The Effects of Smoking on Your Computer? 43
cencini asks: "Over the past few years, I've ended up fixing computers for a lot of different people, some of whom are smokers. One thing I've noticed about the smokers' computers (particularly those who smoke near their machine) is that they are absolutely disgusting inside. Is there anything that has linked smoking to computer damage (since we know the other types of damage it does), and has anybody else observed this phenomenon?" I too have looked into the insides of the boxen of heavy smokers, and I must confirm that it is not a pretty site. But aside from the asthetics (the yellowing plastic, the tar imbued dust, and that nasty residue) are there other, more subtle problems that can occur that can be connected to smoke damage?
Not sure about smoke in particular, but... (Score:1)
Morale of the story: any airborne particulates are bad. In addition to not feeding the computer, and not giving the computer a drink, I now admonish people that computers like fresh air where possible. (But not TOO fresh!)
The biggest problem is for you (Score:1)
The dust particles seem stickier, but it's unclear whether this causes any more failures of mechanical components. Circuits are fairly resilient to dust, aside from added heat through insulation.
I've seen filthy mechanical parts, regardless of smoke, that I couldn't believe still worked. Printers are probably much more susceptible to smoking damage. Your best advice is to keep the ash tray off the CD tray and don't use your floppy as a cigarette holder.
Re:Oh piss off (Score:1)
Invoking a comparison to Hitler and/or the Nazis is generally a sign that you've no worthwhile arguments. Do try to avoid it.
In any event, "What effects does heavy smoking near a computer have on its operation?" is a legitimate question. That the person who originally posted the question finds smoking (or at least its aftereffects on a computer) "disgusting", and you evidently don't, has no effect on whether or not the question is legitimate. Certainly the answer would be of interest to any computer techs out there.
The damage that can be done by those particular items is well-known.
Someone moderated this as "insightful"? *sigh* Time to turn "willing to moderate" back on...
Don't know about smoking.. (Score:1)
Now everyone, all at once eewww for poor me when I had to open it to diagnose it.
We ended up throwing it out, but I was always curious what would happen if I took a match to it.
Smoke eats parts (Score:1)
Re:Drum Hard drives? (Score:1)
When you say drum, I think of the spinning cylinder jobbies (think sewer pipe).
That's correct - the original poster was talking about *old* hard drives, which did use drums.
Re:Not sure (Score:1)
I haven't noticed any real difference. Well, the amount of dust in my computers seems to be less than when I was single, but I would attribute that more to better housekeeping and the death of my cat who shed All The Time.
The dustballs in my computers now seem to be a bit smaller, and perhaps a bit less sticky, but overall, no real difference. I still use several parts from the computers I had as a bachelor and all seem to be working fine. Only thing that's inexplicably died is my SoundBlaster Live, which wasn't but 1.5 years old and I attribute more toward shoddy workmanship than anything else.
But also, we're not heavy smokers. I do about a halfpack a day and she even less. However, when I lived on my own, I often had friends over for beer drinking events and the house was FULL of smoke very often.
I guess maybe those that are the most affected are those that really do blow smoke toward their cases?
NOOOO!!! (Score:1)
Not everything that gathers dust is a filter. (Score:1)
"You try my patience, sir!"
"Don't mind if I do. You'll have to try mine sometime."
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Knowledge is power
Power corrupts
Study hard
No danger? Rats! (Score:1)
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Knowledge is power
Power corrupts
Study hard
Hard Drives (Score:1)
I haven't yet seen such a device on any newer drives, so I can't comment on them.
Smoke and cat hair (Score:1)
Re:Historically, yes. (Score:1)
In my first post-high school job, I worked part time at a computer store. We'd sold a system to a doctor, and after a few monthshis secretary called , complaining that it wasn't working. It was a (at the time) brand-new Cromemco Z-80 based system -- top of the line! -- with dual quad density double sided 8" floppy drives. The (rather large) box was perched on a shelf just off to the secretary's side, and it just so happened that the 8" drive openings were right where she blew her smoke.
The doctor was getting upset with the company I worked for, accusing us of selling him defective hardware. On the third service call to replace the floppy drives, I told the doctor how to fix the problem. Battle-axe that she was, though, we were still making service calls on a regular basis when I left company two years later.
Ironic observation. (Score:1)
The irony was that these terminals had come from the UK Department of Health, who amongst other things run anti-smoking capaigns.
Re: Yes (Score:1)
nothing more than caffine and nicotine
as they code down to the bare iron, so
I can attest to the impact of long-term
close range smoke. The first thing to go is
the cute little CPU fan.
This makes sense, since you know that airflow
is highest through this fan.
The bearing can gum up. Bad news.
