case dust...

[Fat Tone]

So I was just given a PC for repair. I had built it and installed in the home 5 years ago (we bartered at the time and I got very cheap holiday accomodation as a result. This is the first time I've seen it since).

The PSU was smelling strongly, and all openings on the case were clogged with a sticky brown dust. I can only assume this is because he is (well was, since having a major heart attack a few months ago) a heavy smoker. Even around all the back panel connectors for keyboard, monitor etc was caked.

So its totally fubarred. New PSU didn't solve it, new proc/mobo/ram required too.

Strangely the inside of the case was very clean, almost totally devoid of the usual fluffy white stuff, so it must have clogged really quickly, and its a wonder it survived this long!

Cheers,

T.

[dZeus]

sounds very similar to the one time that a PC was delivered for repair, which was completely fubar-ed by smoke/nicotine. Outside and inside was covered with a layer of disgusting brownish smelly sticky stuff. When I found out that the PC was only a couple of months old, I was completely perplexed... imagining how much this owner must have been smoking sitting in front of the PC during that period.

After that time, we (at the computer shop) either refused to handle non-cleaned smoker-computers, or charged a significant sum for cleaning before we'd be willing to take a look at it.

[rylan]

Ewww thats really gross.

[Brian Ellis]

I was called in to look at a computer that had overheated after 18 months service. Outside it was impeccably clean, even the PSU vents were reasonably dust-free. Opened it up and the first thing I noticed was the CPU heat sink was totally clogged with a thick dark grey felt. I removed the fan and heat sink and separated them. On closer examination, the fan blades had a matt appearance and were abour 1 mm thicker than usual. I pulled off each blade a perfectly formed felt mat. I also pulled off the heat sink a felt mat which reproduced the shape of the fins in perfect detail. Curiosity got the better of me and I looked at the felt under a microscope. It was formed of very fine cats' hairs glued together by tar. The owner has two cats that rubbed themselves on her legs whenever she sat at the computer and she smokes like a factory chimney at the same time, but she kept the outside case clean.

[KRSESQ]

Haven't seen too many of these in recent years. Guess fewer people are smoking in their homes nowadays. Never worried about giving these things a thorough cleaning. Just carried the whole thing to my driveway, put on a dust mask, and blew it out with my compressor. Only had one which was so caked the PS blew. Other than some overheating, that's the worst smoke damage I've seen.

(The one with the blown PS WAS pretty disgusting, though. Thick, sticky brown dust on EVERY surface. Imagine how these guys' LUNGS look.)

Kevin

[Fat Tone]

The heart-attack victim now has a pot of black tar that the hospital drew off his lungs...

[Nowhere]

Hmmm, I think now I have the reason why I noticed more dust inside than usually (smoking quite a bit next to my PC latelly), though it is rather ordinary, "powderish" dust anyway...

Oh well, time for cleaning, soon (I'm doing it relatively often anyway)

[Nowhere]

The heart-attack victim now has a pot of black tar that the hospital drew off his lungs...

How on Earth they do THAT?!

[Dr Mordrid]

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL): you stick a bronchoscope down the trachea and wash 'em out with saline one branch at a time. The scope has a balloon that inflates to block the branch off then the saline is introduced and suctioned out.

Some really nasty, disgusting stuff comes out of those things

[Jammrock]

I used to fix computers like that all the time. This is when you need a can of compressed air (or a low powered air compressor) and a vacuum. One hand creates the dust mushroom cloud while the other sucks it up safely away from cables and electronics.

[dZeus]

unfortunately the compressed air doesn't blow away the nasty sticky brown layer of tar

[Jammrock]

in that case the computer is pretty much screwed. I would refuse to work on a system with a layer of tar on it, too.

[Technoid]

How about a couple of chainsmoking, sheep and dog owners?

They kept the stuff they feed the dogs and the stuff they feed the sheep with in the same room as their computer, the inside was furry