removing bad smell

[Hyperspeed]

@Holley

During your time working as a butcher how many horses did you carve?

I can taste it right now... fillet of filly.

The French make a good corned beef from little wild Shetlands too,
bit too bony(/pony) for my liking.

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

[Floid]

If there's one thing borax does, it's remove gunk and stink from case plastic, without the stickiness that spray cleaners (including Simple Green, in my experience) leave behind.  Your mileage may, as ever, vary.

It also hit me reading the Slashdot article (through someone else's mention of using those 'zeolite' sacks for aquariums or car deodorizing) that, once you *have* cleaned as much as you can, you can probably throw a (nonconductive, fabric) pouch of potpourri or related 'aromatherapy' junk into a spare corner of the case... It'd act as a bit of a dehumidifier, and I suppose if you guessed right, you might hit upon a plant compound that inhibits the growth of mold.

Of course, the cheap version of that would be some dry coffee grounds tied in an old (clean!) sock... Charcoal briquettes are supposed to work as well, assuming none of those odors are as-objectionable as whatever you're trying to get rid of.

Or you could just start smoking, then you won't be able to smell anything anyway!

---

Edit:  Oh yeah, if it *is* from the batteries, try not to rub it all over your hands... Cadmium isn't very nice stuff.  (Similarly, if you clip your leaky NiCds, remember to drop them off for recycling; electronics stores usually have a bin for them, now, and it's best to keep that junk out of landfill, or worse, incineration...)

[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.

[Hooligan_DCS]

Havent read the thread at all and I dont know what has been suggested, but I suggest to use deodorant/cologne.

[Karlos]

KennyR wrote:
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.

Amines. I wonder if any non chemists can guess how these were named? :lol:

Putrescine
Skatole (A poor bugger I know had to use this :lol:)

[Hyperspeed]

Okay, I leave this thread overnight and what do I see?

Suggestions for Pot Pourri and Cologne!

:-D :-D :-D

Now THAT'S Amiga sophistication!

[Holley]

Hyper - never butchered any Horses ... dunno where you got that from :-?

Anyway, BTT, if you were going to 'oderize' a case I'd think PotPorri would be a bit weak.  Maybe odor neutralizer where the fan exits would be a better bet?

[JaXanim]

@Karlos

Skatole's not so obvious really. It's a degradation product of tryptophan (a muscle protein). Skatole gives sh-- it's disagreeable odour.

And don't forget cadaverine (pentamethylene-1,5-diamine).

Interestingly, the world's most expensive perfumes are blends of botanical oils with 'base' notes which 'anchor' the fragrance. Strangely, these bases are the stinkiest of things, not unlike those mentioned.

Cheers,

JaX

[Floid]

Holley wrote:
Hyper - never butchered any Horses ... dunno where you got that from :-?

Anyway, BTT, if you were going to 'oderize' a case I'd think PotPorri would be a bit weak.  Maybe odor neutralizer where the fan exits would be a better bet?

Well, I was suggesting leaving it in for a week after the initial cleanup, since it would stand an equal chance of soaking up some of the chemical stench from the cleaners themselves.

Odor neutralizers (Febreze, the new Renuzit stuff) work great, but used in mass quantities, they can start to get a bit nasty... for some combination of being 'moisture' themselves, reacting with metals (for instance, Febreze into an air conditioner is.. not the most pleasant thing, even if it does cover/kill off mildew and the like), and including their own rather synthetic perfumes.  Heck, maybe it's just that the artificial 'spring fresh' scents don't go well with the citrus/ammonia/pine crap you'll doubtless have been using to clean with five minutes earlier, and it's not like you can neutralize it if you've overdone it... what are you going to use against it, more Febreze? ;-)

FWIW, I stumbled across a can of "Bissell Fabric Refresher" in the back of the cabinet, and whatever's in that doesn't seem to linger as objectionably as the other sprays.  ('Course, it could just be that I've learned to associate the scent of Febreze with mildew, damp, and filthy dorm rooms, but then this is still a thought for everyone else who has...)

[Holley]

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

Obviously using a liquid based 'neutraliser' would be a bad idea ... as for the Febreeze smell, I've found it disappears after a good airing anyway, in the case of my tent, it still smell mouldy, but less so now.  I wouldn't use it on anything thats not fabric.

[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.

[Hyperspeed]

You might also want to try carbon filters. These little black foam
things they put in air purifiers and maybe vacuum cleaners.

Although prevention is better than cure so it'd be good to clean the
inside of the machine out.

Lately I bought a couple of Dyson S-Level electrostatic filters and
I'll use them to cover fan inlets to stop much getting in. I think
they should give a good airflow but capture particles.

Not sure if ladies tights can do this?

I think also that computer rooms should always have dehumidifiers and
air-conditioning to stop organisms flourishing and making a stink, and
also to keep the room cool to stop batteries and capacitors leaking
everywhere.

Consider that these internals cleaners mustn't be used on your
external casing or they might turn it yellow, same goes for Ionic
surfactants (such as in washing detergent) which can make your
keyboard letters rub off!

:-) :-)

[orange]

I used vacuum-cleaner with brush, canned air and a bit of isopropyl mixed with demineralised (distilled) water. Its better now, tolerable.
PSU seems to be the source of smell, though everything else has some of it, too. I'd change the fan with new one (noiseless and dirtless), but it doesnt have screws. Its fastened with some metal thingy, you know..
How about puting the whole PSU in hot water with detergent?

I'd like to get some of those filters, anyway, just to be sure. But where can they be found?

[Hyperspeed]

I've never understood the point of compressed air. You just blow the
dust elsewhere as opposed to sucking it up and putting it in the bin.

A mini vacuum cleaner with a bristle attachment would be great as long
as you keep the motor away from magnetic sensitive devices and keep
yourself earthed against static.

A large vacuum cleaner nozzle might produce too much static but would
be better than putting a motor near a motherboard. Maybe trail a
crocodile clip to the case (when the machine is plugged into the
wall) so that the earth can drain out ESD.

A quick way to purify water would be to Brita Filter it but it doesn't
have any cleaning effect other than to dilute and pad up other
chemicals.

You can get vaccum cleaner supplies on your local market
washing-machine supplies shop. Usually they sell cheaper 3M
electrostatic filters compatible with Dysons that may be half the
price but the same quality.

It might pay to put one in your PSU, remembering to face it with the
writing indicating OUTLET of air. And make sure it's not touching
anything hot (be careful also with those giant capacitors which can
give a nasty shock!).

To reduce other entry points for dust you might want to buy that
roll-out draft excluder foam from DIY shops. Just cut it into the
shape and size you require and line the edges of your tower's lid
(like Packard Bell PCs have).

Tower cases have more ventilation holes too, you might not want an
S-Level filter over these (as an S-Level impedes draft unless an
airflow is directed at it) so go for a foam/carbon/ladies tights
filter just to stop the large dust floating in by luck.

:-D

Camera shops will sell the best cleaning solutions as they stock stuff
for cleaning precision-ground lenses. Their lense cloths such as the
blue and grey Hamma® range are truly excellent and no doubt they have
great cleaning fluids too.

:-) :-)