Re:Drum Hard drives? (Score:1)
Drum Hard drives? (Score:1)
Resitivity of tar deposits? (Score:1)
I was installing a sound card, not fixing a fault, but it did get me wondering - what are the issues in depositing a mildly conductive film on your motherboard?
Matt
What about pot smoke and your computer? (Score:1)
This is a first for me! (Score:1)
I suppose it depends greatly on the location of the computer, and where the smoke is being exhaled. In a still room, its likely that even the fan within the PC will cause a mini-vaccum drawing in larger amounts of air. The real cause of cigarette smell, though, is the placement, and cleansing, of the ash tray. I've lived with a smoker for two years, and unless she just finished, it never smells like smoke. Part of that is because she always vents the room, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that she always keeps her ashtrays clean. You want to avoid a smoke filled room? Clean the ashtrays, that's where a majority of the smell originates.
X-Smoker (Score:1)
in many environments. Keep your computer
in a good environment (duh). I have had
parts die due to dust/dirt/smoke because
the area was not well ventilated. I have
had computers last much longer in well
ventilated areas. I once had a computer
die becuase of cold (some mf who i trusted
to store my computer thought that it would
be ok in the garage, in winter, in upstate
NY). Well, I quit smoking (and sold out).
And now my computers are in a much more
hospitable environment and the parts seem
to last a lot longer.
-CrackElf
Speaking as a smoker (Score:1)
Re:Historically, yes. (Score:2)
Sad but true (Score:2)
In a attepts to remedy this, we put cheesecloth filters over the sites of heavy air intake -- it helps immensly, and I would suggest you try it if you need to. Alternatly, many 'server' cases have washable filters that snap over the air intake ports, but those cases are in the 100+ USD range.
I don't mean to beat up on any smokers, but thats just the way it is. One way to compare is to compare the dust inside a PC in a smoke-filled house with one that isn't -- the one sans smoke will still be covvered with dust, eys, but in this case it will be fine white dust which is, interestingly enough, skin cells. The key here is that it doesn't have the adhesive properties that tar-laden dust does.
Smoking gums up computers (Score:2)
The other huge pblm with this office is I always go there before lunch so I can change my clothes at luch so i don't smell like an ashtray thats been sitting in a bar for 3 days, its just plain nasty, WTF are people thinking smoking in the office.
Fine dust problems. (Score:2)
DISCLAIMER: I haven't directly observed any smoking-related computer problems.
Re:Sad but true (Score:2)
Plycon [plycon.com] sells computer fan filters, although I don't know if they'd help with cigarette smoke. I believe Radioshack has a few in their catalogue too.
A used fabric softner sheet also seems to work well, as the loose weave doesn't hinder air flow too much. It doesn't keep the smaller particles of dust out, but I can attest to its ability to stop cat hair.
Re:Dead CD (Score:2)
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Dead CD (Score:2)
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Not sure (Score:2)
My Mac Classic. Two years in a dorm (only one while I was smoking). Hell, I had a plant on top of it that got overwatered, and even that didn't kill it. Only problem was the notorious power supply that kicked off before I went to college.
My Mac Performa. Had it, used it, smoked near it for four years. Never had a problem with any drives, any peripherals (keyboard, mouse, printer, etc.)
My current (two) pc's: one is about four years old. Only original parts are... Hmm. None. Oldest part is the keyboard. It's about 3.5 years old. The moboard and hda are a little over two years old. Machine two is about 15 months old. On both machines: both floppy drives work. All three cd drives work. Have only had the tape drive for about two months, so any commentary would be even more irrelevant than the rest of this post.
Okay, big whoop. My brother and sister both have three year old machines that are chugging along fine. My brother's modem/sound card went south. Not sure why. Drives good, ditto mouse and keyboard. Sister had to replace the case and power supply when her apartment got flooded. Drives all working still.
The killer: my mother had a Pentium 60. Old machine. Used it from about 1994 until 1999. It's still up and running as an office workstation. One hard drive went bad. Could be smoke. But more likely, some cat hair got sucked in somewhere (there was much more cat hair than anything blocking up the cooling passages) or else the drive hit the 50,000 MTBF wall (or whatever it was on that drive.)
As a note: three of the smokers smoke avg. of 1 pack a day. One smokes 1.5-2 packs per day. All smoke 'light' or 'ultra-light' cigarettes. Sorry I don't have tar/nicotine levels available for perusal.
But perhaps the most important point: all users mentioned use ashtrays and the computers are on the floor!!! (Except in the case of my Mac Classic and Mac Performa 476).
So, while anecdotal, so are all of the other posts so far in this thread. It's probably not a good idea to smoke in front of the computer. But then again, accidentally dumping a cool beverage into one is probably worse.
