No, I dont think thats coverd under warranty

[XM10ADefiant]

So I work at an Electronics retail store that also services computers, TVs etc

About a year ago I am working in the Media Dept (CDs, DVD Movies, Video Games and so on) and I get a call from a customer

C: My PS2 wont read games anymore and makes a funny noise.
M: Ok bring it in and well take a look at it.

about an hour later he comes in a plops the system down on the service counter and instantly know that something in not kosher. The system reeks of tobacco.

I plug the system in and boot it up and lo and behold... nothing the system gets power but wont even load the Ps2 OS. First i am thinking software issue and that Sony really cant make a product that is really all that stable, but then something catches my eye the fan is being blocked by something.

I get out my trusty screwdriver and open the casing...

Let me describe what I saw........ Imagine taking 500 cigarettes and taking out the tobacco, wetting the tobacco and smearing it all over a CD drive. Now add alot of heat and normal everyday dust and you get the idea.

This thing had a protective shell of hardend tobacco all over the inside i literaly could not chip it off with a screwdriver. it was probably the most horrid thing i have ever seen.

I put the case back on, turned to the customer and told him my findings and that there was nothing that i could do. he lashed out with the warranty spiel and i told him that that was abuse and not covered. he called my manager out and my manager asked to see the system, it took all his strength to hold back a laugh.

so kids dont smoke, if not for you than for your electronics.

[Acolyte]

I had an HP in today with the same thing-the CPU fan grate was CAKED in tobacco, the case (Originally a bluish-white) was solid yellow and the motherboard was furry with tobacco.
It made me physically sick to be around. Oddly enough, once I gave it one hell of a cleaning, it worked fine.

It's proof that old chain-smokers from Buttf*ck, Nowhere (AKA, Deep Creek, Yukon) should not be allowed computers.

[cpux]

My tobacco-addict brother took my PS2 without asking cause he's a shmuck like that. And he played with it in his little room which has the constant aroma of nicotine and other stuff that ain't quite legal. So when he whined to me that it wasn't working anymore, I couldn't help but open it up.

There was a brown dirt film everywhere inside; certainly not your normal wear & tear. I sure took a can of air to that. Later I started it. The fan sounded like it was choking. The disc reader was making these awful grinding noises. This thing was beyond repair.

I've since gotten a "new" (read: refurbished) PS2, safely behind a padlock when not in use.

I don't think the idiots will ever learn that it's not good to smoke in the general vicinity of electronics. And if for some reason you absolutely have to, CLEAN THE THING REGULARLY! In fact, clean it regularly anyway. A can of air is a computer nerd's best friend.

[Tanasi]

We've received chit/receipt printers in for service from bars and kitchens that were so nasty so infested that it was ultimately cheaper to throw the printer away. We've had to put a printer into a garbage bag with a bug bomb. I've seen monitors that I thought were black on to find out it was a putty colored monitor covered with smoke. I don't know what it is with hotel folks but they really abuse their equipment.
I'm really glad that I rarely have to mess with hardware nowdays.

[BenjiKittiTaoj_]

On a slightly off topic note....our cordless phone started acting up so Benny took it apart and found baby cockroaches!!
There were hundreds of them!
In the base AND the handset.....ew. I was holding tiny baby coachroaches to my ear!!!
The worst was the big white mother coachroach which had obviously never seen the light of day, it had been born in the base and stayed there!!! Breeding!!! eeeep.

We bombed that baby! and bought a new phone.

[RichS]

We do service on machines for a factory that does metal and machine work. The machines on the floor take a lot of punishment with all the metal dust and other chemicals in the air.

Lots of power supply / fan failures, eventually the computers fail, but they refuse to put their machines in protective enclosures - it's cheaper to replace them with the latest Wal-Mart special.