cigarette smell on gpu

[lorenzino]

Hey guys, i bought a gpu ( rx7600xt ) but the guy who had it smoked in his appartement. The smells isn't really bad but i'd like to get rid of it. Is it worth bothering dismantling the whole card and clean it with isopropyl alcohol ? or the smell will go away on its own. 

thanks in advance

[dizmo]

Can you even notice the smell when it's installed in the PC? If not, I wouldn't bother.

[RONOTHAN##]

5 minutes ago, lorenzino said:

Is it worth bothering dismantling the whole card and clean it with isopropyl alcohol ?

I probably would, but not because ofthe smell. Odds are if the card smells of smoke, there's at least some nicotine/tar caked onto the card and heatsink, and I'd want that cleaned off. 

[Agall]

49 minutes ago, lorenzino said:

Hey guys, i bought a gpu ( rx7600xt ) but the guy who had it smoked in his appartement. The smells isn't really bad but i'd like to get rid of it. Is it worth bothering dismantling the whole card and clean it with isopropyl alcohol ? or the smell will go away on its own. 

thanks in advance

I ran into a few of these in my time and the unfortunate reality is that its really caked on. Its like a thick tar like film that's deposited on the whole card that makes it overall not worth it without special equipment like an ultrasonic cleaner.

[lorenzino]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

Can you even notice the smell when it's installed in the PC? If not, I wouldn't bother.

but then it would go all over in the pc ?

[lorenzino]

1 hour ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I probably would, but not because ofthe smell. Odds are if the card smells of smoke, there's at least some nicotine/tar caked onto the card and heatsink, and I'd want that cleaned off. 

onto the card it looks fine i think. it's the heatsink that stinks a lot and the fan. i'm gonna clean it anyways i thinks 

[lorenzino]

thanks for all the answer

[Poinkachu]

2 hours ago, lorenzino said:

Hey guys, i bought a gpu ( rx7600xt ) but the guy who had it smoked in his appartement. The smells isn't really bad but i'd like to get rid of it. Is it worth bothering dismantling the whole card and clean it with isopropyl alcohol ? or the smell will go away on its own. 

thanks in advance

If you are not comfy with dismantling it, atleast clean the outer sides with isopropyl alcohol (this includes the fan blades outer and inner side, atleast as far as your finger can reach).
If whatever you use to wipe it with has yellow stains on it after wiping, then rewipe until there is no more yellow stains on the rag/paper towel/whatever.

Should reduce the smell, though if the smell is really strong you most likely need to deep clean the whole thing.

 

That's what I did, you don't wanna know what my old GPU was like before I thoroughly cleaned it.

Hint : 12 years of heavy smoking near it.

[lorenzino]

4 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

Hint : 12 years of heavy smoking near it.

Poor gpu  i am fairly confident with tearing it apart i just need to get isopropyl alcohol and i will do it using some q tips and some wipes. if you saved your card, i think i should be able to reduce the smell a lot !

thanks man

[Somerandomtechyboi]

welp theres a reason why i consider miner gpus to be superior buys than gaming gpus cause of abuse like this or similar (choked with no airflow case, pets, etc.)

 

grab a toothbrush and use some isopropyl and hopefully the gunk will come off, probs best to have some ptm7950 ready to repaste the gpu die

[CasualExtremist]

Hate to be late to the conversation, but you could also grab an ozone machine off the internet shop of your preference and reduce smell significantly that way.

 

They should run you less than $100 and are easily worth that if you want the ability to buy smoker items in the future with the ability to reduce significantly (if not fully eliminate) the odors.

 

I have one like this and if it is that style, I'd get a cheap storage tote (or a grow tent) and an extension cord.

1: Set tote outside or in well ventilated room (preferably outside as Ozone gas is extremely toxic to humans)

2: Place the gpu standing up like this in the tote

3: set the ozone machine in the tote and angle it to blow directly onto the GPU (while it is likely not a lot of heat, I think the ozone gas is heated during the process and you'll want a little distance between gpu and machine to minimize heat damage potential)

4: run the extension cord out to the tote & ozone machine, plug it up and be very cautious of inhaling any of the gas once you get it started. It has a chemical smell so you should be able to easily identify it and avoid it.

5: leave it running for 4-8 hrs, then unplug the extension cord at the point furthest away from the tote. Let the tote sit for another few hours once the ozone machine is powered off.

6: Hold your breath, remove the lid, run as far away as you can while still holding your breath, then breath lol. (This might be overkill, but it is well worth not having health issues from breathing in that stuff.) Leave the tote with the lid off for at least a few hours or an entire day if you can.

