Rant: Bought a GPU wasn't told it was smoked around.

lightsout

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 15, 2014
Messages
1,211
I suppose I should have asked? But I didn't even think about it. Bought a used GPU (not a lot of $, it was a 1060) from another site. As soon as it came out of the box it reminded me of a black and mild cigar smell.

It's not overly strong, but I am worried when I put it in my system it will make the whole thing stink.

Should I be upset? I PM'd the guy and just said it would have been cool to know. I probably won't cause a big stink (bad pun).
 
I grew up around cronic smokers (parents were a pack or two a day), they don't usually notice and don't realize they and their things reak.

I empathize, but even if it's not too bad, I'd blow it out and pull the heat sink and clean out the likely hidden dust that also reaks. Leave it out in some good ol' uv radiation for a day or so to neutralize as much of the smell as possible over a day or two...
 
Last edited:
I grew up around cronic smokers (parents were a pack or two a day), they don't usually notice and don't realize they and their things reak.

I emphasize, but even if it's not too bad, I'd blow it out and pull the heat sink and clean out the likely hidden dust that also reaks. Leave it out in some good ol' uv radiation for a day or so to neutralize as much of the smell as possible over a day or two...
Yeah my wife said the same thing. I smoked for 14 years and she hated it, I was never aware of how terrible it was until after I quit. I think I will take the heatsink off and do what I can. You think sunlight will have some affect on it?
 
yeah give it a bath in some type of elec-cleaner., even an isopropyl bath.
 
I am a ex smoker, and yeah you sure can smell a lot more when you lay off the stuff.
But unlike my friend that also stopped smoking i have not become a avid hater of smokers, i detect them and i wouldn't spend all my free time around them, but otherwise i couldn't care less.
A smoker moved in down on 1 floor and i am on 2 floor, and no problem smelling that when i go out my door.
Making me think what we smelled like with all the weed we smoked too, we must have been really stinky back in the day, cuz 1-2 packs of ciggies and 3-4-5 joints a day wasent really a problem in the end.

Most stupid "poo" i ever done in my life, and i am paying now with like 50 % capacity left in the lounges.

Your stinky GFX should gass off over time, but i will not recommend cleaning it in something, at best change the cooler.
 
It is the first thing I ask these days. I purchase a fair amount of vehicles and when I first started I never asked and one day I bought one sight unseen and the smell was insane. I grew up with 5 smokers in my house and I imagine what I must have smelled like at school because of it (never smoked).. I find these days I am way more aware of it than I ever was and any little smell will drive me nuts. I would do as everyone here suggested and clean it.
 
I'm not a smoker and don't like the smell of smoke, but something like this is squarely the responsibility of the buyer IMO. No different than buying a piece of hardware and having it be chock full of dust. I always clean the hardware I'm about to sell, but you can't expect everyone to have the same lifestyle as yourself.
 
I'm not a smoker and don't like the smell of smoke, but something like this is squarely the responsibility of the buyer IMO. No different than buying a piece of hardware and having it be chock full of dust. I always clean the hardware I'm about to sell, but you can't expect everyone to have the same lifestyle as yourself.
Yes this is true, and something I tend to take for granted. The card was nice and clean, no dust at all. So I know it was cleaned before hand.
 
So I popped it in my system and it stinks the room pretty quickly. I've heard of the dishwasher thing but I'm skeptical.
 
The smell is mainly in the fan/heatsink. So I'd probably have to remove the fan from the metal heatsink. What a pain this is becoming.
 
I had a friend buy 8 RX460s from a guy who ran them in an Internet cafe in Japan for bitcoin. They smelled so bad he ended up throwing away the suitcase he brought them home in. He says that he tossed a lot of clothing items too that he couldn’t wash like silk ties because the smell just stuck to them. We tried using an ozone machine we have at work and it did practically nothing. We ended up buying a couple rubber made bins, filling them with Dawn and water, taking apart the cards and letting them sit in the solution put in the sun all day. Even with several gallons of water in each one, the water had a brown tint to it when we were done. The smell was beyond description too. I grew up with family who smoke and whatever they smoke in Japan is just nasty in comparison. Even after all that scrubbing you could still smell it on the fan and plastic shroud if you got your nose close enough.
 
i heard ozone cleans smells, but i have no idea what that means

Ozone gas has an extra oxygen molecule which binds to organic compounds and destroys them. These compounds are what causes the smell. A small ozone gas generator will easily clean out something like a PC part or even a car (you need to leave the car vents on recirculate).
 
Will Blue Shower work for a blender my smoking grandfather gave me? Its a damn nice machine. But god does it fuc**ng stink.

Its the internal motor stuff that smells when you run it.
 
Isopropyl alcohol 91% or higher (find at pharmacy/grocery store) and a crap load of qtips (dollar store to be cheap)would also take care of it no doubt. I've been using that to clean electronics/pc board for decades. Dries quick as well.

