Removing odors from a PC?

adarryladarryl No Man Stands So Tall As When He Stoops To Help a Child. Icrontian
Okay, this is a bit different. I let my wife take one of our home PC's to school where she teaches middle school aged students because the school provided PC's are slow junk. So this year, she has been using one of my custom builds with an AMD X3-720 and Win 7. However, because of the odors of her students, e.g. smoke on clothes, pet odors, perspiration, ripe tennis shoes and all sorts of noxious scents, she has used a potpourri pot to mask the stench and had it sitting beside the PC all year. Now this PC has absorbed the potpourri scents she used to where when you turn it on, the fans belch out a floral pipe tobacco (best descriptor) smell which appears to never dissipate. I tried soaking a cloth in Febreze and laying it inside the PC case in the hope it would help. Now the PC stinks of potpourri AND Febreze. There is no fabric/filter inside the PC, just the usual metal and plastic parts; the case is steel. Any ideas on how to clear the stink from this PC? I am about ready to try the car wash or purging by fire!

Comments

  • PirateNinjaPirateNinja Icrontian
    Toss a moso bag in that stinky bitch
    http://www.amazon.com/MOSO-MB2578-Moso-200g-Natural/dp/B004BOHV7Q/
    and if you really want duct tape a thin lining of carbon filter behind your exhaust fans (be careful to monitor your temps).


    Yeah...now your pc smells like nothing!
    AnnesTushon
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    I was going to jokingly suggest dipping it in Febreeze until I saw you'd basically done that. :p
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    You may have to replace your fans. The plastic on fans tends to be very porous and holds odors forever.
  • adarryladarryl No Man Stands So Tall As When He Stoops To Help a Child. Icrontian
    @PirateNinja, have you used that moso bag to know if it works? It doesn't leave things smelling like barley corn does it? or burning hemp? @Lincoln, uh, febreze smells great to cover fish, but coupled with the floral pipe tobacco smell already in the PC it's fruity smell is overpowering when confined to the inside of a PC case. I really think one can O.D. on febreze. @primesuspect, if the plastic fans hold the odors, what about the plastic coated cables? This PC has both IDE and SATA cables not to mention the plastic power supply fan. Well, I will persevere. It could be worse, it could reek of never ending rotten tennis shoes. Right now, it just smells like my uncle's nauseating pipe tobacco.
  • PirateNinjaPirateNinja Icrontian
    I used a moso bag in my car after some water sat in it for about a month. It cleared the smell right up within a few days, worked perfectly. It doesn't have it's own scent, it only absorbs other odors. Works better where there is airflow. I think it is essentially a bag full of carbon chips. If you get one and it is too big to fit in the case you can cut the bag open, let out some of the chips, sew it back up, toss it in the case. Take the bag out every 3 days and let it sit in the sun, then throw it back in.
    I really think that would help. You just have to be careful about the obvious things:
    - Don't let the bag rest against your motherboard or on top of a wire that may cause a loose connection
    - If you do put some sort of filter on the back of your exhaust fans, keep an eye on your temps to make sure they don't skyrocket

    Here is a guide to rig up your own fan carbon filter:
    https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=209154
    BobbyDigiSonorous
  • BobbyDigiBobbyDigi ? R U #Hats ! TX Icrontian

    Toss a moso bag in that stinky bitch

    Quoting for... um... history

    -Digi
    Cantimidga
  • adarryladarryl No Man Stands So Tall As When He Stoops To Help a Child. Icrontian
    Just ordered a moso bag from Amazon. Since I was already there, I added a couple of Joe Bonamassa concert DVD's to my cart!
    PirateNinja
  • adarryladarryl No Man Stands So Tall As When He Stoops To Help a Child. Icrontian
    Well, the meso bag has been in for several days and it has helped. Right now, it smells like a scented candle store rather than a parlor house (not that I would know anything about parlor houses) so that's an improvement. I just put a 12v automobile ionizer inside the case and routed the wire out the side to its adapter so that is cookin' along too. Between the two, I may get somewhere. Thanks all.
  • IlriyasIlriyas The Syrupy Canadian Toronto, Ontario Icrontian
    edited May 2013
    You could try using an air ionizer. They're expensive and it probably isn't worth it for the one thing but having lived with dormmates who used my washroom as their personal pot smoking room I can guarantee that one will get rid of any smells/odours.

    EDIT: Should've read more than the first few comments seems you've got it pretty much worked out.
    midga
  • CantiCanti =/= smalltime http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9K18CGEeiI&feature=related Icrontian
    I bought a Moso bag for my dog because of this thread.

    He thinks it's delicious.
  • midgamidga "There's so much hot dog in Rome" ~digi (> ^.(> O_o)> Icrontian
    Thanks for that moso bag link, @PirateNinja. I think I'm gonna pick up a few and strap them to my cats.
    PirateNinja
  • PirateNinjaPirateNinja Icrontian
    Canti said:

    I bought a Moso bag for my dog because of this thread.

    He thinks it's delicious.
    You took it too literally.
    Toss a moso bag in that stinky bitch
    JBoogalooTushonCantimidga
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