So I got a pretty decent score from Craigslist on a Wii and an Xbox 360. Get them home and realize they smell like shit, are full of dead bugs and even some living ones. It's disgusting. What's the best way to get rid of these and clean them out?
So I got a pretty decent score from Craigslist on a Wii and an Xbox 360. Get them home and realize they smell like shit, are full of dead bugs and even some living ones. It's disgusting. What's the best way to get rid of these and clean them out?
Open the console and give it a thorough clean. Might be disgusting, but it seems to be the best way.
Proud owner of a Neo 25 Neo Geo Candy Cab!
There's really nothing you can do that I can think of if you want it thoroughly cleaned. I suppose you can open the 360's system tray and unplug it (to keep the tray open) and use a powerful vacuum with a narrow slotted attachment and hope for the best, but I don't see how you'll be able to clean it out any better without opening the case. The Wii however, I don't know what to tell you.
Honestly, I'd feel like the benefits of cleaning the system outweigh voiding the warranty -- they probably did cost you all that much since you get them off of Craigslist after all. Are you sure they're even under warranty? Do you have the original receipt for them?
Man, this thread brings me back to the late 80's. I remember how full of roaches my stored consoles got. Urgh...so freaking nasty.
Cracking it open and physically cleaning the unit is likely your only option.
I'm not sure what the warranty covers precisely, but there's a good chance that having bugs inside is already a warranty-breaker.
Be careful about where you keep the units in the meantime. Maybe seal them off until you can clean them properly, outside of your home. The last thing anyone wants is to "inherit" someone else's bug problem. Roaches likely won't stick around in a clean house (no abundant food supply), but something like bed bugs could haunt you for years.
This doesn't seem to make any sense considering insects usually stay away from electronics? I once I heard it was because of the smell/frequencies? Maybe that's BS, but seriously? Did the seller shove a corpse into the consoles, then leave it in the outside for a week? A warranty is also voided when negligence can be proven, like leaving it sit in the sun for a day, or spilling grape soda in it, or leaving your consoles in a pile manure for a month and let it collect insects?
Ahahahahaha! Are you kidding me?! Roaches fucking LOVE electronics!
I used to live in one of the most roach infested parts of the New Orleans (the French Quarters) in the 70's, and I'll NEVER forget or get over the way that receivers always had dead roaches in the little windows in the front with the analog oscilloscope needle thingies (that always had a white background, which only made matters worse). It was so disgusting because you literally couldn't remove them without taking the whole thing apart, and people weren't that tech savvy back in the day, so there they stayed. Atari 2600's we HAVENS for cockroaches and earwigs and shit. Even when we moved to a less bug infested area, they'd somehow still find their way into electronics. They'd forsake the cabinets and walls to roost in game consoles.
I still have nightmares today!
Last edited by Emperor Megas; 05-24-2011 at 10:53 PM.
That's vile.
Saw a few consoles like that back in my Funcoland days. Always equal parts shocking, disgusting and insulting that somebody would even attempt to sell something in that condition. Needless to say I wouldn't even consider buying one. (Though, no fault to you for not noticing it until it was too late.)
I have no interest in touching something that insects have lived, bred and shat in, and I hope you've considered the likleyhood that there could still be eggs in there that could hatch and infest your own home.
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Seriously. I wouldn't even give shit like that away. You have to understand how much I hate roaches. My disgust of roaches is only barely edged out by my love for video games. That being so, I've actually cleaned the boards of Atari's and Intellivisions with SOAP AND WATER (and they still worked!) because I couldn't bring myself to toss a console (that was mine) and I wouldn't pass something bug infested on to someone else.
Just foul. :^(
Yeah, I think that may be my only option, I hate it because I only bought them to resell but I did unfortunately pay a decent amount for the lot so tossing them out is not something I want to do. I need to bag them up in the mean-time. I just don't understand how someone can live like that.
You can't resell stuff like that to some poor unsuspecting individual, so I hope you meant you couldn't pass it along to someone else.
Even cleaned inside and out, most people aren't going to want it in their homes. It's bad enough that you might've unknowingly introduced something you don't want into your own home (hopefully you got away with it), but you can't ask someone else to pay for the opportunity to have something like roaches infesting their own home.
You need to return the mess and demand a refund.
Last edited by Leo_A; 05-24-2011 at 10:29 PM.
I don't care what it cost, that shit would find it's way to the trash. That's just gross man. I wouldn't feel comfortable selling the systems to someone else after the fact, and I most certainly wouldn't want the consoles in my house (bagged up or otherwise).
The last thing you need is a house full of roaches because you wanted to make a few bucks off of craigslist.
Put it in a giant sealed ziplock bag, more than one if possible. Then throw that thing in a freezer. I THINK that should kill them.
Oh god, that's horrible. as others have said you'll have to take them apart. Best thing to do is take all the electronics out of the case and throw that thing in the dishwasher. I did that for a friend of mine. Her parents had a horrible roach problem and she kept it in storage. She gave me her SNES to fix,I open it and omg,it was so disgusting, shit,bugs and cat hair everywhere. So I ordered a new board because hers was toast and washed the case in the dishwasher. Came out looking brand new and smelt nice and clean.
Last edited by alec006; 05-24-2011 at 11:14 PM.
"...leave love bleeding, in my hands, in my hands again..."
How about this. Put it in a few air tight sealed bags with some heavy duty liquid. Maybe have one back with the liquid placed in it. Then the second back placed in that bag with a big hole cut at the top. Use one of those sealers that reseal a plastic bag so it's air tight. Then leave it sitting in your back yard for about a month.
After a month. Buy one of these.
Clean the hell out of those consoles. Make sure to clean them three or four times. Then you should be done.
Other than that. I agree with Leo Ames. You should ask for a refund.
That is quite possibly the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. Go to that guy and demand a refund, now.
eat them
"Kidnap the presidents wife without a plan..."
Get your money back