #1 of 29
2/21/04 at 7:03pm
Thread Starter 
Just curious how one can get rid of cigarette smoke from let's say a stereo receiver, that smells my whole room of smoke, I bought it froma friend. Giving it back is not an option, but the smell is killing me.
I'm not going to spend money on an ionizer, if that was a suggestion,
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post #2 of 29
2/21/04 at 7:35pm
This probably doesn't help you, but I just bought a NJB3 which smelled like it used to be owned by someone who smoked and eventually the smell went away. It's been about two weeks and I don't smell it anymore. But your receiver is probably many times the size of my NJB3...
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post #3 of 29
2/21/04 at 7:36pm
Thread Starter 
Ok that's comforting. Thanks. Others said it should go away as well, so hopefully.
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post #4 of 29
2/21/04 at 7:48pm
Have you tried something as simple as an external wipe down with those orange (smelling) based cleaners? 409 has one. That would be the first step, a good cleaning. Wipe it all down.

I thoroughly clean any item I get used.


Mitch
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post #5 of 29
2/21/04 at 7:53pm
all you can really do is wait for a nice warm clear day,bring it out to the porch and let nature take its course

good old fresh air (or what passes as such these days)

trying to manually clean it would do more harm than good
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post #6 of 29
2/21/04 at 7:58pm
Quote:
Originally posted by braillediver
Have you tried something as simple as an external wipe down with those orange (smelling) based cleaners? 409 has one. That would be the first step, a good cleaning. Wipe it all down.

I thoroughly clean any item I get used.


Mitch
I would spray any cleaner on a clean rag and then wipe the exterior. If it still smells there are cleaners that are designed for electronics that would probably remove any residual smell. I think that time will take care of it though even if you did nothing.
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post #7 of 29
2/21/04 at 7:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by rickcr42
all you can really do is wait for a nice warm clear day,bring it out to the porch and let nature take its course

good old fresh air (or what passes as such these days)

trying to manually clean it would do more harm than good
Thanks for the recommendation, didn't think of that. It's nice and warm now, perfect time for clearing of smoke
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post #8 of 29
2/21/04 at 8:53pm
Take off the top and bottom covers if you can and wipe them
down with 200 proof ethyl alchol. That will make a fair dent
in the smell. Fill a spray bottle with ethyl alchol and spray
a mist into the whole unit. That will get rid of some more
of the smell. Any transformers or exposed heatsinks
inside also wipe down with the ethyl alchol.

Best thing i have found so far for getting rid of the stink.
Ethyl, not isopropol. Everclear works fine if you can't get
the real stuff. Everclear does have a slight amount of water
in it, so wait for everything to dry out.

I'm massively sensitive to and alergic to tobacco smoke, so
this is a real problem for me.
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post #9 of 29
2/21/04 at 8:59pm
Quote:
Originally posted by kevin gilmore
Take off the top and bottom covers if you can and wipe them
down with 200 proof ethyl alchol. That will make a fair dent
in the smell. Fill a spray bottle with ethyl alchol and spray
a mist into the whole unit. That will get rid of some more
of the smell. Any transformers or exposed heatsinks
inside also wipe down with the ethyl alchol.

Best thing i have found so far for getting rid of the stink.
Ethyl, not isopropol. Everclear works fine if you can't get
the real stuff. Everclear does have a slight amount of water
in it, so wait for everything to dry out.

I'm massively sensitive to and alergic to tobacco smoke, so
this is a real problem for me.
Good tips, KG, I can't stand the smell either, it usually makes me feel like throwing up.
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post #10 of 29
2/21/04 at 9:23pm
I'd recommend some other cleaning technique than "time" or "nature". I have an old computer that had been in a smoking household for a few years - wow. Open it up, and all you could smell was smoke. Turn it on, and the fans made the whole room smell like smoke! We had it in our basement (not running) for about a year. The day we threw it out, the smell wasn't much better than the day we got it.

-dd3mon
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post #11 of 29
2/21/04 at 9:38pm
This is a major reason I don't usually buy used equipment. The only way to solve this problem in my experience is to disassemble as much as possible the entire unit, and thoroughly wash all of it (I dip circuit boards in cleaning mixes.) Let everything thoroughly dry and repeat as necessary. If the components include materials that can't be washed (some types of wood or paper, for example, you may be out of luck.)

But if your tolerance for bad smells is low, even this may not be sufficient.
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post #12 of 29
2/21/04 at 10:28pm
Be careful with the Everclear. If you accidentally mix it with Kool-Aid you could be in for trouble. We used to make Purple Jesus with Everclear and Kool-Aid. Luckily I don’t remember what happened, just the purple stains on the floor afterwards from spilling it. It was tough getting the stains out of the floor tiles in the Navy barracks.


Mitch
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post #13 of 29
2/22/04 at 1:25am
Quote:
Originally posted by braillediver
Be careful with the Everclear. If you ....
I don't think the qualification ("if you ...") is necessary -- just be careful with any 190 proof beverage.
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post #14 of 29
2/22/04 at 1:35am
Thread Starter 
So I can dip this whole board, let's say something like a Pimeta or PPA board in alcohol and it won't cause any problems?
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post #15 of 29
2/22/04 at 1:41am
Quote:
Originally posted by Jbroad572
So I can dip this whole board, let's say something like a Pimeta or PPA board in alcohol and it won't cause any problems?
Frankly, I just dip in soapy water rather than alcohol. But I suspect a brief dip in alcohol would be OK as long as you dried it quickly.
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