OM,
In a former life, I was a radio fixer for a large police department.
Smoke DOES mess up relays and anything that is not sealed.
It took us YEARS to convince the powers that be to ban smoking in
the dispatch center. It took complaints from some of the non-smoking
dispatchers and a plastic-cased relay with a coating of "disgusting
yellow-brown goo" (the boss' words, not mine) to get the place declared
"non-smoking." (I supplied the relay which was in a console but not
used in our configuration.)
Smoke gets into nearly EVERYTHING. Pots, relays, jacks, some switches,
meter movements, panel surfaces and microphones. I've spent hours
spraying relays that were intermittant from a coating of smoker
residue. These were small signal relays with gold (non-corroding)
contacts. The smoke acted as a sometimes insulator.
I'd not purchase a radio from a smoker.
73
Tim Colbert K3HX
-- Randy Russe3ll <lord_russell53@yahoo.com> wrote:
Plus the majority of smokers nowdays have to go
outside to smoke anyway. Which means we need a
service to coat our rigs with that fine patina of
smoke varnish that preserves the rigs. I dispute the
assertion that it affects relays. If you need to
clean your relay contacts, it's most likely because
they were exposed to corrosion. IMHO, results may
vary. 73s Like I say, I personally don't want one
around cats.
--- Ken Brown <ken.d.brown@verizon.net> wrote:
> The priority of reasons I don't want a rig that has
> come from a smoking
> environment are as follows:
>
> 1. They often have a terrible stench.
>
> 2. They often have an unattractive yellow brown
> color.
>
> 3. The effects of the smoke may cause failures,
> particularly in relay
> contacts and potentiometers, sooner than if they had
> non been exposed to
> the smoke.
>
> Those of you who are habitual smokers can probably
> scratch number one
> right off the list, because your sense of smell is
> ruined. I think most
> non-smokers are less concerned about number three
> than the first two.
>
> DE N6KB
>
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> TenTec@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>
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