2. cables
  3. 193753-12156

How remove odor from interconnect?

I recently purchased a used pair of Cardas interconnects that have a strong aromatic odor. I suspect that the previous owner might have put something on the cables to cover a smell or possibly used one of those plug-in oil diffusers near the cables. I was refunded the purchase price and told to just keep the cables as he didn’t want them back. Anyway, I’ve tried washing them with isopropyl alcohol, soaking them in Dawn detergent overnight (twice), burying them in baking soda for a week, and tried to bake the smell out in a toaster oven at 180 degrees for several hours. I’m ready to just throw them out unless anyone here might have a suggestion.

yowser
lanx0003
975 posts
 

try activated charcoal in a sealed bag under the sun

jnovak's avatar
jnovak
441 posts
 

get yourself an ionizer! It will eliminate any oder. It oxidizes any organic matter.  I have a "So Clean" machine  for my CPAP. It would do the job. They're handy for cleaning other things as well.

chippieboy
7 posts
 

That is so funny. In the last 60 years of Hi-Fi I have never heard about smelly nor smelled cables before last week. I thought I was the only one till I read this post. A while back I cut my Monster Speaker cables to the correct length as they were ugly coiled under the new console. I put other speakers in the rotation and those connects are midway up now cables are too short. I found some used cables and bought them. They stayed in the car till I got home. The car smelled awful. I installed them and now the house smells awful. I disconnected them and put them in the garage. I tried all the cleaning products listed above. No luck. Now I'm with yowser and will probably throw them away. What a waste, now I know why the seller sold them.

More to discover