Smokey mistake?

[dave2010]

I recently bought a Marantz PM7200 amp second hand. The amp seems good. However, the previous owner clearly lived in a house of smokers. Now I've got this back and working the smell is overpowering. It never occurred to me that this would be a problem. I bought it off ebay.

I'm wondering if I'm stuck with this now, or if it will wear off quickly enough.
Maybe if I leave it "cooking" for a few days the problem will go, but I'm not sure. It's unacceptable as it stands, and I might be forced to sell it on.

Are there any smokers out there who'd like one of these amps?

Lastly, does anyone know how this Marantz amp compares with more recent amps from Marantz, or indeed from others up to (say) £400? I bought this because I'd heard it was a very good model from the last decade.

[keiths]

I suspect it will 'freshen up' eventually, but be prepared for a long wait. I've bought LPs off ebay before now with sleeves that have smelt like ashtrays - they do lose that smell eventually, but it takes time.

[dave2010]

Not sure the missus will wait that long!

[Mike]

Wrap it up in a breathable cloth and put it in a box with some charcoal (quite a lot - barbecue stuff works fine) and leave it in a warm dry place for a while...

The cloth is to keep the charcoal out of the amp... it's electrically conductive, so give the amp a going over with a vacuum cleaner when you take it out!

[Mike]

*Disclaimer*

I've never actually tried this technique with electrical items... but it was an excellent way to deodorise my helmet! (*) :D









(*) I'll just leave that one out there for the jokers... it should illicit at least a few gags/unsavoury comments!

[hifi_dave]

A thorough clean inside and out plus a polish of the casework will remove a lot of the stench. After this, remove the lid and leave the amp and lid in the fresh air until it smells better.

Nature is your friend.

[realysm42]

Having once been a smoker and lived with them I know the smell will fade from things, might take a while but it will naturally.

[Mark Grant]

I would also say a good clean.

Remove the cover and clean every part of the case inside and out with a soft cloth and IPA to wipe the smell off the surfaces. Be careful with IPA on labels and logos :)

The PCB and transformer will still smell once warm for a while.

After cleaning and testing leave it in the garage for a week or two plugged in and warm.

The last time I had one like this was a Lexicon MC something or other AV pre amp from ebay, it had to go as I never did get rid of the smell 100% :spew:

[Marco]

I've never actually tried this technique with electrical items... but it was an excellent way to deodorise my helmet!

Ha- I doubt it'd have even looked like penetrating the baked-on cheesy crust on yours! :lol:

Marco.

[realysm42]

You could of course take up smoking, this would keep the tobacco resin smelling sweet rather than stale and of course you'd look pretty cool.

[dave2010]

You could of course take up smoking, this would keep the tobacco resin smelling sweet rather than stale and of course you'd look pretty cool.Something tells me that's not a good idea, nor a solution. :lol:

[AlexM]

Hi-Fi World are always singing the praises of Lemon Cif with bleach as a 'do-it-all' cleaning agent. Just watch out for any screen printing!.

[Yomanze]

You could of course take up smoking, this would keep the tobacco resin smelling sweet rather than stale and of course you'd look pretty cool.

Ha ha brilliant!

[Barry]

Hi-Fi World are always singing the praises of Lemon Cif with bleach as a 'do-it-all' cleaning agent. Just watch out for any screen printing!.

Yikes! That sounds a bit severe. Soap and water is all you need.

The Quad tuner shown here (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7659), having been owned by a heavy smoker, was covered with a patina of tarry grime. It was cleaned with nothing more than (hand) soap and water to produce the result as shown.

[daytona600]

have you tried sticking nicotine patches to it yet

[walpurgis]

Take the lid off and clean out any dust and fluff as that holds the pong! I agree with the soap and water recommendation for the exterior, just use cloth a very lightly damped with a weak solution of water & washing up liquid. A small paint brush will clean any little crevices. A quick wipe over with some furniture spray to finish (don't spray directly on it). Don't forget to clean the lead & plug and let it all dry before use. Done this loads of times with boot sale purchases. It works!

[Ammonite Audio]

Others have pretty muched covered what's possible, but I wonder if a blast of the PCB etc using a spray electrical cleaner might further shorten the de-odourising period?

A few years back I had a Leben CS600 amp that smelled sickeningl 'perfumy', which was probably better than smelling of stale tobacco smoke. The amp had to go because it was not really much good, but the smell was rather difficult to live with and I don't know how long I could have tolerated it.

[dave2010]

I'm still struggling with this one. Currently the amp is on most of the time in a fairly empty room which will be decorated soon, and the stink is reducing, but it's still there. I previously tried cleaning the exterior with washing up liquid and water.

