Cigarett Smoke Smell

[w0ng]

Not sure this is the right place to ask but here goes...... 

How do you get rid of cigarette smoke smell INSIDE a transceiver without doing damage to circuit board components and such?

There is no VISIBLE signs of tar or nicotine, just the terrible odor of old smoke. Any help here would be appreciated! Tnx, Bill, w0ng

[AF9J]

Hi Bill,

Over time the smell will dissipate.  The ICOM IC-740, that my neighbor gave me as a non-runner a few months back stank like an ashtray (my neighbor smokes bigtime).  I cleaned it up externally as best as I could (that got rid of some of the smell), and then the rest dissipated within a couple of weeks.  A few hams I know, told me (after my IC-740 had already lost its smell) that they've sealed up smokey smelling radios in garbage bags with room, or car deodorizers, for a few days, and have had good results.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[Jim, W5JO]

Try stuffing dryer softner sheets in where you can if possible, then put it in a plastic bag with several for a while.  Let it warm some.

[WBear2GCR]

I prefer to clean them.

I use a decent alkaline cleaner (Fantastik is on the weaker end of the spectrum) and WASH it with water!! 

Then too after a good brown removal wash, a spray with "Febreze" type odor killer generally does it up ok.

W1UJR says that he was able to remove nicotine brown from front panels with ur typical non-pumice white jell handcleaner... ought to work inside the chassis too. Of course it requires a water wash also.

Just dry on a warm surface for two days after, or out in the summer sun on some hot asphalt (don't drive over it...)   

I've heard that the dryer sheet thing works, but that ciggy smell tend to come back with any heat applied... I like to evict it for that reason if possible.

                     _-_-bear

[KD6VXI]

Not sure this is the right place to ask but here goes...... 

How do you get rid of cigarette smoke smell INSIDE a transceiver without doing damage to circuit board components and such?

There is no VISIBLE signs of tar or nicotine, just the terrible odor of old smoke. Any help here would be appreciated! Tnx, Bill, w0ng

Ozium.  It's about the BEST thing I've found to kill anything smell related.

It doesn't mask the odors, it kills them. 

It's what you smell when you walk in the hospital.  A friend with a colostomy bag turned me on to it, and it's about the best odor killer I've EVER found.  Any odor, it's GONE.

Never tried it on plastic, but it won't eat PC boards.

--Shane

[ka3zlr]

Hello Bill,

 I have used at times a very strong mixture of Vinegar water and lemon and then scrub the cases with murphys oil soap..Rinse well...and do the bag Trick with lemons...it's economical..

[w3jn]

Take up smoking so you don't notice it.

Westley's Bleche-White whitewall cleaner is the BEST stuff ever for removing nicotine residue.  Take the tubes out, clean 'em and the tube shields, clean the chassis, xformer, etc.  Be careful as it can attack some silk-screened paint. 

For the cabinet, wet it down well with water first before you spray on the Westley's, or spray the Westley's into a paper towel or rag first.  Don't spray the stuff on directly if the thing is dry, it'll create light spots in the paint if you do this.

[w0ng]

Thanks to all for the great advice! I'll try it and report back with the results. 73, Bill

[k3zrf]

I have used small 1 oz cups filled with coffee beans, brand of your choice. Takes awhile but smells like fresh coffee as rig warms up. Change beans once a month for best results.

[AF9J]

Hi Dave,

You ever muched on coffee beans?  Delish!!  And they give you a nice caffeine buzz.  I used buy them quite a bit at Caribou Coffee a few years back (they sell coffee beans as  snacks).

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[k3zrf]

Only the chocolate covered espresso beans.....found them at the shore, great taste, good buzz.

[MikeKE0ZUinkcmo]

I use Amonia, right out of the bottle, put it into a windex spray bottle and spray away.  Pretty nasty smell so be sure you're up wind.  A nearly full number 3 wash tub and a couple big bottles of amonia will also work. 

Dump in the radio, wait about an hour, pull it out, spray with a garden hose then blow off with compressed air. Makes some nasty looking water though. Pour the water in the garden, amonia for the plants and nicotine for the bugs.  Let the radio set for a couple days in the summer sun. Then carefully lube all those mechanical items needing such treatment.

I've done this on a number of old radios and its worked fine.  Of course paper dials and other water soluable items will soon be history unless removed first.

Absolutely no nicotine/smoke smell.

[k4kyv]

Only the chocolate covered espresso beans.....found them at the shore, great taste, good buzz.

An acquaintance of mine back in the 70's had a friend whose father ran an old fashioned country grocery store, where they bought freshly ground coffee beans in bulk and custom ground them freshly for the customer.  She started munching on coffee beans from the time she was about 10 years old.  She did this for years, and apparently developed some kind of addiction to caffeine.  In her late teens, someone turned her on to speed, and she discovered that it gave a better buzz than caffeine.  Unfortunately, she let it totally wreck her body and she was dead before age 30.

I started drinking coffee when I was about age 5.  It never stunted my growth or caused any other horrible ill effects, even though at school they continuously warned us never to drink coffee or tea because it would allegedly cause undefined horrors, but I never took those warnings seriously.  Kind of like the warnings they later gave to kids about using cannabis.

Over the years, I have probably indulged in just about every vice in the book, but thankfully, cigarette smoking is one I never took up.  I did tinker with pipes and cigars for a short while, and probably smoked a half dozen cigarettes in my entire life, but never enjoyed tobacco enough to make any form of it a habit.  I must not be predisposed to nicotine addiction, because if I had found my initial experiences enjoyable, I probably would have got hooked like so many other people I know.  It is extremely rarely that I ever run into a middle aged or older smoker who says (s)he still actually enjoys smoking, and who doesn't regret having started the habit and doesn't wish they could quit.

When you see what the residual smoke in the shack does to radio equipment, imagine what the full strength stuff does to your lungs.

I still enjoy coffee, but as I get older it seems to defy the law of conservation of matter; my body has developed the uncanny ability to convert one cup of coffee into two or more cups of pure liquid.

[AF9J]

I could never smoke.  With my asthma, being in a smoky environment just about locks my lungs up.  It's one of the reasons (besides age), that I'm hesitant about doing the rock band scene again.   Bands play in bars, and most bars are smokehouses.   Going to smoke filled bars kicks in my asthma, and makes me feel like I have a steel packing strap wrapped tight around my chest.   No thanks.  Besides, lung cancer killed my Uncle Jerry, who was a heavy smoker.  Still, I will admit, that I do miss playing out.  If it weren't for the ciggie smoke......

73 & may the modulation be with you,
Ellen - AF9J
Enjoying her Viking 2

[k4kyv]

In Tennessee, bars and restaurants that permit smoking are no longer allowed to admit customers under age 21.

I think pubs in the UK have now been decreed to be smoke-free.

These days, you should be able to find places where one can play music and not have to be inside a smoke-house.  Many of the ever more common smoking bans are justified as an employee protection and worker safety issue.

[AF9J]

I sure hope so Don,

Some municipalities here in Wisconsin have ordinances on the books banning smoking in bars an resturants, but they are not in the Milwaukee metero area, where I live.  Hopefully this will change over time.

73,
Ellen - AF9J