Cleaning Nicotine out of a Panasonic portable SS Color TV
 

Hi all,

A aldy at work e-mailed me the other day asking if I would look at her tv for her, as she knows i work on electronics in my spare time. Also she said was it was Panasonic and about 35 years old.

The problem with the set is when it is tuned to channel 3 or 4, you can hear sound but there is nothing but snow on the screen.

This is a small 13" portable that i can not find a model number on. One of the problems, at least what I think may be a problem is that the owner is a heavy smoker. the thing just reeks of smoke and you can se the nicotine film on the screen.

I think the first order of business would be a good cleaning, but i am not sure of what would be best to remove al the nicotine, and how best to clean the tuner.

There is not a panasonic label with model number anywhere on the set, although the warning info labels all have numbers on them TQF17537/TQF17538 and TQF17539.

Any help would be appriciated,

Matt

I've taken sets completely apart and cleaned the cabinet then sprayed the chassis with heavy duty degreaser, brushed them down and hosed them out with hot water, (remove the speaker and stay away from any power transformers) after they dry out for a week they are usually fine.

Sometimes this is the only way to get rid of Tobacco odors.

I don't recommend this on a set that isn't your own or one that you care about a lot since there is a risk of doing damage.

Solid State stuff is pretty well sealed and everything is plastic mostly so it usually survives just fine as long as it's completely dry before power is applied again.

Sometimes that's all it takes to get a set working again: cleaning the 45-year-old smoke out of the chassis. It's amazing how much it can mess up the connections.

I personally wouldn't do it, because it's a nasty dirty mess, and you'll get that stink in your hair and clothes. If it were a rare antique set, then I'd say take it apart and stick it outside (under a roof) for a few weeks, and then air blast it, then go at it with Windex and 409. I've turned down some nice sets due to tobacco smoke damage. Might as well smell of dead rats, as far as I'm concerned.

Charles

I second Charles opinion for the most part....

I've had to work on some nasty, nicotine filled guitar amps that not only did you not want to touch 'em but you didn't want to have to breathe too close to 'em either!

Bug and Tar remover will easily cut through all that muck, just clean it outdoors!

I agree with Eric on a nasty set to take it out of the cabinet. I suspect this cabinet is plastic: spray with your favorite cleaner, scrub, and hose down. On the chassis, remove the speaker and put tape over any IF coil openings, etc. Then spray with cleaner and gently scrub with a soft brush and rinse off. Blow dry right away with compressed air or use your leaf blower. Blow into concealed areas like controls, tuner, etc. Put in a warm place (furnace room, for example) for a week. Lube all the controls.

:thmbsp: ... I bought a "clean" used 2005 Toyota truck, which belonged to a smoker. It smelled like rug shampoo the day I drove it home, but the tobacco stink came back! I had to go on Craigslist and buy a WHOLE INTERIOR out of a wrecked same-model truck, and replace mine. No joke.

Charles

I'd try cleaning the tuner only. Why clean it up if its going back to the smoker?

How about sets with a roach nest in the standby power supply area? Talk about nasty. All sets get open and inspected now before they come in the house. I would work on it outside and probably ware latex gloves.

Years ago, I brought home a severely beat up RCA console that had a strong roach smell. With the set still in the driveway, I removed the back. Then, every kind of bug known to man ran out of the set. You should have seen my Mother, with a can of RAID in hand, jumping up and down to stomp what she could and spraying the rest. I'm glad I had sense enough not to bring that set n the house.

I can't stand roach infested TV's and if I detect "that smell", I probably won't even bring it home unless it's something very interesting.

And, a friend of mine, who used to fix TV's, said he's found a few dead mice in some TV's.

We had a policy at a TV shop I worked at for a long time... If a set (more typically a VCR) came in with any evidence of roaches, we sealed it in a plastic bag and put it outside and called the customer back to get it, or authorize us to throw it out.

Charles

Imagine what smokers' lungs are like...

My mother would like to have a little talk w/all those who insist on smoking. But she can't. She died from Emphysema in 208, after smoking 3-4 packs a day for 35-40 years...I can't stand the smell of it either.We grow tobacco at the farm, its cut & cured in a barn from roughly Labor Day til Thanksgiving/Christmas, just going in a barn where its curing can cause me to gag...I've had reasonable results cleaning the OUTSIDE w/liberal applications of Simple Green, paper towels & Q-tips... But yeah, then I jump in the shower & get it as hot as I can for a good 20 minutes or so...

You wash yourself in the shower with Simple Green? I thought anything weaker than aircraft paint stripper wouldn't be able to get YOU clean LOL

Ever since the stroke, the docs have told me NOTHING stronger than Toluol or Methyl Ethyl Ketone...