twk123 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 A few years ago my Grandpa passed away and I inherited a Thorens TD-124 that was in his basement. It had been sitting for years but was in good shape so I cleaned it up and incorporated it into my stereo system. It belonged to a friend of his who also passed and supposedly smoked cigarettes. Anyway, I figured it is probably time to look into taking it apart and getting the internals cleaned and re-oiled to improve performance and longevity since the turntable is over 40 years old. So last night I took the heavy platter off and noticed a bunch of dust and grime on the motor assembly etc. I was not attempting to take everything apart then, just pop the hood and take a look at what I have to work with. Anyway, I grab my shop vac to vacuum out the dust etc and turn it on and start cleaning out the inside of the turntable. Suddenly, my Fiance who was sitting on the couch starts yelling to turn the shop vac off! Apparently, years of smoking had permeated into the dust etc in the turntable and somehow the vaporized tobacco oils got sucked through both shop vac filters and blasted into our couch and my Fiance. It was like it was booby trapped or something. I ended up spending the next couple of hours airing out the room and spraying vinegar on the couch to try to rid the smell. It even smells a bit this morning. Anyway, I guess its all part of the adventure in using and restoring vintage audio gear... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBryan Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 (edited) I know the feeling... I have a Gibson amp from the early 50's that I bought in a thrift shop 20 years ago. I remember it being a bit sticky to the touch but figured it would clean up fine. I took it home, tested it and began playing a few tunes through it. About 15-20 minutes later, I smelled smoke...but not the kind you get from an electrical fire. Rather, it distinctly smelled like stale cigarette smoke - like a bar might smell like on a Sunday morning after a busy night... only worse. I quickly realized that the 'sticky' feel was actually a very thick coating of tar that could only have accumulated over many years (probably in a bar). The tubes were also coated and after sitting around unused for gosh knows how long, they were finally warmed up enough to burn off the tar. I didn't see any smoke rising off the tubes but they were the obvious culprit. I switched off the amp, grabbed some old rags and naphtha and within a couple of hours, the amp went from dark brown (mahogany) to a light tan (leather) and I had cleaned and scraped every nook and crevice, the tubes, chassis, wires, even the speaker cone, surround and basket. The amp definitely looked and smelled better, I'm pretty sure it even sounded better and I had a couple of bags full of rags soaked with the nastiest gunk - dark brown, sticky, smelly... it was enough to make me retch. Even worse, I hadn't used gloves and my hands were sticky and stained brown. I had to wash them several times in naphtha and a few more times with scalding hot water and detergent to get the stain out... and they still had the faint stench of stale smoke for hours after that. Edited January 15, 2015 by JBryan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 A few years ago my Grandpa passed away and I inherited a Thorens TD-124 that was in his basement. It had been sitting for years but was in good shape so I cleaned it up and incorporated it into my stereo system. It belonged to a friend of his who also passed and supposedly smoked cigarettes. Anyway, I figured it is probably time to look into taking it apart and getting the internals cleaned and re-oiled to improve performance and longevity since the turntable is over 40 years old. So last night I took the heavy platter off and noticed a bunch of dust and grime on the motor assembly etc. I was not attempting to take everything apart then, just pop the hood and take a look at what I have to work with. Anyway, I grab my shop vac to vacuum out the dust etc and turn it on and start cleaning out the inside of the turntable. Suddenly, my Fiance who was sitting on the couch starts yelling to turn the shop vac off! Apparently, years of smoking had permeated into the dust etc in the turntable and somehow the vaporized tobacco oils got sucked through both shop vac filters and blasted into our couch and my Fiance. It was like it was booby trapped or something. I ended up spending the next couple of hours airing out the room and spraying vinegar on the couch to try to rid the smell. It even smells a bit this morning. Anyway, I guess its all part of the adventure in using and restoring vintage audio gear... LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Morbius Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I know the feeling... I have a Gibson amp from the early 50's that I bought in a thrift shop 20 years ago. I remember it being a bit sticky to the touch but figured it would clean up fine. I took it home, tested it and began playing a few tunes through it. About 15-20 minutes later, I smelled smoke...but not the kind you get from an electrical fire. Rather, it distinctly smelled like stale cigarette smoke - like a bar might smell like on a Sunday morning after a busy night... only worse. I quickly realized that the 'sticky' feel was actually a very thick coating of tar that could only have accumulated over many years (probably in a bar). The tubes were also coated and after sitting around unused for gosh knows how long, they were finally warmed up enough to burn off the tar. I didn't see any smoke rising off the tubes but they were the obvious culprit. I switched off the amp, grabbed some old rags and naphtha and within a couple of hours, the amp went from dark brown (mahogany) to a light tan (leather) and I had cleaned and scraped every nook and crevice, the tubes, chassis, wires, even the speaker cone, surround and basket. The amp definitely looked and smelled better, I'm pretty sure it even sounded better and I had a couple of bags full of rags soaked with the nastiest gunk - dark brown, sticky, smelly... it was enough to make me retch. Even worse, I hadn't used gloves and my hands were sticky and stained brown. I had to wash them several times in naphtha and a few more times with scalding hot water and detergent to get the stain out... and they still had the faint stench of stale smoke for hours after that. Imagine putting that in your lungs…………..ICKKKKKKKKKKKKK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.