removing bad smell

[KennyR]

If you mean a musty smell, it's probably caused by some mild form of fungus or mould. Sometimes my shampoo smells like that if kept under the sink too long )

Anyway, two pointers. When you hoover your PSU, be careful to IMMOBILISE THE FAN BLADE. If you don't, it'll spin hard and generate a current like a generator and could damage the PSU. Second, water is ok if not used on electronics, like the plastic fan blade. IPA (isopropyl alcohol) is better, but water is ok.

These kind of smells tend to dissapear with time, but if it really annoys you, you could open up the whole PSU and give it a clean, preferably with IPA.

[KennyR]

Hyperspeed wrote:
I know the smell you mean... and I think it's electrolyte!

It smells of fishy or rotting flies, not sure why. Electrolyte may be an organic compound or it may just contain a lot of sulphur.

It's not the electrolyte itself. NiCd uses potassium hydroxide an electrolyte, and that doesn't have much of a smell. But it attacks the plastic of the PCB and releases amines, which smell like dead fish. But then age attacks it too, which is why old boards sometimes smell a bit.

[KennyR]

Holley wrote:
I was thinking of the spongy granules, that could be fitted to (filled-into) a filter of sorts on the CPU exhaust.

There isn't much point in such filters here. When the PSU started to heat them up, they would release the smell they absorbed anyway.