On Fri, 1 Feb 2013 09:48:40 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
Mike Tomlinson writes:

Got a video card off fleabay, but it's come from a heavy smoker. Sticky
with nicotine and stinks. I know if I put it in the PC the air flowing
through the case propelled by the fans will stink out the room.

How can I best clean it? Have mailed the seller to let him know I'm not
happy, he's offered a full refund including return postage, but the card
is a decent one and I'd like to keep it if it can be de-stinked.

I would use an air duster to blast the dust off it.
If the heatsink and fan are demountable, I might also take them
off to clean under, and possbly to wash the heatsink if the air
duster can't clean it up. Obviously, any of this risks breaking
the card, and if you do break it, it's not reasonable to expect
to return it afterwards.

Nicotine doesn't lie like dust, it builds up a tar-like coating.