 

You might find it takes 2 sessions to fully eliminate the odor, but when the ozone kills it, it is gone for good. I used similar technique for a smoker car I bought. It's been at least 2 years of 20F-90F seasons and it has never come back in the slightest.

 

Best thing with that tote system is, once you have the methodology fined tuned to work for you, you can eliminate most odors on any object that can fit in that tote.

 

I personally would rig it up to where the ozone machine is ducted into a 4-inch hole in the tote so that you get the entire capacity of the tote for future deodorizing. I am also very much an overthinker and there are likely plenty of ways to simplify the methodology instead of increasing complexity haha.

[lorenzino]

1 hour ago, CasualExtremist said:

Hate to be late to the conversation, but you could also grab an ozone machine off the internet shop of your preference and reduce smell significantly that way.

 

They should run you less than $100 and are easily worth that if you want the ability to buy smoker items in the future with the ability to reduce significantly (if not fully eliminate) the odors.

 

I have one like this and if it is that style, I'd get a cheap storage tote (or a grow tent) and an extension cord.

1: Set tote outside or in well ventilated room (preferably outside as Ozone gas is extremely toxic to humans)

2: Place the gpu standing up like this in the tote

3: set the ozone machine in the tote and angle it to blow directly onto the GPU (while it is likely not a lot of heat, I think the ozone gas is heated during the process and you'll want a little distance between gpu and machine to minimize heat damage potential)

4: run the extension cord out to the tote & ozone machine, plug it up and be very cautious of inhaling any of the gas once you get it started. It has a chemical smell so you should be able to easily identify it and avoid it.

5: leave it running for 4-8 hrs, then unplug the extension cord at the point furthest away from the tote. Let the tote sit for another few hours once the ozone machine is powered off.

6: Hold your breath, remove the lid, run as far away as you can while still holding your breath, then breath lol. (This might be overkill, but it is well worth not having health issues from breathing in that stuff.) Leave the tote with the lid off for at least a few hours or an entire day if you can.

 

You might find it takes 2 sessions to fully eliminate the odor, but when the ozone kills it, it is gone for good. I used similar technique for a smoker car I bought. It's been at least 2 years of 20F-90F seasons and it has never come back in the slightest.

 

Best thing with that tote system is, once you have the methodology fined tuned to work for you, you can eliminate most odors on any object that can fit in that tote.

 

I personally would rig it up to where the ozone machine is ducted into a 4-inch hole in the tote so that you get the entire capacity of the tote for future deodorizing. I am also very much an overthinker and there are likely plenty of ways to simplify the methodology instead of increasing complexity haha.

okay that's a very nice solution, i will keep it in case in need to do that if the cleaning doesn't work. thanks for the extensive tutorial it's super clear

[lorenzino]

2 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

welp theres a reason why i consider miner gpus to be superior buys than gaming gpus cause of abuse like this or similar (choked with no airflow case, pets, etc.)

 

grab a toothbrush and use some isopropyl and hopefully the gunk will come off, probs best to have some ptm7950 ready to repaste the gpu die

Do i really need ptm7950 ? Or any thermal paste will do ? i was planning on re-using the pad and repasting with a thermalright paste the dye of the gpu

 

[CasualExtremist]

1 hour ago, lorenzino said:

okay that's a very nice solution, i will keep it in case in need to do that if the cleaning doesn't work. thanks for the extensive tutorial it's super clear

I have a tendency to write in long format for better or worse. Happy to hear it wasn't so verbose that it lost its meaning.

 

I guess it is also worth noting that method I laid out will not remove gunk, thusly will be unlikely to help if the tar is so bad you're having thermal performance issues. The ozone gas molecules chemically react with the tar molecules and literally converts it into some no-odor molecule (or something like that). So if you do consider it, but want to make sure thermals are not hindered, do whatever cleaning method you prefer first and then the ozone treatment to react with whatever might be left in the little cracks & crevices.

 

Now that I think about it, it was what I did with my smoker car: I did a full interior detailing to try and get the surface level tar and gunk out, and then did I think 3 ozone treatment cycles (bc one was in the winter and for some reason that makes the ozone treatment less effective). In 1 treatment cycle: you'll go from thinking you're getting 2nd hand lung cancer before, to "maybe I still smell it" after. second and third are just if you're picky and want the odor DEAD.

[lorenzino]

9 hours ago, CasualExtremist said:

I have a tendency to write in long format for better or worse. Happy to hear it wasn't so verbose that it lost its meaning.

verbose is excellent. I will do the ozone trick if the cleaning is sufficient. There is no tar because the card wasn't used long enough for it to accumulate i think so a quick cleaning will do !