Disgusting computer!

[Redtech1]

I mean really, i understand some people smoke. Some do it inside, around the computers. (an apple doesn't do warrenty work for them muhahahaha) But come on i just had a tower come in, the white on the Sticker is BROWN! the front panel for the dvd-rom was BROWN (white dvd-rom).... There is layer upon layer of tar builted on the machine, i air compressed it out and it had thick CHUNK's coming out and when i removed the front panel there was probably 1lb (or so it seemed) just sitting in there.

I know it isn't the worst i will see, but it is the worst i have seen in about a year. No camera in shop otherwise i would of taken pictures so you could see it. This will be one i can't wait to see gone, i think it may be a possible biohazard

 

[Hercomputers]

I had a while back - white, Dell Inspirion desktop and it was filled with brown 'soot' ....lol....only way I can describe it. It took cans of canned air to spray it and that was the beginning of the cleaning process....good luck-

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

i've always been meaning to take some before and after photos for my website but am so keen to clean then up that i always forget

 

[Charlotte PC]

Are you saying that Apple doesn't honor warranty repairs on smoker's machines? You think they would have a little more respect from someone who is dying!

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Are you saying that Apple doesn't honor warranty repairs on smoker's machines? You think they would have a little more respect from someone who is dying!

I've read about that too. I've seen some nasty ones that were still under warranty and its never stopped me. But of course we own our shop and aren't a corporate Apple store. I just tell the customers that cleaning up their filth is not covered under warranty, so they can pay for a cleaning at a discounted price while its taken apart, or I'll put their machine back together like it is with the only clean part being the one I replaced.

 

[IronPC]

I had a Toshiba laptop come in that was running very hot. After opening the lid everything felt sticky (keys, armrest, pad, etc). I took my eyeglass cleaner wipes and cleaned all of the tar off of everything, and it was thick let me tell you. Then I proceeded to blow out the dust. Nothing came out though. So I then dismantled the laptop and was amazed at how much tar had built up on the heatsink. I had to use a wire brush to get it all off. It looked like the fins on the heatsink were completely incased in brown foam.

 

[Puff]

Imagine what their lungs look like! I've gotten away from canned air and went with a metro vac electric duster. It works great and I love it! Not to mention it saves a ton of money and now it's not a big deal to offer free computer dusting with repairs.

http://www.provantage.com/metropolitan-vacuum-ed-500~7MTRV00C.htm

 

[nj_computer_repair]

Are you saying that Apple doesn't honor warranty repairs on smoker's machines? You think they would have a little more respect from someone who is dying!

Good one!

Knock on wood, I've been lucky the past few weeks and the computers have been relatively clean. I remember one laptop came in a while back and when I opened it up, it smelled like an Indian restaurant. There were cakes of grease inside this thing, almost like they used the lid as a cutting board.

I love Indian food but after this one, I was gagging for a week!

 

[callthatgirl]

The "hot boxers" I call 'em. So filled with smoke and grit you wonder how the person even lived. I smoke too! I don't have such smoke filled machines. I worry for that person usually.

Remember, skin is also a big "grit" inside computers, it's not all smoke.

So if someone is in a tiny room, smoking and living in there for years, think of all the skin they shed there. Eew.

 

[IJAC]

I just had a pretty disgusting one recently.I am glad I took a picture so I could share it with you all.
IJAC

 

[nj_computer_repair]

I just had a pretty disgusting one recently.I am glad I took a picture so I could share it with you all.
IJAC

Nice! I've seen computers like this! These are the ones that you need to use a vacuum on instead of compressed air. I start sneezing like crazy when around this much dust.

 

[Hercomputers]

I just had a pretty disgusting one recently.I am glad I took a picture so I could share it with you all.
IJAC

Now, that is the worst I've ever seen! Please tell me how much you charged the customer to handle this crap, I just gotta know-

 

[Xander]

I think it's a tie.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

I start sneezing like crazy when around this much dust.

it's probably good for your immune system, that's if it doesn't kill you!

 

[stro]

In the last 6 months I have had these gems:

1. Someone brought in a laptop for a dead optical drive that just reeked out the back fan when it ran. I mentioned it to the customer, and he told me a month prior a cat urinated on his laptop and he just turned it upside down and put a fan on it for 24 hours and it ran fine for him.

2. A customer brought in a tower from a chicken farm. Within 5 minutes my office started reeking like chicken poo. Had the take it the back room and open a door to work on it.

3. A woman brought in a laptop for a keyboard replacement. She said she spilled water in it and it worked fine but a few keys didn't. I opened it up and dryed some of the spots that were still damp. But it smelled horribly sour and it didn't look like water. I mentioned to her that something other than water had been spilled in it. She then told me she was surfing the net on one knee, nursing the baby on the other arm, sat the baby up to burp her, and the baby projectile puked and some landed in the keyboard.

 

[IJAC]

Now, that is the worst I've ever seen! Please tell me how much you charged the customer to handle this crap, I just gotta know-

Well it was a good customer of mine (sisters computer) so I just charged for the other work I did.I just do a cleaning as a added benefit guess I should start charging for ones this bad.
IJAC

 

[IJAC]

Housecalls I think that is the same computer lol.Must be twins I guess we all get the dirty ones now and again.
I scraped off the junk hanging in the front then took it out side and vacuumed the rest out.It seemed like it would never end with all the dirt.
IJAC

 

[DanF]

I get these type of systems on a regular basis. They're nasty!! Since I still work from home, I don't even open the case in my room, I just go to my sister's room and open it there (bwaha... she's not living with us anymore, I wouldn't do this to her ). Last time I've got one of these, everything I touch was breaking. Even the CPU fan broke when I tried to remove it

I feel sorry for these people, seriously. Might not be their problem that they smoke, but I still feel sorry. Just imagine their insides

 

[Redtech1]

I just had a pretty disgusting one recently.I am glad I took a picture so I could share it with you all.
IJAC

Nice imagine that though with about 6 years worth of smoking/tar build up, turning the rather "loose" dust into a sticky paste...

 

[arrow_runner]

I don't smoke OR drink coffee, so for me, I don't know which is worse: coffee spilled on a laptop, or a tower that reeks of cigarettes... Probably the tower since it has to be on, blowing the smell into the air.