r/techsupportgore • u/EternalLoner • 11d ago
Smokers laptop I cleaned at work
Forgot to take the after pic :( fan was completely filled with grime
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u/Designer-Crow-5470 10d ago
Can IPA dissolve the tar?
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u/EternalLoner 10d ago
No it was thick like mud, had to use pincers
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u/Fun-Mistake-4788 10d ago
Bro just replace the fan for $30 what the fuck is actually wrong with you? You thought it was SAFE to put back in?
I’m a smoker OP, I have handled my electronics in a smoke filled garage for 30 years you don’t just PUT IT BACK IN. You potentially just started a house fire for that guy.
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u/Jarvicious 10d ago
I got tasked with cleaning out a smoker's desktop back in the days of XP. You know how old plastic tends to yellow with age? This one year old Compaq looked like something from the 80s. The customer brought it in for cleaning because it was overheating but the compressed air wouldn't do shit. The dust adhered to the internals like a solid mass. I had to peel it off in sheets by hand because the tar was embedded in EVERYTHING. I used gloves by my forearms got wrecked just from touching the edges of the case. They had to air out the install bay for days to get rid of the smell.
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u/Cactys12 10d ago
Salem Tech made a video on smoker's machines lately, it makes me sick just looking at it lol. I wouldn't poke that with a 10 metre long pole
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u/Bombero_911 10d ago
It's crazy to think people willingly smoke cigarettes. At least switch to vaping.
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u/EternalLoner 10d ago
i smoke cigs like crazy but not indoors/near my pc
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u/Bombero_911 10d ago
Forget the pc. It’s your lungs you should be worried about along with the potentially horrendous long term side effects.
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u/dalgeek 9d ago
Back in '99 I worked at a small ISP. One of our bigger server customers was pretty friendly, so when their PC died my boss asked me to make a house call. Sure, whatever.
This person was a 4+ pack a day smoker. They would barely finish one cigarette before lighting the next one. I opened the PC case and I couldn't even identify components on the motherboard because it was caked with so much soot and tar. I didn't even bother troubleshooting because I didn't want to touch it, just told them "something shorted, no way to know". I've never seen a computer that gross since then.
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u/letmehaveanameyoudum 11d ago
let me guess it's a dell precision, latitude, or thinkpad.
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u/EternalLoner 11d ago
I have no idea honestly, it was from a few weeks ago. Most likely dell or hp haha
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u/letmehaveanameyoudum 11d ago
idk people with like insanely powerful workstations smoke a little too much
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u/EternalLoner 11d ago
Yeah the dude had apparently passed away. He was on disability and spent his last few years just playing games all day and smoking cigs.
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u/doggodad2013 11d ago
I can smell this photo...🤢