You Should Never Vape Around Your PC Or Gaming Console: Here's Why
Vaping and e-cigarettes are fast becoming an alternative for many regular smokers, primarily because fewer health risks are tied to these alternatives. However, the effects of vaping and e-cigarette usage are still being studied, and just because they are "safer" than traditional cigarettes does not necessarily mean they are good for you. According to the CDC, while the aerosol emitted by these alternatives typically contains fewer toxic chemicals than what's found in regular cigarettes, they can still contain harmful chemicals such as nicotine, lead, and other cancer-causing agents.
Regardless of your take on cigarette alternatives, there is plenty of reason for PC and video game console owners to avoid vaping around their equipment. PCs and modern consoles, after all, can be big investments, particularly for those who choose to further invest in essential accessories for the Xbox Series X/S.
The best way to protect your investment is to refrain from vaping in the vicinity of your gaming equipment altogether.
How residue forms
There is a litany of reasons why vaping or smoking e-cigarettes around your PC can be harmful to the components of the device, but these reasons all point back to a residue that can form on the inside of the machine. Vaping produces an aerosol, commonly referred to as vapor, which contains tiny droplets of liquid that can condense and settle as a residue on surfaces, including the internal parts of a PC or gaming console. Over time, this residue can accumulate and interfere with the way the computing components interact with one another, causing a slew of long-term issues.
To make matters worse, the residue that can formulate on PC parts isn't just water vapor; rather, it is a sticky film that contains chemicals, vape flavors, and nicotine. Over time, this film will build layer-by-layer upon itself, and is especially likely to form on exposed on semi-exposed PC components such as fans, vents, and other openings in your PC or gaming console's shell.
In a way, the effect vaping can have on your PC or console is not at all unlike the effect it can take on your lungs.
What the residue can do
As if the residue affecting your PC's cooling capabilities wasn't enough, once enough residue has accumulated on the internal components of your PC or gaming console, it may be apt to spread onto more sensitive parts, such as the RAM, motherboard, and graphics card. Further build-up can lead to corrosion over time, affecting PC or console performance until the hardware inevitably fails.
As mentioned, the best thing you can do to avoid vape residue from formulating inside your PC is to refrain from vaping in front of your console entirely. However, if you have vaped regularly in front of your console, you should be cleaning it with regularity. However, this may be easier said than done, as the sticky nature of the residue can make the interior of your PC a magnet for dust and other particles. The extra dust on top of the residue can only make matters worse for your internal components, in addition to causing the parts to be more difficult to clean.
Nevertheless, regular cleaning and maintenance of your PC or gaming console can help mitigate exposure, accidental or otherwise, to these substances, though prevention is definitely the best course of action.