The RCA CTC 120 console I got for free is serving me well. There's just one annoying issue: It sat in a moldy basement for maybe 10 years, and within 5 minutes of it being in my room, the smell of mold became very strong.

I've cleaned both the outside and the inside with bleach, and that's helped. However when the TV runs and gets warm, the smell comes back, though not as strong now.

Finally I just bought an air freshener normally meant for a car. I put a small screw in the ceiling of the TV and tied the air freshener to it, then put the back cover back on it. My idea seems to be working. I just wonder if there's any unforseen dangers? The air freshener won't be falling onto the chassis board. Even if it did, it's just a piece of scented cardboard.

Wait for a good hot day and set it in the sun and remove the chassis too. (wood may have been moist from humidity) If there's a lot of dust inside that could be trapping some of that smell also. Give the insides a good cleaning/blow out and go from there.

Wait for a good hot day and set it in the sun and remove the chassis too. (wood may have been moist from humidity) If there's a lot of dust inside that could be trapping some of that smell also. Give the insides a good cleaning/blow out and go from there.

No way in hell am I hauling that son of a bitch up a flight of stairs just to set it in the sun for a few hours... It was hard enough just getting it down there in the first place.

Seriously, it's too heavy for that option.

No way in hell am I hauling that son of a bitch up a flight of stairs just to set it in the sun for a few hours... It was hard enough just getting it down there in the first place.

Seriously, it's too heavy for that option.

HAHAHA!!!! LOL That made me laugh my ass off LOL

LOL anyway, I figure cleaning it inside and out thoroughly with bleach, and then hanging car air fresheners in it should work. Also, spray it out with lysol. And leave the back off so it can air out.
Those air fresheners are insanely strong. though, I had one of those big ones hanging in my '74 Ford LTD, and it stunk the whole car up like there's no tomorrow. But the lysol, air freshener, scrubbing it out with bleach, and lots of air flow got the ungodly old car smell out of it.

But you could get a heat lamp or a space heater and put it in there if you want to dry it out.

This one's working just fine so far. Strong enough to fight the remaining mnoldy smell, yet not overpowering. Really the only place the smell still exists is on the electronics themselves, and that's burning away over time.

PS: The cabinet is COMPLETELY dry. It was completely dry when I brought it home. The room it's in also has very low humidity right now, so that would only make it dryer.