Vaping inside & Damaging PCs/Electronics

[shangula]

Hi all. Started vaping full time at the beginning in 2015, in summer 2016 I bought a Full sized gaming tower, by summer 2017 the motherboard had died and I replaced it myself but just in January it died again, I finally clued on (so I think) that vape moisture in the air and dust had made a brown residue inside the case and fried the motherboard.

As I was tired of sinking money into that PC I bought a new ASUS weeks ago. It's a regular PC with some power. I figure the gaming rig had much more air intake (and had lots of holes in the side where the fan was) and the gaming PC was on a wooden plank next to the PC on the ground .. and I also was blowing my clouds to the left. So being close to the carpet, and sucking in tons of vape form that direction, this all added to the vape residue getting in the case.


This time the ASUS (new desktop) is on the desk to right, of me (I blow to the left), I've attached a dust filter to the side intake of the case, and I'm trying to run my mini HoneyWell air purifier a lot more, and periodically de-hazing my condo with the oven fan and bathroom fan. For a few days this week I tried only blowing vape outside my balcony sliding door but I found it to be hassle and didn't really work with my online video chatting, etc.

DId I take the extra precautions this time? Tired of it happening, also, I plan on cleaning out inside the PC tower every 2-3 months. Any tips/recommendations/products worth looking at?

 

[retired1]

Vape residue? Doubtful. Dust, definitely. One should be doing preventive maintenance on PCs at a minimum of once per month.

 

[ScottP]

I work from home and my home office "work area" consists of 2 laptops, 2 desktops, a server, 3 monitors, a color laser printer, various pieces of network hardware, and a 32" TV. I have vaped right next to all of it, all day every day, for 5 years and not one single piece of equipment has broken down, needed repair, or replacement.

If I were a betting man, I would say that your power is not "clean". I do run all of my equipment on a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) that also acts as a line conditioner to remove any spikes or drop outs.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go find some wood to knock on.

 

[untar]

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go find some wood to knock on.

Don't panic, I got you

 

[Eskie]

I've got a big tower with lots of fans, liquid cooling, and vape near it for hours at a time and my only problems have been dust bunnies, dog hair, and one time a cobweb. Not one of those affected hardware or performance, just grossed me out.

I really don't think your vaping had anything to do with it.

 

[CMD-Ky]

All of the above answers are pleasantly surprising to me. Thanks for the information.

 

[CMD-Ky]

I, too, use a UPS on my electronics. I wish I could get one for the whole house.

 

[untar]

There's several reasons a MB can die. To name a few I've encountered:
-Don't buy cheap power supplies. If you're buying a whole package check the one provided and either ask if they can upgrade it or throw it out and buy a good one.
-I don't know how much of a wannabe selfmade machinist you are but grinding/cutting/milling metals on a regular basis in or near the room your computers are in will let the smoke out pretty quickly.

 

[stols001]

Been vaping "at" my computer since I started vaping. It's fine, other than the need for periodic cleanings.

That would be the key "periodic cleanings". I have an air purifier now and I like it a lot, although I am having trouble now that I'm not seeing visible "fog" I don't know how much I am vaping! Feeling a bit queasy just at the moment, might be time for a vape "break". I think you may have been unlucky, or just need a bit more periodic maintenance. I mean, sure, being aware of where you vape is a good idea, but if you are vaping inside anywhere near your computer, cleaning it every now and then might be helpful. I don't take mine apart, but I have the feeling the husband might be inspecting its guts every now and then. I am not the "administrator" on my own computer, which is fine with me, I don't need the hassle. Oh, I have some "privileges" but since our entire set of computers are networked together (sometimes I think the husband would like to "network together" some of our cactuses) he doesn't want me "accidentally" changing stuff, can't say I blame him, exactly. LOL.

Anna

 

[Eskie]

Only vape related computer issue I have is cleaning the screen of my monitor once in a while as I usually exhale right onto it. Oh, and it's never failed working either.

 

[ScottP]

I am telling you I'd bet my last dollar it is a "dirty"/unstable power problem. Nothing (except water) can kill a computer faster than "dirty" power. Many years ago, when I was just using a surge protector I had equipment failures all the time, power supplies, motherboards, monitors, network equipment, even processors, you name it. At least 1 failure per year of something if not more than one. As soon as I started using UPS on all my computer equipment the average time between failures jumped dramatically.

Actually you don't necessarily have to have a UPS, but you need more than a surge protector. A surge protector only helps with spikes in power but does nothing for voltage drops. What you really need is something that sates that it has "Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR)". That will boost voltage when it drops or act as a surge protector when it peaks. Using an actual UPS gives you time to power things down properly in case of a full power outage.