I mentioned this to a colleague at work today. He said to do the following:

1. Disconnect from all power. Maybe leave to discharge any residual charge.

2. Take the lid off, and clean the inside of the lid - similar to outside cleaning.

2b. Possibly vacuum or dust the interior to remove fluff etc.

3. Use a mixture of washing up liquid and water - spray all over the interior!

4. Rinse using a suitable spray of water for as long as needed.

5. Leave to dry for a very long while.

I couldn't believe this, but he says it works. Apparently he used to work for Pioneer, and he and his fellow workers did this on quite a lot of kit. Customers liked it as everything came back really clean and smelling good. Presumably Pioneer didn't say what had actually been done to achieve that.

[walpurgis]

I can't believe interior washing would be beneficial.

There are places where water would linger and cause corrosion and shorting, in between the plates in unsealed laminar transformer cores, inside controls, absorbed into ceramic bodied wirewound resistors, inside plastic capacitor sleeves, etc., etc.

[Reid Malenfant]

If you want to try cleaning the PCB etc, I'd never recommend water :nono:

Get yourself some Isopropyl Alcohol, otherwise known as Isopropanol from a chemist & use that instead. Apart from the fact that it'll evaporate & leave very little if any residue, it'll probably actually dissolve the gunk that is causing the problem & wash it away :)

[Rare Bird]

I had to throw a Ferrograph '60/60' amplifier in the skip a few years ago because it was literally dripping ciggie tar inside..They are extremely rare these days, the last one sold on auction for over a grand :(

[dave2010]

I had to throw a Ferrograph '60/60' amplifier in the skip a few years ago because it was literally dripping ciggie tar inside..They are extremely rare these days, the last one sold on auction for over a grand :(Sorry about your Ferrograph - we had a 307 once - nice amp. I fear my Marantz amp may be going the same way. Just possible someone might buy it, but may be one to write off to experience. Pity!

[Rare Bird]

Yeah i have two '307's a MK.I & Mk.II.. When i bought that '60/60' i thought it was the Kharki finish going by the pictures.. but when i got it there was so much Nicotine on the facia, it was actually a silver finish giving the impression of..I nearly cried when i saw the state of it inside.

[DSJR]

Gawd, when I worked at KJ Watford back in the mid 70's, all the comparator cables behing the display units were covered in a foul smelling greasy deposit - only the best Dunhill King Size I remember, with a sprinkling of finest Rothmans!!!!!

With TV's, which used to get very dusty and grimy inside when used in smokers' housholds, we used to vacuum out the worst of the dust, used a compressed air (from a can) blower to remove as much of the rest as possible and solvent cleaner (from RS) on the rest. The cases/cabinets were treated to floam cleaner followed by spray furniture polish. Amazing how these things could clean up with loads of patience and care.

As for the foul smelling amp, I'd remove as many case panels as possible and carefully clean those, and be very gentle indeed with the internal wiring and components I think. This should sort 80% at least of it out I think.

[Beobloke]

At work we use this stuff for general electromechanical cleaning:

http://cpc.farnell.com/1/1/31177-amberklene-fe10-400ml-130002500-ambersil.html

I haven't tried it yet but am intending to give the manky PCB of an old radiogram I have in the to-do pile a good blasting with it.


I had to throw a Ferrograph '60/60' amplifier in the skip a few years ago because it was literally dripping ciggie tar inside..They are extremely rare these days, the last one sold on auction for over a grand :(

NOOOOO! :doh:

[sq225917]

It will need disassembling if you really want to remove the smell, smoke gets everywhere, including under the bits you can't see.

UV is actually really rather quite good at breaking down smoke smells. if you know anyoen with a UV lamp borrow it.

[freefallrob]

These work really well!

http://images.mysupermarket.co.uk/Products_1000/13/032813.jpg

[king_cosmos]

As a few people have mentioned. Give it a deep clean.
I give my components "good going over" by wiping it down with a microfiber cloth. Then spray the remaining dust with a pressurised gas cleaner (air in a can) with the nozzle of a hoover next to it to suck out the crap. Pointless just moving particles around..

It usually 'smells' quite nice afterwards. :smoking:

[Marco]

Smoking? Filthy habit!! :spew: :spew:

Marco.

[king_cosmos]

Smoking? Filthy habit!! :spew: :spew:

Marco.

I thought it was quite funny? As I don't actually smoke.. ;)

[walpurgis]

Dave, so you worked at the Watford K J Leisuresound in the seventies then.

We must have met, as I used to pop in regularly.

I went for a job interview there back then, damn sure the guy's name was Jim Dovey. Didn't get the job though.