Hi,
I recently inherited a large tower computer. Unfortunately the person who
owned it before must have been a heavy smoker. When starting it up, it puts
out a pretty stale smell like cigarettes in an ashtray - YUCK. Anyway, there
is
your standard mother board, power supply, network card, video card and two
cooling fans. Any ideas on how I can clean up everything inside so the
smell will not drive me out of the room. Guess I could just throw out the
power supply for a start. How can I safely clean the electronic circuit
boards to get rid of dust and smell?

Thanks,
Dan

All you really can do is remove the Motherboard, and carefully blow as much
dust off of it as you can with a can of canned compressed air. Clean the
inside of the case, and cables as much as you possibly can. Remove the fans,
and carefully clean the blades of the fan. As well, when you get everything
back together, place a box of baking soda inside of the box.
Eventually the smell will fade, but not quickly.
"Daniel" dcxdan AT yahoo DOT com wrote in message
...
Hi,
I recently inherited a large tower computer. Unfortunately the person who
owned it before must have been a heavy smoker. When starting it up, it
puts
out a pretty stale smell like cigarettes in an ashtray - YUCK. Anyway,
there
is
your standard mother board, power supply, network card, video card and two
cooling fans. Any ideas on how I can clean up everything inside so the
smell will not drive me out of the room. Guess I could just throw out the
power supply for a start. How can I safely clean the electronic circuit
boards to get rid of dust and smell?

Thanks,
Dan

In article ,
"Daniel" dcxdan AT yahoo DOT com wrote:

Hi,
I recently inherited a large tower computer. Unfortunately the person who
owned it before must have been a heavy smoker. When starting it up, it puts
out a pretty stale smell like cigarettes in an ashtray - YUCK. Anyway, there
is
your standard mother board, power supply, network card, video card and two
cooling fans. Any ideas on how I can clean up everything inside so the
smell will not drive me out of the room. Guess I could just throw out the
power supply for a start. How can I safely clean the electronic circuit
boards to get rid of dust and smell?

Amazing as it sounds, most of the parts in there are totally unaffected
by water. After all, the circuit boards have already been through a bath
of molten solder followed by a rinse in a pretty strong solvent or else
water, depending on the flux that was used.

Take it apart, as far as you can.

Spray something like "409" on all the sheet metal, and all the circuit
boards, and rinse with plenty of hot water. Final rinse in the hottest
water you have, blot it all off, and put it out in full sunlight to dry
as quickly as possible. The warmth will help evaporation.

Make *sure* everything is dry before you put it back together and fire
it up.

Isaac

"Daniel" dcxdan AT yahoo DOT com wrote in message
...

I recently inherited a large tower computer. Unfortunately the person who
owned it before must have been a heavy smoker. When starting it up, it
puts
out a pretty stale smell like cigarettes in an ashtray - YUCK. Anyway,
there
is
your standard mother board, power supply, network card, video card and two
cooling fans. Any ideas on how I can clean up everything inside so the
smell will not drive me out of the room. Guess I could just throw out the
power supply for a start. How can I safely clean the electronic circuit
boards to get rid of dust and smell?

Here's another way: get some toothbrushes and a can of carpet deodorizer
from the dollar store. Blow or vacuum as much dust out as you can and use
the brushes to get rid of any stuck on dirt. Sprinkle the carpet cleaner
inside on the bottom of the computer but not on electronic parts. Give it a
few days to absorb what it can and if you can leave it inside while you run
the computer do so. Eventually vacuum it all out.

Got rid of a lot of dead herring smell from a rental car that way - don't
ask.

N

On Wed, 06 Jul 2005 21:21:29 -0700, Isaac Wingfield
wrote:

In article ,
"Daniel" dcxdan AT yahoo DOT com wrote:

Hi,
I recently inherited a large tower computer. Unfortunately the person who
owned it before must have been a heavy smoker. When starting it up, it puts
out a pretty stale smell like cigarettes in an ashtray - YUCK. Anyway, there
is
your standard mother board, power supply, network card, video card and two
cooling fans. Any ideas on how I can clean up everything inside so the
smell will not drive me out of the room. Guess I could just throw out the
power supply for a start. How can I safely clean the electronic circuit
boards to get rid of dust and smell?

Amazing as it sounds, most of the parts in there are totally unaffected
by water. After all, the circuit boards have already been through a bath
of molten solder followed by a rinse in a pretty strong solvent or else
water, depending on the flux that was used.

Take it apart, as far as you can.

Spray something like "409" on all the sheet metal, and all the circuit
boards, and rinse with plenty of hot water. Final rinse in the hottest
water you have, blot it all off, and put it out in full sunlight to dry
as quickly as possible. The warmth will help evaporation.

Make *sure* everything is dry before you put it back together and fire
it up.

Isaac

Absolutely. We used to recover avionic components that'd sat on the
ocean floor for days or weeks( downed aircraft) back in my service
days.
Every component had a specific process of cleaning, all started with
fresh clean water soaks.
Like you said though you gotta be sure it's bone dry before energizing
the circuitry.
409 works well, I also use something called "Mean Green". Kinda a
cross between 409 and Simple Green.(Not as caustic as Simple Green and
won't leave as much residue as 409.)
I get it at the local Family Dollar stores or my local Wal-Mart.
I rinse with luke warm water though.(I'm worried that the caps on some
boards may be the cheap wax sealed not the epoxy ones.)
I use compressed air to blow it off to minimize the wet time and I
take care to avoid getting any water in any open transformer coils.(
tough to get them absolutely dry without a dehumidification cabinet.)
A hair dryer on warm or hot can speed the process up a bit before
setting it out in the sun.( I live in a sub-tropic region in the
south, hot as hell all the time, giving me the benefit of a fast dry
time in or out of the sun.)

