Related topic: Is there any way to save a laptop with horrible plastic off gassing smell? I can't even be around it (Pentium 2 ThinkPad) for 10 mins without feeling nauseous
All the volatiles from the plastic will have long evaporated on something that old; as the other comment suggests, it's likely to be capacitor electrolyte (a distinctive "fishy" smell) or something else. Disassemble it and find where the smell is coming from.
Also, if someone tried to "touch up" the paint/coating, it could be that.
I recently bought a rare model variant that someone tried to make look better, maybe with a black marker/paint that was a solvent for the original paint/coating. It was pretty much ruined for office use, unless you transplanted it to a different shell, or you sandblasted off the sticky mess.
Also, the most common Unfortunate eBay Trick in the last few years seems to be to spray out the insides of electronics with Febreeze and related products. (Source: majority of a dozen used ThinkPads in the last few years, as well as a 3090, and a high-end PSU.) One of the recent ThinkPads, I think they might've used insecticide spray or bug repellent instead.
(ProTip: Never tell an eBay seller, "Don't worry, I already left positive feedback, but can you please just tell me what spray product that odor is from, so that I can use the right method to clean it out?" You will never hear back from that seller, like they have no incentive once positive feedback is left, or they are exercising their right to remain silent on the advice of their attorney.)
It's one of the eBay/Poshmark "tips" spreading on social media to spray the items you're selling with Febreeze, so they smell "nice" and "clean". I particularly love buying shirts that are sprayed with it, because I definitely want to have that against my skin.
Whenever I enter a thrift store, the first thing to notice is the strong whiff of disinfectant/air freshener that pervades the space and overpowers other scents. Then I become accustomed/noseblind to it. I proceed to the clothing racks, and the staff will see me standing there with a shirt or suit, and holding it against my face, taking several strong whiffs and contemplating what I just perceived.
The usual culprit is that someone (faux-) rich has used cheap cologne on their singular golfing junket of the year, and I guess they sprayed it on their clothes after dressing, rather than their skin where it would count.
So if a garment can pass the smell-test in the thrift store, I have a better chance that I can tolerate it in my closet, or wearing it on my person. Not a guarantee, but a better chance!
Don't think I'm not screaming this question to the heavens, between sobs, for approx. every other received eBay package of used electronics.
I suspect it's a more common household item the seller happens to have on hand, and/or they're trying to mask/neutralize an odor (marijuana, tobacco, pets, garage/basement odors, etc.).
For professional resellers not operating out of their home, they might still be trying to get rid of odors in items they source, and maybe it's a lot worse since Covid WFH. (Also, I've heard of e-cyclers needing to use precautions for roaches and bed bugs.)
Because the Thinkpad (or similar) was used in an office where people smoked indoors. I find this common with parts imported from Indonesia, India, and other countries with high rates of smoking.
That's true of any solvents initially trapped in the plastic, but different plastics go through different degradation processes, many of which create fresh volatiles. Celluloid and [cellulose] acetate are especially notorious because their degradation processes are autocatalytic and produce fairly aggressive volatiles that catalyze not only further degradation of the plastic but also of things like paper and lungs. I don't think you'd identify that as a "plastic smell" though.
Separately, plasticizers incorporated in many plastics ("new car smell") often continue evaporating at smellable levels for decades.
Yes, I came here to say something similar but anecdotal. I've seen multiple old electronics items where the plastic parts become sticky and give off smells that remind me a bit of vinegar, vinyl, and horrible pesticides.
I've sometimes wondered if it is just the chemicals breaking down as you describe, or even something like fungal metabolites.
If it's hard (possibly transparent) plastic and smells like stale puke, that'll be acetate based plastic and there's nothing that can be done. If it's a tacky "grip texture" which has turned into a combo of contact adhesive and staining goop, it's likely to be urethane hydrolysis.
Bad news about the former is it's an autocatalyzing reaction, once it gets going there's no stopping it. The good news about the later is it's relatively easy to scrub off using >95% IPA and a kitchen sponge.
ThinkPads of that era used some kind of rubbery coating material, that over the time absorbed something from the environment that caused it to became this weird goo. I would not be that surprised that this weird icky goo also emits some kind of vapors that some people find repulsive. I would recommend just washing that off with 1:1 mix of acetone and isopropyl alcohol (but well, if you find the smell coming from the goo repulsive, get an FFP3 mask when you do that, as the vapors coming from that mixture are in completely different ball park)
It's hydrolyzed urethane, but I wouldn't recommend including any acetone to remove it, as you'll start to melt the laptop's ABS shell. 99% IPA, a scrubbing sponge and a bit of elbow grease should do just fine.
Not that it helps you but the vomit smell is the butyric acid coming from the smooth, soft-touch plastic coating. I’ve seen the same problem with Kindle bodies and power tool handles.
I cut my teeth on a MIPS Magnum pizzabox (kind of like an SGI Indy without the cool bits) in the 80's, 'upgraded' to an Indy as soon as I could, and would've killed for an SGI laptop. So sad they didn't make one.
(2022)
Some discussion then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32969413
Related topic: Is there any way to save a laptop with horrible plastic off gassing smell? I can't even be around it (Pentium 2 ThinkPad) for 10 mins without feeling nauseous
All the volatiles from the plastic will have long evaporated on something that old; as the other comment suggests, it's likely to be capacitor electrolyte (a distinctive "fishy" smell) or something else. Disassemble it and find where the smell is coming from.
Also, if someone tried to "touch up" the paint/coating, it could be that.