Something like this https://www.amazon.com/APC-Compact-...e=UTF8&qid=1519659263&sr=8-4&keywords=apc+ups There are different sizes available.

 

[Rossum]

I, too, use a UPS on my electronics. I wish I could get one for the whole house.

You mean something like this?

It doesn't really run the whole house, but selected circuits.

 

[CMD-Ky]

I consider this preping, is you nicotine freezer on one of those selected circuits?

You mean something like this?

It doesn't really run the whole house, but selected circuits.

 

[Letitia]

Am I odd in that my mind never jumps to vaping as a cause for something I'm having issues with?

 

[Rossum]

I consider this preping, is you nicotine freezer on one of those selected circuits?

I built that setup ~20 years ago (long before I had a nic freezer) after an ice storm not that far north of us left some people without power for 3 weeks and the extreme cold weather during that time caused many people extensive damage due to frozen pipes. A couple of years earlier, I had converted the house to natural gas heat from oil, but of course the boiler controls and circ pumps don't work without electricity.

I'm currently on my third set of batteries and have had to replace the charger/inverter once as well.

 

[shangula]

Both times the motherboard died the MB itself and other pieces of hardware were drizzles in a brown oily residue, the only explanation I have is the mositure of vape in the air and dust combined and got in the tower. Also, as most vapers who vape inside know your glass sliding doors/windows will get that coating from VG (or is it PG that does it)? The glass or plexiglass pane on the PC tower case also got that coating. I figured the massive air intake of the PC also contributed to more moisture being sucked in. On a gross note, underneath the tower on the wooden plank the tower was resting on there was massive glob of thick tarry residue ( I don't smoke inside either....) the PSU fan was sucking up moisture/dusut/whatever and made a very disgusting glob/splotch of reside on the plank/bottom of case..

 

[ScottP]

Both times the motherboard died the MB itself and other pieces of hardware were drizzles in a brown oily residue, the only explanation I have is the mositure of vape in the air and dust combined and got in the tower. Also, as most vapers who vape inside know your glass sliding doors/windows will get that coating from VG (or is it PG that does it)? The glass or plexiglass pane on the PC tower case also got that coating. I figured the massive air intake of the PC also contributed to more moisture being sucked in. On a gross note, underneath the tower on the wooden plank the tower was resting on there was massive glob of thick tarry residue ( I don't smoke inside either....) the PSU fan was sucking up moisture/dusut/whatever and made a very disgusting glob/splotch of reside on the plank/bottom of case..

In 5 years of vaping I have never seen that sort of build up anywhere from vaping. If that is indeed the cause you must be chucking some SERIOUS clouds. Maybe I am just blowing small enough clouds that it isn't an issue. /shrug

 

[shangula]

I go through 30 ML every 24 hours, not all that time was spent at home, but you get the idea.

 

[LyLyV]

Hi all. Started vaping full time at the beginning in 2015, in summer 2016 I bought a Full sized gaming tower, by summer 2017 the motherboard had died and I replaced it myself but just in January it died again, I finally clued on (so I think) that vape moisture in the air and dust had made a brown residue inside the case and fried the motherboard.

As I was tired of sinking money into that PC I bought a new ASUS weeks ago. It's a regular PC with some power. I figure the gaming rig had much more air intake (and had lots of holes in the side where the fan was) and the gaming PC was on a wooden plank next to the PC on the ground .. and I also was blowing my clouds to the left. So being close to the carpet, and sucking in tons of vape form that direction, this all added to the vape residue getting in the case.


This time the ASUS (new desktop) is on the desk to right, of me (I blow to the left), I've attached a dust filter to the side intake of the case, and I'm trying to run my mini HoneyWell air purifier a lot more, and periodically de-hazing my condo with the oven fan and bathroom fan. For a few days this week I tried only blowing vape outside my balcony sliding door but I found it to be hassle and didn't really work with my online video chatting, etc.

DId I take the extra precautions this time? Tired of it happening, also, I plan on cleaning out inside the PC tower every 2-3 months. Any tips/recommendations/products worth looking at?

YES. It's a thing. I'm A+ certified (not that that means anything), but my professor - who happens to be the IT director of a school district with thousands of computers - brought up people that smoke OR vape - and how it affects computers. Heck, if you have pets, you should be blowing out the dirt/dust/fir anyway every couple of months. I know I need to. I have a GSD that sheds like crazy.

I didn't want to believe him about the vaping, but yes - it's a thing.

 

[ScottP]

Yeah smoking for sure is. I have worked on computers of people that smoked around them and have seen first hand the gunk that those cause. I am in mine semi-frequently and only ever see a few little, lite, fluffy, dry, dust bunnies. I have never seen liquid tar globs. Then again I only use about 10ml/day vs 30.