cigarette smoke and ventilation systems

I was just wondering if anybody could tell me if cigarette smoke is bad for a computer's ventilations system

A friend of mine had to clean out the ventilation system of a computer in his dad's office because it was caked with dust, which he believes is the soot from his dad's cigarette smoke (it's a home office).

Just wondering if i could get a confirmation on this/

My roommates smoke and i always shut the door to my room just to be safe.

 

Second hand cigarette smoke is probbly a lot worse for you than your laptop.

 

Hi londez,

The main stuff in the cigarette smoke is tar (along with 4000 other chemicals). Smoke is actually a homogeneous colloid of particles dissolved in air. (yes it is a chemical solution) Some of them are statically charged - meaning charged with either + or - charge, or polar - charged with both, but on separate ends (water molecule is polar for example). Electronic devices produce electric fields that can statically attract charged particles (dust, smoke) and therefore you have that layer of greasy-dirty substance on vents, and other parts of a computer (TV, stereo etc...). Yes cigarette smoke can make things dirty and sticky inside the comp, so even more dust is collecting.

I hope my english was good enough for this answer.

Cheers,

 

Nonetheless, cigarette smoke does cause a build-up of soot and will probably be a problem if left unattended long-term. I know that my friend's dad quit smoking, and they cleaned the ceilings in their house and were surprised at the shades of white that they got back from it. Since the computer probably sucks in the smoky air, it will likely cake the inside of the machine after a while.
A can of compressed air twice a year will probably do you well enough to prevent any issues.

Jay

 

Yes but cigarette residue buildup is sticky you just cant blow it off a surface you actually have to wash it off.

 

Cigarettes are horrible for any computer. I used to manage a computer store and we always used to get smokers systems in and they would complain of overheating issues. When you open a smokers computer it is nasty, all yellow and full of dust and goo. Usually had ot clean everything with water or Isoprpyl Alcohol. The goo (tar buildup) causes the dust to stick better and hence causes a large buildup of gunk.

 

Smoking in general is bad for health, computers, and anything worth anything.

 

So remmember .. "DO NOT SMOKE!!".

 

Thanks alot guys.

Glad I quit smoking (cigarettes)

 

I smoke as well, and yes it's true that if your computer(s) are in a smokey environment they will be effected by the smoke, but this is only if it is constantly smokey, like those old PC Cafes that allowed smoking before all the bylaws about smoking indoors.

If you smoke by your computer(s) you should be fine as long as you leave a window open and don't blow smoke directly into your vents, like I do sometimes on my desktop to check for air flow.

ikovac, your english is impeccable.

 

Thanks Mike!

Cheers,

Ivan

 

Agreed, in every way apparently

 

Cigarette smokes u, and ur computer (period)

 

I can't help it, cigarettes have control over me, I am weak.

I can't stop~!!!!!

 

lol .. you forgot to add: "In Soviet Russia .... "

 

wow, i didnt even know it could affect ventilation

 

LOL!

Smoking is bad for your ventilation system, so I'd imagine it's bad for the PC's as well. Just another reason to keep all the smoking outside, if it has to occur at all

 

Nah, it's okay, me and my desktop have been smoking for over 8 years.

 

After I quit casual smoking a few years ago I was quite into anti smoking. then I moved to france. Now I enjoy a cig about once amonth (passively smoke 2 packs a day)....had one last nite infact, god it was good.
At the end of the day, somethings gotta kill ya, whats important is having a good time while your here, so kick back and enjoy that smoke shampoo....at least your hair is nice and clean.
a

 

Watch out... smoking certainly will affect your computer's ventilation... and DEFINITELY your health - second hand or otherwise. See all that soot building up on the walls or on other surfaces? If you can see it, you can clean it... unfortunately, it's rather difficult for your built-in janitors (macrophages) to get rid of the same carbon/poison build up inside your lung. It's pretty eye-opening to see just how badly damaged a lung can get from smoke...

In the long run, people who don't smoke are going to be the ones saying '****, was it a good thing I didn't smoke' when they're still healthy 10+ years after the smokers passed away from heart disease / atherosclerosis and lung cancer... and they won't need a smoke to feel good about it either.

Luckily, a laptop doesn't have to worry as much since its lifespan isn't supposed to be more than a few years ; but still, even within that time we can show that is more likely to fail given that it is exposed to lots of smoke.