Smoking apparently voids your Mac warranty | Hacker News Reader

Smoking apparently voids your Mac warranty

consumerist.com

11 pointsanigbrowl18 comments

I don't know about the rest of the article, but chlorine (used in swimming pools), hydrogen peroxide (also used to clean wounds), sucrose (a sugar), talc (as in powder), etc... as hazardous substances. Chlorine is highly toxic in concentrated form. and both sucrose and talc are dangerous in powdered form http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_explosion. See: http://www.osha.gov/as/opa/foia/hot_6.html.

PS: If you want to be frighted ask a fire department what they would do if a pool supply store caught on fire.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=...

Indeed, but the risk varies considerably depending on the quantity. Otherwise visiting the supermarket or drug store would be a life-or-death decision. I'm having a little trouble believing that OSHA compliance in this case would require anything more stringent than wearing a pair of latex gloves (which have the side benefit of rendering those annoying anti-static wristbands unnecessary).

Latex gloves will make the static problem worse, not better. Static builds up on insulating surfaces because the electrons don't have anywhere to go.

You're right. What was I thinking? Sorry.

Am I supposed to be outraged? I think this is an excellent policy by Apple. If you want to smoke and screw up your computer, don't expect Apple pay to fix it. Keeps the rest of our costs down.

Keeps the rest of our costs down

I was wondering why they were so affordable.

No...just an FYI. It struck me that it might lead to cheaper prices for used Macs, also indicative of changing relationships between suppliers and custoemrs...though I'd hazard a guess that mac users as a group are less likely to smoke.

The bottom line is that Apple will do anything in its power to avoid expenses that might impact their bottom line. This policy seems in accordance with others like having the humidity sensors and other "abuse" detectors incorporated into their products.

It's interesting to see this trend in Apple's policies, but I doubt they will have an overall effect in consumer spending. Most people will only find out about these holes in coverage until after they've purchased the machine and I don't think this will impact future purchases (e.g., "Go back to Windows? Never!").

Yet it's hardly what I would call a premium experience and much better coverage can be had elsewhere if you look for it.

Are these people telling me i can't smoke in front of my computer? I do my own maintenance anyway(had to replace some fans a couple times, voided my warranty in the process). Sucks for ordinary people though. Hackers are sensitive to stupid rules, and in this case non-hackers got upset because of them, that means that the rules are extra stupid.

Go right ahead and smoke at your computer - just don't expect other people to fix it

There are many questions to be asked here. What is the impact of smoke to the machine? Is working on a contaminated machine actually dangerous? How many of the machines are taged as contaminated? Is that number high enough to be really dangerous if this rule didn't exist? Should there be a disclaimer explicitly stating that smoking voids the warranty?

With so many unknowns, i can't take this seriously, so i wrote my half-joking comment.

p.s. I am genuinely interested to know the effects of smoking on computers. I know it will kill me eventually, but what about my computer?

Years ago, I bought a video card from a friend of mine who smoked at his computer... it was disgusting. Take all that dust you get in your computer, and throw tar into the mix. IIRC, I ended up wiping the card down with alcohol and the fan was next to useless, even after trying to take it apart and clean it out.

I don't know that smoke has too terrible an effect on exposed circuit boards, but it dramatically reduces the lifespan of any fans in your computer. If you smoke around your computer, it's probably a good idea to take it apart maybe every 6-12 months and check the fans, & generally clean it up.

You hard drive isn't airtight, so it's likely to accelerate failure. On PCBs, it creates a sticky residue and increases dust buildup, increasing the likelihood of a short circuit (somewhat) and a fire (very marginally).

'Smoke-free' equipment is definitely a selling in the market for music studio electronics, since (some) musicians smoke a lot and old dirty gear tends to be noisy and crackly because all the pots, faders, connections and so on may have years' worth of residue built up. ProTip: most people (an cleaning solutions) use isopropyl alcohol, but like all solvents this damages finishes and can affect electrical conductivity. There's stuff called Deoxit which is not too expensive and preferred by a lot of people for high-end electronics maintenance.

The biggest potential impact is reduced airflow from clogged fans and ducting which could lead to overheating. The smoke particles themselves are probably abrasive to the internal components but from my own personal experience it would have to be an incredibly slow process. I've worked on computers that were so full of smoke/ash/dust that you couldn't even see the PCB anymore. Many of these machines were 5+ years old. It's a very slow process at worst. I'd say smoking is no more of a danger to a computer than owning a pet and having your fans clogged up with their hair & dander.

Are these people telling me i can't smoke in front of my computer?

No, they're telling you that they won't fix damage caused by smoking, and they won't force their computer technicians to clean up a disgusting and harmful mess of sticky tar and dust.

"they're telling you that they won't fix damage caused by smoking"

I don't think they're saying that. I think they're saying that they won't force a technician to work on a computer that has nicotine residue buildup, because OSHA has identified nicotine as a biohazard. I don't think they're claiming smoking caused the damage, only that the residue makes it unsafe to work on.

I'd be interested to know if OSHA has actually ruled on physical residue, as opposed to second hand smoke.

As a smoker I can see their point but it makes me wonder why protective gear is not standard procedure? There are lots of nasty things besides smoke that can accumulate on a computer.

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