The Effects of Smoking on Your Computer?

cencini asks: "Over the past few years, I've ended up fixing computers for a lot of different people, some of whom are smokers. One thing I've noticed about the smokers' computers (particularly those who smoke near their machine) is that they are absolutely disgusting inside. Is there anything that has linked smoking to computer damage (since we know the other types of damage it does), and has anybody else observed this phenomenon?" I too have looked into the insides of the boxen of heavy smokers, and I must confirm that it is not a pretty site. But aside from the asthetics (the yellowing plastic, the tar imbued dust, and that nasty residue) are there other, more subtle problems that can occur that can be connected to smoke damage?

Comments

Historically, yes.

[jd]

Tape drives, floppy drives - indeed, =ANY= drive that has mechanical components that are subject to dust and other air-borne hazards - can be affected by smoking.

This was particularly true with very old computers. Reel-to-reel tape drives don't work so well, when everything gums up. And don't expect a drum hard drive to do anything but maul your platters if the drive heads are covered in dirt.

As one other poster noted (though in a slightly inflamatory way), it doesn't matter so much as to the source, as to the dirt. Dirt's dirt, and coke will wreck a tape drive as readily as tar.

HOWEVER, not all dirt is equal. Air-borne hazards are much more dangerous to machinary inside of a raised case than a liquid, merely because gasses and smoke tend to spread in all directions, ALL the time, whereas liquids usually stay put.

Ok, having said all that, is smoking hazardous to a =MODERN= computer? The answer is considerably simpler. You probably don't want to breath smoke into an open tape drive or CD-ROM drive, and you should probably check that the fans are operating smoothly, from time to time. Beyond that, there's very few mechanical components exposed enough to the air to really worry about.

Last, but not least, I =CAN= tell you, from my own experience, that nitric acid fumes will dissolve a computer, from the inside, and that if you're working in a chemistry lab, you really do need to check that the room's extraction fans are working correctly.

Amendment

[babbage]

So now along with the Surgeon General's warning, it seems that a Technologist General's warning is also required on every pack of cigarettes:

"These things won't just fuck up your lungs, they'll fuck up your hard drive too. For God's sake man, QUIT SMOKING!"

With all the typographic tools used machine-gun style to drive home the point... :)

Hard drive

[Lish]

I remember one day in our intro computer class, where they showed a slide comparing the size of various airborne contaminants (dust, smoke, hair, etc.) to the distance between the hard drive platter and read head. Since a smoke particle is much bigger than the gap, it could cause a disk crash by striking the head. Here is a link to an article that mentions the phenomenon: HDD Page. It's under "How Drives Work." This assumes, of course, that the particle got through the seal on the hard drive, of course, which is improbable but not unheardof.

You can also do a search for "microcontamination and hard drives" to find more.

Computer Death

[Alien54]

The following two stories were found on the Computer Stupidities Webpage. Look under Hardware Abuse.

Note: These may be Urban Legends. But given my experience both in Tech Support, and Repair, I doubt it.

Story One

A friend of mine asked me to take a look at her computer. She said the computer was unusually "quiet" and would reboot itself on occasion. I surmised correctly that the fan on her power supply was faulty. She was a chain smoker and apparently smoked a lot while working on the computer; not only was the power supply fan gummed up with revolting tar and nicotine, but the CPU's cooling fan was clogged beyond use, and the cdrom drive drawer would not open. This is the only computer I have ever worked on that died from smoking.

Story Two

In reply to the above anecdote of stupidity, a reader sent in the following:

I've seen a computer die from smoking, too.

A customer came in with a dead computer, claimed it was under warranty, and asked if we could fix it. We had look at it, and before we even laid eyes on it, we could smell it. Imagine the stench of an overused ashtray times ten.

We looked at the yellow case (it was supposed to be beige) and the date of purchase (3-4 months previous) and goggled in disbelief that she actually had any lungs left.

"What are you doing with this computer?" I asked in total disbelief.

It was at a taxi service. She smoked, the cabbies smoked, and the room was apparently only about eight by twelve. Smoking took place 24/7 in this place, and her fingers and the computer bore witness. We opened the case, and there were visible deposits of brown tar everywhere. The whole thing was gummy and slimy inside.

We had to tell her she was on her own. Naturally, she countered with the "it's under warranty" argument, but the computer was well beyond that. She left quite mad. We insisted she take her computer with her when she left.

Final Note: Computers are not designed to be an airfilter for the entire smoking room. But they'll do, for a while.

Yes

[Beowulf_Boy]

Severly, I put a modem in for a woman who was a heavy smoker. It was terrible, and her husband actually had enough nerve to ask me to clean it out for them (I wanted to take it out back and use the hose on it!).
Everything was gummy, and it made my clothes stink so bad I actually changed them in the middle of the day.
It seemed like they lit cigarettes, and just for the fun of it, taped em' on the front of the intake fan or something.

Warning.....

[ndfa]

News Flash..

Smoking amongst gamers reduced by almost 50% as the Powers that be released a study claiming that Smoking near computer may reduce FPS!