I recently bought a rare model variant that someone tried to make look better, maybe with a black marker/paint that was a solvent for the original paint/coating. It was pretty much ruined for office use, unless you transplanted it to a different shell, or you sandblasted off the sticky mess.
Also, the most common Unfortunate eBay Trick in the last few years seems to be to spray out the insides of electronics with Febreeze and related products. (Source: majority of a dozen used ThinkPads in the last few years, as well as a 3090, and a high-end PSU.) One of the recent ThinkPads, I think they might've used insecticide spray or bug repellent instead.
(ProTip: Never tell an eBay seller, "Don't worry, I already left positive feedback, but can you please just tell me what spray product that odor is from, so that I can use the right method to clean it out?" You will never hear back from that seller, like they have no incentive once positive feedback is left, or they are exercising their right to remain silent on the advice of their attorney.)
why would anyone use febreeze over regular canned air?
It's one of the eBay/Poshmark "tips" spreading on social media to spray the items you're selling with Febreeze, so they smell "nice" and "clean". I particularly love buying shirts that are sprayed with it, because I definitely want to have that against my skin.
Whenever I enter a thrift store, the first thing to notice is the strong whiff of disinfectant/air freshener that pervades the space and overpowers other scents. Then I become accustomed/noseblind to it. I proceed to the clothing racks, and the staff will see me standing there with a shirt or suit, and holding it against my face, taking several strong whiffs and contemplating what I just perceived.
The usual culprit is that someone (faux-) rich has used cheap cologne on their singular golfing junket of the year, and I guess they sprayed it on their clothes after dressing, rather than their skin where it would count.
So if a garment can pass the smell-test in the thrift store, I have a better chance that I can tolerate it in my closet, or wearing it on my person. Not a guarantee, but a better chance!
Don't think I'm not screaming this question to the heavens, between sobs, for approx. every other received eBay package of used electronics.
I suspect it's a more common household item the seller happens to have on hand, and/or they're trying to mask/neutralize an odor (marijuana, tobacco, pets, garage/basement odors, etc.).
For professional resellers not operating out of their home, they might still be trying to get rid of odors in items they source, and maybe it's a lot worse since Covid WFH. (Also, I've heard of e-cyclers needing to use precautions for roaches and bed bugs.)
Because the Thinkpad (or similar) was used in an office where people smoked indoors. I find this common with parts imported from Indonesia, India, and other countries with high rates of smoking.
you must be new to People.
don't worry, the shock wears off eventually.
That's true of any solvents initially trapped in the plastic, but different plastics go through different degradation processes, many of which create fresh volatiles. Celluloid and [cellulose] acetate are especially notorious because their degradation processes are autocatalytic and produce fairly aggressive volatiles that catalyze not only further degradation of the plastic but also of things like paper and lungs. I don't think you'd identify that as a "plastic smell" though.
Separately, plasticizers incorporated in many plastics ("new car smell") often continue evaporating at smellable levels for decades.
Yes, I came here to say something similar but anecdotal. I've seen multiple old electronics items where the plastic parts become sticky and give off smells that remind me a bit of vinegar, vinyl, and horrible pesticides.
I've sometimes wondered if it is just the chemicals breaking down as you describe, or even something like fungal metabolites.
If it's hard (possibly transparent) plastic and smells like stale puke, that'll be acetate based plastic and there's nothing that can be done. If it's a tacky "grip texture" which has turned into a combo of contact adhesive and staining goop, it's likely to be urethane hydrolysis.
Bad news about the former is it's an autocatalyzing reaction, once it gets going there's no stopping it. The good news about the later is it's relatively easy to scrub off using >95% IPA and a kitchen sponge.
Puke is polybutyrate. Acetate is vinegar.
ThinkPads of that era used some kind of rubbery coating material, that over the time absorbed something from the environment that caused it to became this weird goo. I would not be that surprised that this weird icky goo also emits some kind of vapors that some people find repulsive. I would recommend just washing that off with 1:1 mix of acetone and isopropyl alcohol (but well, if you find the smell coming from the goo repulsive, get an FFP3 mask when you do that, as the vapors coming from that mixture are in completely different ball park)
It's hydrolyzed urethane, but I wouldn't recommend including any acetone to remove it, as you'll start to melt the laptop's ABS shell. 99% IPA, a scrubbing sponge and a bit of elbow grease should do just fine.
Some of them have a weird smell from the adhesive that held some things together. I'm thinking of G4 PowerBooks for one.
The keyboards from all those G3/G4 era PowerBooks have some kind of glue that’s broken down and now smells terrible
might be leaky capacitors or batteries, in which case you'll have to clean the goop off and replace them
Not that it helps you but the vomit smell is the butyric acid coming from the smooth, soft-touch plastic coating. I’ve seen the same problem with Kindle bodies and power tool handles.
When you say "save a laptop," do you mean extract the data or revive the hardware?
If the latter, is it worth saving?
I cut my teeth on a MIPS Magnum pizzabox (kind of like an SGI Indy without the cool bits) in the 80's, 'upgraded' to an Indy as soon as I could, and would've killed for an SGI laptop. So sad they didn't make one.
Somehow the comparison with Journada reminded me of Moto Lapdock - designed as a mix of laptop and mobile world and utterly bad at everything.
[0] https://www.slashgear.com/motorola-lapdock-100-review-311918...
I miss those days of questionable innovation in the Smartphone space.
6-10 platforms vying for dominance/relevance, all of which were fighting to define something new.
we're gilding a (tired) duopolistic lily with 48MP cameras and "AI".