Cigarette Smoke Harm Solid State Unit ?

I work on electronics for a living and see this all the time. In severe cases, cleaning all of the "gunk" off the circuit board and controls will alter the tuning of the circuitry so drastically that it will no longer function even though it was working fine before cleaning. The tar / nicotene / dust particles have become conductive and are altering the tuning of the circuitry. Once this is removed, a complete realignment is in order to bring it back into normal operation. Keep this in mind if your thinking about grabbing a can of contact cleaner and going to town with a toothbrush. The scary thing is that all of this "sticky gunk" collects in places that are not exposed to high airflow, like the insides of components. Can you imagine what the lungs of these people look like when being directly exposed to inhaling this stuff instead of what has "strayed" off into the air and the surrounding contents (such as the audio gear in question) ???? It boggles the mind sometimes..... Sean

Let me tell you a short story. I have an Uncle who is slightly crazy(been in and out of an institution several times) and he got the great idea of heating his house with candles. We both live in the north east US it tends to get cold here in winter, well the summer before the test he began buying candles by the gross. Half way through the winter he had to replace his computer, his audio reciever and his wireless doorbell among other little electornic devices. He discovered it is cheaper to buy heating oil. Bottom line soot=short elctronic life.

Darn, so much for using the smoke house, out back, for my dedicated listening room.

Well Dekay, you might not have your electronics for long, but at least you wouldn't have to go far for some good "eats" while you're listening : ) Sean
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Yo Fbi, The components that usually require a thorough cleaning are the ones with moving parts...potentiometers, variable capacitors, relays, and switches. To do a complete and thorough job will require complete disassembly of all circuit boards from the chassis. Then the parts can be cleaned spray contact cleaner and lubricated. The circuit board(s) should be cleaned with alcohol and allowed to dry. The cleaned parts should then be checked for spec with a VOM or a capacitance meter. Then before you reassemble the unit, clean the inside of case, the tuning dial/front panel displays with alcohol or windex. With luck you should be able to reassemble the unit and get it working but it might require a realignment of the FM tuner section. Good luck.