when you do that stupid thing and buy used equipment on ebay ...

[n6hcm]

... and you fail to ask if it's coming from a smoker's home. how do you kill the smoke smell without setting it on fire?

[KJ3N]

I've heard of using fabric softener sheets (used in clothes dryers) stuffed into the radio and let it sit for a few days.

[KG4CGC]

How bad is it? Aside from what Jim said, if it's really bad you will need a box of q-tips and isopropyl alcohol. Clean everything very carefully an eighth inch at a time.

[WZ7U]

Yeah, alcohol will work but be prepared to catch the mess effectively.....you dont want to contaminate your carpet/bench/clothes etc. Some low pressure compressed air might help flush out under impossible to scrub surfaces, used very cautiously of course. Man, I hope you got a good deal on it. Resist the temptation to drown/submerse the entire assembly. Having said that.........

I wonder though if an ultrasound bath would work without hurting it?

[KK4AMI]

I bought a transceiver that was really sweet smelling from Febreeze. I almost felt obligated to take it to dinner before I tried to turn it on! :)

[n6hcm]

so it's not so awful ... i've left it downstairs for a day (most of the rooms i use are upstairs) and so far, not so bad. i think it may have been packing materials that were recycled (it was well-packed, but i think that maybe the smoke came from the bubblewrap....)

[n0iu]

how do you kill the smoke smell without setting it on fire?

Start smoking and then it won't smell so bad.

[kb2vxa]

If you think it was the packing take it out of the case and give it a breath of fresh air for a few hours. Then if it smells give it hell. Alcohol is a good degreaser that will do it justice, but it should be what is used commercially, pure ethanol, unlike others it doesn't leave a residue. Oh most definitely put rags under it to catch dark brown drips, that goo that came out of things I've cleaned leaves stains instantly and they're impossible to remove. Speaking of dark brown drips, has anyone been over there lately?

[KD8TUT]

Here's a trick from the computer world.

Get 6 cans of office duster- disassemble the radio so you can get to the boards. Blow everything off (can use a compressor for this).

Then... get the cans of office duster, and spray the boards down liberally HOLDING THE CAN UPSIDE DOWN. You'll spray propellant, which is very cold onto the board causing the board to appear frosted. Wait for frost to evaporate- then blow off with air again.

This works because any coating from cigarette tar will be frozen and crack, and when you blow it off with air most of it will be removed. Smell mitigated.

Another weird trick I've done a couple of times.

One time I spilled coffee into my laptop- cream... sugar... the whole stick deal. Since I had nothing to lose I prepared a bath of 99% isopropyl alcohol, and swished the boards through it until they looked clean. Then the boards were put into ziplock bags of rice for three days.

Still have that laptop- works perfectly.

[kb2vxa]

"Then the boards were put into ziplock bags of rice for three days."
Of course it does, memories of home cheered it up.

[KG4CGC]

"Then the boards were put into ziplock bags of rice for three days."
Of course it does, memories of home cheered it up.

Could you please not say things like that? It may have been funny stand up shtick in the 50s and 60s but today it's ignorant.
Thank you.

[AA1OH]

When I restore a jukebox (full of smoke) I use straight old ammonia (lemon scented) from the store and then rinse with hot water to aid in drying.

[WZ7U]

Start smoking and then it won't smell so bad.


Could you please not say things like that? It may have been funny stand up shtick in the 50s and 60s but today it's ignorant.
Thank you.

I guess I just don't get the shtick? I suppose it's because I don't tend to think 'that way'?

Probably not missing anything anyway.

[KD8TUT]

"Then the boards were put into ziplock bags of rice for three days."
Of course it does, memories of home cheered it up.

By that logic you should store modern tubes in a vat of borscht.

Good luck with that.

[KD8TUT]

Could you please not say things like that? It may have been funny stand up shtick in the 50s and 60s but today it's ignorant.
Thank you.

Yea it's a horrible stereotype. And inaccurate too: since most boards are made in Taiwan- the lowest consumption of rice in Asia.

[N8YX]

By that logic you should store modern tubes in a vat of borscht.

Good luck with that.

In post-Soviet Russia, tube sellers grease you.

[KG4CGC]

Rice consumption per capita.

http://www.uark.edu/ua/ricersch/pdfs/per_capita_rice_consumption_of_selected_countries. pdf

[NA4BH]

Could you please not say things like that? It may have been funny stand up shtick in the 50s and 60s but today it's ignorant.
Thank you.

I think he was talking about the rice absorbing the moisture from the boards. Did that trick with a wet cell phone, damn if it didn't work. That's why you see rice in salt shakers in humid environments, the salt doesn't clump together.

[KG4CGC]

I think he was talking about the rice absorbing the moisture from the boards. Did that trick with a wet cell phone, damn if it didn't work. That's why you see rice in salt shakers in humid environments, the salt doesn't clump together.


Of course it does, memories of home cheered it up.

This. This right here, Bob. Did you miss it? Was it supposed to be funny? I sure it was as recently as the 70s.

[K7SGJ]

I think he was talking about the rice absorbing the moisture from the boards. Did that trick with a wet cell phone, damn if it didn't work. That's why you see rice in salt shakers in humid environments, the salt doesn't clump together.


Out here, instead of rice, they use a piece of a soda cracker in the salt. But it's a dry cracker.