Cleaning smell from G5

[Drich290195]

Anyway the G5 i purchased was from a heavy smoker and it stinks. I stripped everything out and cleaned all the fans etc but it still smells. I think it may be the power supply but don't really want to open that up. do you think putting the vacuum cleaner over the psu fans is a bad idea , or what about compressed air into them. Any tips don't really want to strip the psu. Thanks

 

[Mnowell69]

The nicotine will be stuck to everything inside the psu, and the dust will be stuck fast to the nicotine. A vacuum or compressed air won't help. I stripped my psu and used an electrical cleaning solvent i 'acquired' from work.
Still smells, but nothing like when i got it.

 

[RamCpu]

you should put it either outside or in a garage for a day with a fan blowing into it ( not super fast) for a day. Than ask yourself why would someone spend money on something that hurts them?

 

[alexrmc92]

Anyway the G5 i purchased was from a heavy smoker and it stinks. I stripped everything out and cleaned all the fans etc but it still smells. I think it may be the power supply but don't really want to open that up. do you think putting the vacuum cleaner over the psu fans is a bad idea , or what about compressed air into them. Any tips don't really want to strip the psu. Thanks

If you really, really want to clean it then you need to fill a small tub with 50/50 rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. You must ensure every capacitor is discharged before doing this.

Let everything soak for 24 hours, afterwards let everything dry for at least another 24 hours with fans blowing on everything.

If you don't ensure the caps are discharged and that everything is dry before putting it back together you can ruin your tower as there is water in hydrogen peroxide. Well at least the kind of hydrogen peroxide you buy at the store, 100% hydrogen peroxide will spontaneously combust from your skin oil, as well as many other things.

 

[montygraphics]

If you really, really want to clean it then you need to fill a small tub with 50/50 rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. You must ensure every capacitor is discharged before doing this.

Let everything soak for 24 hours, afterwards let everything dry for at least another 24 hours with fans blowing on everything.

If you don't ensure the caps are discharged and that everything is dry before putting it back together you can ruin your tower as there is water in hydrogen peroxide. Well at least the kind of hydrogen peroxide you buy at the store, 100% hydrogen peroxide will spontaneously combust from your skin oil, as well as many other things.

Any advice for either late 2009 unibody mbp or 2013 mbp retina? less concerned with smell than damage or potential damage after continued use even in a smoke free environment. both were owned/used by a heavy smoker, the newer one (retina) was used in a smaller space where my friend, prev owner smoked, so likely worse off, and it's begun overheating rather regularly.

2009 unibody is way out of warranty so no fear to carefully try stuff on that one. '13 retina is under applecare still but...

Short version: apple won't help with anything they have to touch inside the computer because of nicotine. Long version below for reference, but basically wondering about opening up and cleaning both laptops.

Thanks in advance for any advice on how to do this.

Long Version: My friend (prev owner) and I took it in and "genius" spent time in the back with it, then came out with a photo on his iphone (lol) of nicotine-covered fan. Genius said they "cleaned" it out, but then said they wouldn't try to deal with the residue - the main prob obviously - only the dust which as we all know will come right back. Genius then said that "if it get's worse there will be nothing we can do, warranty won't matter" which I guess meant the nicotine not the overheating, which genius insisted was not happening despite istat levels and smc app (literally deleted one and installed the other while we were there to get a clear reading from each) were 122 on start up and 189-195 upon opening several tabs in any browser.

 

[gavinstubbs09]

The Power Supply isn't hard to take apart, just would require a good chunk of time in order to clean it properly. My 2.3 held a BUNCH of dust, when I removed the clumps of it the G5 was instantly much happier and quiet.

I've only ever owned one Mac that was a smokers and it was a iMac G5 iSight, needless to say I did what I could to fix it and a month later it died completely.

 

[Intell]

Gavin, this thread is a year old.

 

[gavinstubbs09]

Gavin, this thread is a year old.

Don't blame me for bumping it

 

[tom vilsack]

I bought a win laptop from a cigar smoker a year or so ago...what I did was put laptop into a large plastic bag with a bowl of vinegar then sealed and left for over a day....opened bag and laptop smelled great!

 

[repentix]

When I got my G5 it came from a heavy smoker and smelt horrible, I cleaned it extensively on both inside and outside with a cloth soaked in alcohol and it was good to go