How do I remove mold smell from this beauty?

Posted by zibas@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 29 comments

This lovely Zenith spent decades in a damp basement and smells very strongly of mold. I've wiped the exterior thoroughly, but after weeks of being in a dry place with a fan blowing on it, it still smells very strongly. Does anyone have advice on cleaning the interior? I've dissected many modern PCs, but I'm nervous about operating on this piece of history.

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bigbigdummie@reddit

If you feel up to it, disassemble everything and clean with soap and water (except the speaker/battery, if equipped). Rinse with distilled water. Blow dry. This would be a good time to look for leaky caps. Replace as required.

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odar420@reddit

Hi! Any chance you can snag an image of the two bios chips for me? I have the same PC and mine have failed!!

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bigbigdummie@reddit

You could do that with debug and not even open the case.

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odar420@reddit

Do you know the commands ?

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LordSesshomaru82@reddit

Alcohol for the circuit boards, simple green for everything else works for me. At least it's not covered in 40 years of nicotine tar.

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foxguy2021@reddit

I think OP needs to watch a few videos on cleaning old machines before he even attempts to clean the circuit boards.

Zoom in on the photo and you can clearly see what looks like brown grime if not mold/dirt/tar/nicotine all over the monitor and case despite his thorough wipe down.

Also, the machine might be running but who knows what the state of circuit boards are like. Especially when it comes to the capacitors or battery. A machine can still run if those have gone bad.

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zibas@reddit (OP)

I should have been clearer. That pic is before my exterior cleaning. But yeah, I should watch some videos.

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foxguy2021@reddit

I would look on the back of the case and see if you can find a model number of the machine. Odds are the manual can be found online somewhere. These older cases are usually easy to open but sometimes they would hide a little latch or screw.

If you feel comfortable enough you can open the case (not the monitor) and take some photos of the inside and post them on here. This way you can see if mold is inside and we can see the state of the electronics. This machine is easily from the 1980s so things like capacitors and batteries should be looked at. Sometimes the machine might be working just fine (for a period of time) but in reality a lot of the inside circuity has gone bad. Its basically living on a prayer.

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eaglebtc@reddit

Fully disassemble all the PC innards. Soak the motherboard in a shallow bath of 99% isopropyl alcohol. Mild cleaners for all the plastic case parts.

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AppropriateCap8891@reddit

Wow, that's an amazing find. I can't count how many hours I spent on one of those exact same models.

Please tell me you still have the original keyboard that came with it. Those were really amazing.

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zibas@reddit (OP)

Yep. Keyboard too. It was my first computer. My parents were holding on to it all these years.

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RealityOk9823@reddit

Huh, not sure if I've ever seen a Zenith PC before.

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ravensholt@reddit

Wash it down with a mixture of 12% vinegar (the stuff you use for cleaning, not food) , dishwasher soap and luke-warm water (not the monitor, unless you know how to fully disassemble and re-assemble it).
Put the mixture in a spray, and spray on a fiber cloth , and wipe down the grime. The vinegar will remove the mold (which you cannot see, but you can smell it).

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zibas@reddit (OP)

Are you suggesting that for the interior? I've already got the exterior pretty clean. (The picture is before the exterior cleaning).

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ScottieNiven@reddit

Not sure why your being downvoted but 4% vingear scrub then just dishsoap and water has worked well for me in the past. Even in my old project car it got rid of the mold.

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Dawncracker_555@reddit

The easiest way is to use it in a dry room. It will take a while, but the smell will disappear.

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But-I-Am-a-Robot@reddit

I was just saying this to my wife

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bwyer@reddit

Ozone generator in a bag with it for 15-20 minutes should help significantly. I had the same issue with a Compaq server.

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Yrouel86@reddit

Ozone might damage the plastic

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Baselet@reddit

It will oxidize metals like contacts, connectors and all kinds of things you really don't want oxidized.

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Illustrious-Nail-360@reddit

Ozone can definitely damage plastic if over exposed.

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Strykenine@reddit

This is the way - anything smells bad, hit it with ozone.

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n1ghtbringer@reddit

You're going to need to disassemble this to actually clean it well. Personally I would use either tap water and dishsoap or simple green with a light nylon brush and then just air dry.

The electronics should be dealt with appropriately if the mildew or whatever is inside the case.

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oldmagicstudios@reddit

I would try using desiccant packs, big ones. Inside and out of the machine (not running) cover it up in a bin or box. Leave it for a week

No moisture no mold. Won't hurt anything

After that maybe isopropyl wipes. Not too much.

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JohnnyNintendo@reddit

One thing you can try that i have had success with is getting a large card board box that you can place the device in but have some extra room in it too.

Inside the box put in the devide and grab also place plastic bowls of baking powder and bowls of coffee grounds. You can only do this for like 2 weeks max wirh the box as it will start getting gross smelling too and you'll need to throw it out. If the smell has improved in those two weeks do the process again with a new box.

Ive had a few items I had gotten from a similar situation and this seemed to pull all the smell out of it.

Cheap and worth a shot

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justananontroll@reddit

Be careful with ozone. It oxidizes copper fast.

I used to build ozone generators for General Electric back in the day. All of the electronics needed to be conformally coated or they would fail very quickly if there was a leak.

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