BTW, I had a roommate who tried to get my computer stoned. Didn't work. (Hey, there's an idea: turn that old Mac Classic into a bong.)
Re:Hard Drives (Score:2)
I can vouch for the same technology used on current (well, 1997-era) drives. The hotter the drive runs, in fact, the more likely it is that such tech is required.
I don't know if the filters are impermeable to the particles in cigarette smoke, though.
That said, I've seen smoke and tar inside PCs. It's not pretty, and the heat buildup on the components must be pretty foul. I've seen flyback transformers on televisions that are positively furry.
...a variation on the Monty Python line... (Score:2)
...which I'm sure you've heard [montypython.net] before...
Nyuk nyuk nyuk...
A different problem (Score:2)
When I opened the keyboard up, it had enough tobacco in it to make a pack.... obviously he'd been making cigs while he sat there working...
Re:Computer Death - Aticdotal Evidence (Score:2)
I ended up opening a window and stacking enough books under the computer so that the exhaust shot out my window ... simply amazing.
Re:Computer Death (Score:2)
Thanks for saving me retyping it.
She later came back and wanted a computer that could withstand being in a smoky environment. I told her that she'd be buying it from some industrial computer supplier and that it'd cost her. A lot.
Not only. (Score:2)
Speaking as a smoker (Score:2)
Historically, yes. (Score:3)
This was particularly true with very old computers. Reel-to-reel tape drives don't work so well, when everything gums up. And don't expect a drum hard drive to do anything but maul your platters if the drive heads are covered in dirt.
As one other poster noted (though in a slightly inflamatory way), it doesn't matter so much as to the source, as to the dirt. Dirt's dirt, and coke will wreck a tape drive as readily as tar.
HOWEVER, not all dirt is equal. Air-borne hazards are much more dangerous to machinary inside of a raised case than a liquid, merely because gasses and smoke tend to spread in all directions, ALL the time, whereas liquids usually stay put.
Ok, having said all that, is smoking hazardous to a =MODERN= computer? The answer is considerably simpler. You probably don't want to breath smoke into an open tape drive or CD-ROM drive, and you should probably check that the fans are operating smoothly, from time to time. Beyond that, there's very few mechanical components exposed enough to the air to really worry about.
Last, but not least, I =CAN= tell you, from my own experience, that nitric acid fumes will dissolve a computer, from the inside, and that if you're working in a chemistry lab, you really do need to check that the room's extraction fans are working correctly.
Amendment (Score:3)
With all the typographic tools used machine-gun style to drive home the point... :)
Hard drive (Score:3)
You can also do a search for "microcontamination and hard drives" to find more.
Computer Death (Score:3)
Note: These may be Urban Legends. But given my experience both in Tech Support, and Repair, I doubt it.
Story One
A friend of mine asked me to take a look at her computer. She said the computer was unusually "quiet" and would reboot itself on occasion. I surmised correctly that the fan on her power supply was faulty. She was a chain smoker and apparently smoked a lot while working on the computer; not only was the power supply fan gummed up with revolting tar and nicotine, but the CPU's cooling fan was clogged beyond use, and the cdrom drive drawer would not open. This is the only computer I have ever worked on that died from smoking.
Story Two
In reply to the above anecdote of stupidity, a reader sent in the following:
I've seen a computer die from smoking, too.
A customer came in with a dead computer, claimed it was under warranty, and asked if we could fix it. We had look at it, and before we even laid eyes on it, we could smell it. Imagine the stench of an overused ashtray times ten.
We looked at the yellow case (it was supposed to be beige) and the date of purchase (3-4 months previous) and goggled in disbelief that she actually had any lungs left.
"What are you doing with this computer?" I asked in total disbelief.
It was at a taxi service. She smoked, the cabbies smoked, and the room was apparently only about eight by twelve. Smoking took place 24/7 in this place, and her fingers and the computer bore witness. We opened the case, and there were visible deposits of brown tar everywhere. The whole thing was gummy and slimy inside.
We had to tell her she was on her own. Naturally, she countered with the "it's under warranty" argument, but the computer was well beyond that. She left quite mad. We insisted she take her computer with her when she left.
Final Note: Computers are not designed to be an airfilter for the entire smoking room. But they'll do, for a while.
Yes (Score:3)
Everything was gummy, and it made my clothes stink so bad I actually changed them in the middle of the day.
It seemed like they lit cigarettes, and just for the fun of it, taped em' on the front of the intake fan or something.
Warning..... (Score:4)
Smoking amongst gamers reduced by almost 50% as the Powers that be released a study claiming that Smoking near computer may reduce FPS!