A weird non-platform specific question

[Paddy]

OK guys...don't laugh...

But HOW do you suggest I get the lingering SMELL out of that Athlon I just bought? The previous owner was a heavy smoker and the machine is pumping out a distinctive stale cigarette smell that is bad enough with the windows open - can't imagine what it's going to be like in the fall when they're not open anymore!! (and don't start making Windoze jokes... )

I've cleaned every non-electronic part, inside and out as best I can - Windex on the exterior, Windex-dampened cloth on the interior (no spray inside, of course!), wiped out the fans as best I could (one is fairly inaccessible), vacuumed the interior (it was fairly dust free since it had been serviced in March) and so on. I'm not a big fan of Febreze - I find it covers up the smell for a little while and then back it comes, though I have tried some on the exterior of the monitor, since it also smells (not sprayed - just wiped on) - now it smells like Febreze and cigarettes. Can't use much of that anyway, since hubby is allergic to perfume.

So, any suggestions? Besides nose plugs?   Or will I just have to hope that it fades away after time?

Apologies to those of you out there who DO smoke and can't figure out what my problem is...but believe me, if you don't smoke, it can be an issue.

[gunug]

The most common smell I notice in the new IBM's we unbox around here is
probably the smell of little bits of styrofoam from the packaging being heated
up and melting in the power supply and on the CPU heatsinks.  I suppose that
you could open the thing up and blow it out before you ever power it up!  

I suppose you could hang up one of those evergreen car deoderizers back behind
the computer where the fan output comes out!  

Probably a high level of overall ventilation will cure this faster than anything.  Try
running fans across the work surface to mix more room air through what you might
be breathing.  I've hung onto several little high speed fans harvested from old mainframe
boxes (these are 110AC units) for the purpose of blowing solvents and solder smoke
out of my shop area at home.  I guess you could also buy some of those extension cables
to take yourself further from the CPU!

[kelly]

Doubt very much you can. Sell it.

[gmann]

Fresh coffee grounds! I used to haul fish in a reefer up and down the West coast. After unloading I would sprinkle a can of coffee in the trailer and by the time I got to my next destination the fish odor would be no more. I would suggest a cloth bag with about 3/4 cup of fresh grounds tucked inside of the box, out of the way of any hot circuits.

[Paddy]

QUOTE

Doubt very much you can. Sell it.

<grin>And would you have said that if it had been... a Quicksilver?

Hmmm. Might try the coffee grounds suggestion...though I'll have to brew up some 'special, cuz I'm not a coffee drinker (tea, lots of tea, is my vice)

Any others?

[jepinto]

Don't brew the coffee, just use fresh grounds.   Or use the old refrigerator trick, an opened box of baking soda.

[Gregg]

Baking soda? (Great minds think alike, one just a few seconds sooner!)

Incense?

Nicorette?

[RHPConsult]

I've had good luck with each of those "home remedies"  over the years . . . Arm 'n Hammer, ""retired" coffee grounds and even the little "pine tree" gadgets. Can't recommend one over the other.  In the nose of the beholder . . . and all that!

The best "spray" I've ever used (because it's recommended by a maintenance service I know) is called Ozium. It's "industrial strength". Really

Short of Kelly's drastic elimination-by-extirpation "solution" there's one other trick that might be worth trying. Auto parts shops - - I'm assuming, because my car wash uses them all the time - - probably carrry a variety of small (2 X 2in) blotter-like squares impregnated with the "usual"  cover-up aromas that you could easily distribute around inside, and under, the case. They are fairly persistent. The ones my car wash slips under the seats last at least a couple of weeks, inside a hot car. I've always liked the aroma called "new car" since my Caddy's are 13 and 16 years old, respectively.  

What did that guy smoke? Russsian/Chinese cigarillos!

[Kruser]

A shallow dish of Vinegar or a candle. Vinegar will slowly turn brown while it takes the nicotine out of the air. great for fireplaces also.

[kimmer]

If you find something that works, let me know. I've got some things that were my folks that are still "airing out" in the garage -- going on 3 years now. I'd dearly love to bring them in the house ... but I don't want my house to smell like stale cigarettes.

Best of luck.


kimmer

[Gary S]

I think ciggy smoke is the hardest smell to get out short of a skunk.

Now I know you use tomato juice for skunk spray (I learned 1st hand) and it works.

I posed the question to my wife and she said vineger is the best for tobacco smells.


Maybe if you put the coffee grounds in the computer will go faster.
 

Good luck Paddy.

[Paddy]

Well, a progress report of sorts...vinegar seems to have helped a lot on the exterior of the monitor. The PC's power supply and its associated fan seem to be the trickiest bit - there's a screen over the power supply fan, making it hard to reach the fan blades (thinking of a watercolor brush...it's now the last remaining dust in the machine!) and I'm not inclined to taking the entire assembly apart - it means removing the top (lots of screws) and then more bits on the back to remove, before reaching the power supply, from what I can tell. I also put some baking soda in a small bowl inside - though at the moment I've got both side panels off since I've been swapping drives and PCI cards.

It may just take time. My Electron Blue monitor smelled a bit when I first brought it home - it's previous owner also smoked, though not as heavily as the latest seller. I wiped it off several times, and gradually it lost that smell.

On the other hand - I have a lampshade that I got (nice lampshade that a neighbor chucked in the trash) about 3 years ago and it STILL smells, despite numerous applications of Febreze. It will be replaced shortly. Luckily it isn't all that noticeable until you turn the lamp on and it gets warmer.

[Epaminondas]

Paddy,  
 
 
I had a similar problem with a computer bought off of eBay.
 
Available solutions:
 
 
(1)  Duct the exhaust fan - generally the power supply fan but check first as some are innies rather than outies  - to the outside.  This via vacuum cleaner hose vented through a window.
 
Of course, remember that resistance to a fluid or a gas increases as the inverse of the radius to the third power.  Also, directly with distance.  More complexly stated:  a wider hose is better than a narrower hose.  Width of hose is more important than distance.
 

(2)  Or - put the machine in the garage and leave it turned on with all fans blowing.  Just storing it in  a garage dormant will not clear the cigarette air, it will just keep it dormant.

Anthropologists report that computers recovered from the pyramids still stink of incense for weeks or even months upon first being started up, but that the smell does clear with time.  
 

(3) Time.  It really does go down with time.
 
 
Regards,
 
Epaminondas

[ljocampo]

With all the above solutions posed, I don't suppose a wipe down with Lysol antiseptic will work, but has for me.  At least it smells like a hospital.