Advice needed: PC smells terrible!

I have recently acquired a new pc - long story, but im looking to swap my pc with someone.

Anyway, ive got the pc home to look at, and it stinks! Its got a lovely "stale smoke" smell, which frankly is disgusting :sick: The way it is, it looks like I may just refuse the swap, but that would be a shame...

So, does anyone have experience of removing a bad smell from a pc? ive opened it up and removed as many of the disks and pci cards as poss, and ive had the psu to bits, but its still as bad! I dont think spraying air freshener into it will work - it just seems a bit of a crazy idea :whistling

Any suggestions?

clothes peg on nose? :unsure:

hmm, thats a pretty good short term solution, but we use the tumble dryer, and so dont own any pegs!

im going to open her up and stick it in the attic for a couple of days, see if that'll let the smell out, before attacking with some compressed air...

but any other ideas out there?

Can you figure out which parts smell?
Most likely the case holds the most of the smell so just swap cases.
Anything else cheap like ide/sata cables and fans could be switched out too.

Strip the case completely, scrub out the inside with a rag and some Windex.
Make sure to remove and clean the inside of the front bezel (if it has one).
Spray with Ozium (originally developed for the mortuary industry but popularized by head shops due to it's efficacy removing telltale odors).

Go to Radio Shack (or your local equivalent) and get some electronic contact cleaner (aerosol spray which evaporates quickly leaving no residue) and douche the motherboard and cards.

That should take care of most of the problem.

BTW...did you really have the PSU disassembled "to bits"?- that's pretty ambitious.

thanks guys

I suppose the case is the most likely candidate...might have a look for a sexier one (its pretty ugly) to fit it all into, which i suppose would follow naturally onto getting new fans (though will try to clean it first - trying to do this at cost)


Maplin
is this the aerosol cleaner you refer to?

and "to bits" is all relative - its the most ive ever stripped one before! but no, not completely desoldered :D

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Originally Posted by vivitron 15

Maplin
is this the aerosol cleaner you refer to?

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Yup, that's the stuff.

Eat plenty of beans. :yup:

You won't notice the smell of the pc. :)

If the case is empty on the bottom. No HDDs or other parts on the "floor" of the case. And the case will be sedentary.

Smear a thick 1/8" layer of mentholatum or vicks vapor rub on the bottom of the case. Coating the entire bottom. Close the case. Use but don't move the computer. After 3-6 months clear out the goo. If needed repeat.

I'm surprised nobodies laughed at my suggestion. :lol:

Btw I assume no responsibility.

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Originally Posted by zapjb

I'm surprised nobodies laughed at my suggestion. :lol:

Btw I assume no responsibility.

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We would have laughed, but we've all got you on ignore. :shifty:

Unless you happen to mention Antec of course.

Hmmm it seemed like a good idea I do have abit of a cold coming on..The PC vapourizer kinda catchy...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zapjb

Btw I assume no responsibility.

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Which is, of course, the whole point of interweb advice-giving.
You think I've actually tried any of the crap I recommend?
HA!


Hell, I don't really even have a PC.:naughty:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clocker

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zapjb

Btw I assume no responsibility.

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Which is, of course, the whole point of interweb advice-giving.
You think I've actually tried any of the crap I recommend?
HA!


Hell, I don't really even have a PC.:naughty:

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:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I knew it all along...i never believed that you had a pc :D :D

and i actually quite like the vicks idea..it would make the room smell really cool, and couldnt possibly do any harm :unsure: - in fact, i bet there is no caveat on the vicks, so if it goes wrong, i can claim a new pc from them!

I think i'll try it after the "cleaning" method :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vivitron 15

I knew it all along...i never believed that you had a pc :D :D

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Damn.
I had a very clever reply all ready to go but my Etch-A-Sketch spontaneously rebooted and wiped it out.
I might have to back down on the overclock....

ah, them pesky etch-a-sketches...i heard strong magnets can be pretty dangerous for them!

anyhow, ive got some fancy cleany stuff, and some air in a can and have spent the morning blasting the pc...after having left it to air off for a few days, and will hopefully be in a position to switch it on later...will keep you posted as to what happens!

Have you found your problem, burning smells ussually come from the power supply. To get rid of smell in case remove everything including mother board . Clean with a citrus cleaner should get rid of smell.

Thanks to all who replied...The smell was definitely from the people from whom i liberated the pc smoking far too much (when i opened her up, there were bits of tobacco stuck in the fans :sick: )

Anyhow, I stripped it all out, and scrubbed the case with anything i could find which had an "ok" smell, i air-blasted the lot and used some of the contact cleaner, but in the end, there is still a distinct whiff..

so i decided to return the pc to its owners.

In the end, the promise of a slightly better cpu and SATA HDDs wasnt enough for me to keep it - its not too bad, but slightly annoying that i know the pc is being wasted on minesweeper and msn...it'll never know greater things :frusty:

Cheers anyhow though :D Was def worth a try!

Too bad. :(