"Daniel" dcxdan AT yahoo DOT com wrote in message
...
Hi,
I recently inherited a large tower computer. Unfortunately the person who
owned it before must have been a heavy smoker. When starting it up, it
puts
out a pretty stale smell like cigarettes in an ashtray - YUCK. Anyway,
there
is
your standard mother board, power supply, network card, video card and two
cooling fans. Any ideas on how I can clean up everything inside so the
smell will not drive me out of the room. Guess I could just throw out the
power supply for a start. How can I safely clean the electronic circuit
boards to get rid of dust and smell?

Thanks,
Dan




My motto is - If it aint broke don't poke.
Its only a nasty smell, not harmfull tobacco particles.
I would just tie some sprigs of lavender or similar over the fan outlet
or a net bag with pot-pourri in it.

--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/

That's not my experience. Take a look at a radio control
chassis after sitting in a dispatch room for 15 years where
smoking was permitted. You get a brown coating on everything
that's almost impossible to remove.

N Cook wrote:

My motto is - If it aint broke don't poke.
Its only a nasty smell, not harmfull tobacco particles.
I would just tie some sprigs of lavender or similar over the fan outlet
or a net bag with pot-pourri in it.

Hi,
Yes,
Thanks for all your helpful tips. I 'm sure I will use most of the them to
get that nasty smell down erased. And I 'm sure a good blast from an air
hose would do a lot to help also.

Dan

"Daniel" dcxdan AT yahoo DOT com wrote in message
...
Hi,
I recently inherited a large tower computer. Unfortunately the person who
owned it before must have been a heavy smoker. When starting it up, it
puts
out a pretty stale smell like cigarettes in an ashtray - YUCK. Anyway,
there
is
your standard mother board, power supply, network card, video card and two
cooling fans. Any ideas on how I can clean up everything inside so the
smell will not drive me out of the room. Guess I could just throw out the
power supply for a start. How can I safely clean the electronic circuit
boards to get rid of dust and smell?

Thanks,
Dan

On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 08:13:00 +0100, "N Cook" wrote:

"Daniel" dcxdan AT yahoo DOT com wrote in message
...
Hi,
I recently inherited a large tower computer. Unfortunately the person who
owned it before must have been a heavy smoker. When starting it up, it
puts
out a pretty stale smell like cigarettes in an ashtray - YUCK. Anyway,
there
is
your standard mother board, power supply, network card, video card and two
cooling fans. Any ideas on how I can clean up everything inside so the
smell will not drive me out of the room. Guess I could just throw out the
power supply for a start. How can I safely clean the electronic circuit
boards to get rid of dust and smell?

Thanks,
Dan




My motto is - If it aint broke don't poke.
Its only a nasty smell, not harmfull tobacco particles.
I would just tie some sprigs of lavender or similar over the fan outlet
or a net bag with pot-pourri in it.

Obviously you smoke or did at one time. So of course you wouldn't find
it that offensive.
AND actually it is particles. The unit heats up and cooks off the
nasty gunk/tar coating that that filthy habit left on there.
For many it's not just a bad smell, it's a medical allergy.
I have asthma and a severe medical allergy to tobacco.
All I have to do to have an attack is just be around a smoker when
they exhale, disgusting to say the least.
The main reason I don't work in the repair business as well.

"none" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 08:13:00 +0100, "N Cook" wrote:

"Daniel" dcxdan AT yahoo DOT com wrote in message
...
Hi,
I recently inherited a large tower computer. Unfortunately the person
who
owned it before must have been a heavy smoker. When starting it up, it
puts
out a pretty stale smell like cigarettes in an ashtray - YUCK. Anyway,
there
is
your standard mother board, power supply, network card, video card and
two
cooling fans. Any ideas on how I can clean up everything inside so
the
smell will not drive me out of the room. Guess I could just throw out
the
power supply for a start. How can I safely clean the electronic
circuit
boards to get rid of dust and smell?



Take it apart and gently scrub the boards with warm soapy water, use
something mild like dish soap for hand washing. Rinse everything off and let
it dry for a few days then reassemble.

I've run boards through the dishwasher too with success, though machine wash
soap can leave residue. You can wash the power supply the same way, just
take it apart first and remove the fan and anything cardboard.

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:dZnze.5169$VN3.2687@trnddc01...

"none" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 08:13:00 +0100, "N Cook" wrote:

"Daniel" dcxdan AT yahoo DOT com wrote in message
...
Hi,
I recently inherited a large tower computer. Unfortunately the person
who
owned it before must have been a heavy smoker. When starting it up,
it
puts
out a pretty stale smell like cigarettes in an ashtray - YUCK.
Anyway,
there
is
your standard mother board, power supply, network card, video card
and
two
cooling fans. Any ideas on how I can clean up everything inside so
the
smell will not drive me out of the room. Guess I could just throw out
the
power supply for a start. How can I safely clean the electronic
circuit
boards to get rid of dust and smell?



Take it apart and gently scrub the boards with warm soapy water, use
something mild like dish soap for hand washing. Rinse everything off and
let
it dry for a few days then reassemble.

I've run boards through the dishwasher too with success, though machine
wash
soap can leave residue. You can wash the power supply the same way, just
take it apart first and remove the fan and anything cardboard.



No one has mentioned removing CMOS back-up battery before wet processing.
I would not trust ICs to wet , encapsulation against capillary action is not
guaranteed
for civil packages and IIRC not absolute guarantee for mil spec packages.

--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/