Smoking ? - Quick Question

[KD4EUH]

The commercial spray "TUFF STUFF" worked well on some of the trade ins that we got at the old Memphis Amateur Electronics.  Just spray and brush with a short bristled paint brush.
John
KD4EUH

[KU4UV]

I used to work at a radio station where there were several people who smoked in the master control room.  The computer that ran the commercial spots for the station had a hard drive go bad.  When the computer was opened up, it wasn't a pretty sight from all the cigarette smoke that had accumulated in it over the years.  Plus, if you have asthma or are allergic to tobacco smoke, you probably won't want to buy a radio from a smoker. 

73,
KU4UV

[K9MHZ]

It isn't only cosmetic.  It can be technical too.  How do you clean a multi ganged, multi position selector switch that most of the older rigs used to have?  It isn't easy, short of total replacement.  And it doesn't stop there, either.

Absolutely true.  Dust will combine with the cigarette tar to form a composite on components that's impossible to fix.  There's more to ham radio than inheriting and correcting the problems from someone else's disgusting habit.

[KD8MJR]

When you get a rig from a smoker it smells worst than you ever thought it would be, the fan comes on and it smells like someone just lit up a stogie!  A simple cleaning does nothing; it takes a proper cleaning with diluted Alcohol, soap and a damp cloth. That said it took me about 3 hours and the rig passed the nose test and everything was fine. I would buy a rig from a smoker again but the price has to be reduced below a non smoker owned rig by at least 10-15%.

[K1CJS]

...A simple cleaning does nothing; it takes a proper cleaning with diluted Alcohol, soap and a damp cloth....

You were probably lucky in that you got a rig that wans't too badly 'saturated' with smoke and pollutants.  As I said before, sometimes you can get a rig where the only possible way to clean it is to disassemble it--and even then the contaminents have worked their way into the innards of the thing so thouroughly that you're never going to get it back to near good condition.  I worked on a rig that belonged to a chain smoker once.  I had to return it to him, telling him it was near impossible to fix--the combination of the failure and his habit had caused damage to it too severe to even try to fix.