Just take it apart carefully and wipe it all down.. paper towel dipped in the alcohol to wipe clean the heatsink (in between the fins) works best.

Just make sure you have some good thermal paste to replace on the GPU die. Careful with any thermal pads.

Dishwasher prob would work as well.. still prob would need to take it apart before hand as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: filip
like this
I bought an Asus convertible tablet a while back that came smelling like it had sat on the bar of a 1980s VFW hall for a year. NOTHING I did to clean it made the smell go a way or hide it, not isopropyl alcohol, various cleaning products, Ozone gas, sacrifices to Cthulhu, ancient Summarian incantations etc. I went so far as taking the whole thing apart and cleaning the inside (best I could without damaging anything). It was so bad, my fingers would smell after using the keyboard. Luckily, I had bought on Ebay and the seller was cool about taking it back. IMO, if you buy a piece of electronics, you should expect it not to come smelling like sh*& (there was no mention of the smell at all in the listing).
 
Will Blue Shower work for a blender my smoking grandfather gave me? Its a damn nice machine. But god does it fuc**ng stink.

Its the internal motor stuff that smells when you run it.

Take it apart and wipe off everything with rubbing alcohol especially the motor windings if you can get to them.

Alternative to Blue Shower is CrC from HD.
 
Isopropyl alcohol 91% or higher (find at pharmacy/grocery store) and a crap load of qtips (dollar store to be cheap)would also take care of it no doubt. I've been using that to clean electronics/pc board for decades. Dries quick as well.

Just take it apart carefully and wipe it all down.. paper towel dipped in the alcohol to wipe clean the heatsink (in between the fins) works best.

Just make sure you have some good thermal paste to replace on the GPU die. Careful with any thermal pads.

Dishwasher prob would work as well.. still prob would need to take it apart before hand as well.
The problem is the cooler, I assume the smell is in these fins. So there's no wiping down happening in there.

Just going to resell.
https://hardforum.com/threads/fs-evga-gtx-1060-6gb-120-shipped.1980975/
IMG_3545.jpg
 
I'm not a smoker and don't like the smell of smoke, but something like this is squarely the responsibility of the buyer IMO. No different than buying a piece of hardware and having it be chock full of dust. I always clean the hardware I'm about to sell, but you can't expect everyone to have the same lifestyle as yourself.

I really appreciate sellers who state 'non-smoking home'. I further appreciate 'non-pet home' and also sometimes 'adult owned'.
 
Anyways I can top that.. I bought a few real old MX440 cards last fall and one had mold growing on the i/o port!!

I tried cleaning it the best I could but managed to find a old i/o port plate in a storage box that would fit it. Hehe.. never got around to testing it. Card was listed as new.

Another card ti4200 had a 3rd party cooler on it so tight it bowed the GPU chip outward! Cause of that the cards picture was all pixels. Loosened the cooler and put a weight on the backside of the card with hope of straightening it out.. maybe so a oven bake to re flow the solder. Anyways, both cheap so said screw it.
 
So I popped it in my system and it stinks the room pretty quickly. I've heard of the dishwasher thing but I'm skeptical.
You actually can put the card in the dishwasher, but I assume he meant to put the cooler in the dishwasher, which should be totally fine. Just make sure it's dry before you reassemble the card.
 
Question: does anyone ask about smoking if not mentioned in ad?
 
I suppose I should have asked? But I didn't even think about it. Bought a used GPU (not a lot of $, it was a 1060) from another site. As soon as it came out of the box it reminded me of a black and mild cigar smell.

It's not overly strong, but I am worried when I put it in my system it will make the whole thing stink.

Should I be upset? I PM'd the guy and just said it would have been cool to know. I probably won't cause a big stink (bad pun).

Put the card around a can of coffee for a week or so, the coffee will pull the smell out of it or run it through the dishwasher if you're feeling brave, just remember to take the thermal compound off first.
 
Blue Shower

I use it on vintage Audio Gear.

This. I bought a GTX1070 Founders Edition that smelt of smoke when I went to Japan last year from a used shop. (Got it for around 160 USD because of this)

Took it all apart, hot soapy water and then blue shower to the entire cooler and all the components, then hosed the board down multiple times in Blue Shower and used an ESD-safe brush.

Smells and looks new now.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Put the card around a can of coffee for a week or so, the coffee will pull the smell out of it or run it through the dishwasher if you're feeling brave, just remember to take the thermal compound off first.


Just toss the coffee afterwards:LOL:
 
I'm not a smoker, but I am not sensitive to the odor, either. In fact, I like the smell of good tobacco. I would never think to ask if a product I was buying came from a smoker. Unless it were a car or fabric/upholstery.

If it bothers you that much, you'll always smell something no matter how much you clean it. Heck, even in an environmental suit, the sight of that card would probably trigger an odor. Ship it back and be happy.
 
Back
Top