Cigarette Smoke cleanup ?

[DHDaniel]

I've got a nice little Pro 2005, everything works great, the case has a coating of smoke.
Any suggestions what will take it off?
I tried
Dawn soap
Bleach Spray
Rubbing Alcohol

thanks
Dave

 

[WX4JCW]

409 works good on Nicotine

 

[K4EET]

Hi @DHDaniel, you've probably got the "tar" deposits off of the outside but it will still be on the inside to some extent. Cleaning the electronics is a little more tricky because you want to avoid static electricity which can damage the components. Have you ever cleaned circuit boards before and do you have the necessary equipment to abate static electricity and perform the cleaning? For the outside case, rubbing it down on the inside and outside with something like Febreze(TM) may help to abate the smell too.

 

[K4EET]

Here are some web articles on the subject too:

Clean Cigarette Smoke Odor From Electronics - Smoke Free House

When it's time to clean cigarette smoke odor from electronics, you will need to think in terms of cleaning without any water or moisture. While that makes cleaning of electronics a bit more challenging, it is still very doable.

smokefreehouse.com

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-remove-smoke-odor-from-electronics

How To Get Cigarette Smell Out Of Electronics? | PCB Tool Expert

How to Get Cigarette Smell Out of Electronics? this post explores two methods for removing tobacco smoke from electronics. The first method requires the use of

www.pcbtoolexpert.com

 

[trentbob]

Assuming you are just cleaning the outside casing maybe try a little WD-40 and a soft cloth

 

[217]

Any top-selling bug and tar removal product for vehicles if only cleaning the outsides.

 

[WX4JCW]

one problem is that smoke (Depending on how much the user smoked) gets in absolutely every crack and crevice every button or switch too

 

[WB9YBM]

Some cleaners might remove the painted markings (like the numbers on the keypad), so before going "whole hog" on the entire radio, you might want to try a small corner first to see how things react...

 

[jonwienke]

Isopropanol is good, but you have to completely disassemble the unit to clean both sides of all of the circuit boards, both sides of keypad membranes, inside and outside of the case, and so on. You can't just clean the outside.

 

[iMONITOR]

For enclosures I use Windex window cleaner. I spray it on paper towel then wipe, repeat as needed. It works great and in decades of doing this I never had it damage anything. For left behind label sticky spots, try Go o Gone:

Goo Gone Liquid Adhesive Remover 2 - Ace Hardware

www.acehardware.com

 

[prcguy]

I've tried everything for cleaning cigarette smoke with 409 cleaner being one of the better products. The absolute best is LA's Totally Awesome Orange cleaner that I pick up at the Dollar Tree store for 99c. This stuff makes 409 cleaner look like plain water. At 99c for 64oz its actually cheaper than buying bottled water, I don't know how they can sell it so cheap.

I've come across aluminum sliding door frames that appeared to be a gold anodize color when it was actually natural aluminum with 30yrs of smokers in the room that stained the aluminum. 409 cleaner and a couple of days of hard labor would make a dent in it but the LA's Totally Awesome cleaner just melted it off. Its also biodegradable, has no phosphates, won't hurt plants, etc.

You can pour some on oil stains in your driveway and they melt away. I use it for everything from degreasing the engine in my truck to degreasing antennas before painting them, etc. When I was working and doing maintenance on huge 40ft+ satellite dishes I would buy out the entire store and hose the huge antennas down with all the caked on grease and oil drippings around the motor drives and the big antennas looked like new.

https://www.dollartree.com/las-totally-awesome-orange-all-purpose-degreaser-refill-64oz/963845

 

[mmckenna]

Many years ago I had someone give me a bunch of old ham gear that needed to be sold.
All the equipment worked, but the previous owner was a heavy smoker (which led to why the radios were being sold for his wife).
Had to do it all out in the garage to keep the stink out of the house.

One challenge is making sure the cleaner you use will not damage any of the materials. Some cleaners are harsh enough to damage plastic cases.

I can echo what most said above. You just need to be super careful around the clear windows. Some will get hazy from the cleaners.

Solution I found was to use denatured alcohol. Denatured alcohol is the recommended cleaner for most plastics. I've never had it damage the clear plastics in any way.
You can get gallon jugs of it at hardware stores pretty cheap. That and a lot of soft rags and you'll have your work cut out for you.

What comes off the equipment and onto the rags will reinforce what a horrible idea smoking is. I threw away a lot of orange stained rags.

I disassembled all the controls and cases to clean them. I did not clean the circuit boards. Didn't want to go that far.

 

[LS101]

Use "Mean Green" can get at local store works wonders, dose not harm nothing can use on walls carpet anything. Dollar stores have it and also super markets have it in there cleaning sections Would not advise on using on circuit boards. It cuts cigarette and your normal smoke build up from cooking overs the years, spray it on a wall that has cigarette smoke or smoke from cooking and you can see it running down the wall, looks like dirty water.

 

[DHDaniel]

good morning, well I've tried a multitude of things and some of the suggestions, no real improvement, The inside dont look bad, and I really just wanted to clean the plastic outer case. I try a few more, probably just live with it.

thanks for all the replies, awesome

Dave

 

[jonwienke]

Cleaning just the outer case won't get rid of the smell. You have to clean every surface inside and out, or else be willing to live with the smell.

 

[phask]

Any of the "purple soaps" work great for smoke. Take the case off and clean inside the case, as well as anything inside you CAN get to.

 

[neilromesburg]

Some videos on the subject on this YouTube channel.
(3) TysyTube Restoration - YouTube

 

[prcguy]

I've used alcohol, Windex, Simple Green and lots of other stuff with disappointing results. The LA's Awesome Orange cleaner is way better than anything else.

good morning, well I've tried a multitude of things and some of the suggestions, no real improvement, The inside dont look bad, and I really just wanted to clean the plastic outer case. I try a few more, probably just live with it.

thanks for all the replies, awesome

Dave

 

[bob550]

Ammoniated glass cleaner is better than non-ammoniated. Beware of certain solvents which can dissolve plastic parts. Any chemical should be tested on an inconspicuous part first.

 

[WB9YBM]

Beware of certain solvents which can dissolve plastic parts.

...and (potentially) remove markings like the memory bank # over the buttons...