VERY stubborn smoke smell. Please help!

You are correct that you want it sealed up. Ozone is heavier than air and will stack up in the vehicle as it fills the interior. The fresh air part is from the source. What I like to do is set the machine just outside the vehicle with a flexible dryer hose connecting the front of the machine to the window via a cardboard vent that allows for the ozone to pump into the vehicle and the machine to breathe fresh air doing so.

View attachment 59899

It's going to take 2-3 cycles of 1hr each to completely disinfect and clear any odors for good. Run it for an hour, vent it for a bit, then run it again, air it out, etc. I also tend to do at least one cycle with the HVAC going in high on hot and another on high / cold.

Hmm. I don't really have a way of connecting a hose like that to mine. I guess I'll just have to make do. I really think the one I bought was busted though. It literally didn't do a thing. I couldn't even smell where it had ran. I've returned it and am trying another one.
 
Wait so Derrick wasn't correct with all that info? He certainly had me totally convinced. I know jack squat about ozone machines and how they work, but I was a believer in what he was preaching... I was even about to give him some props for dropping knowledge. :)
 
Hmm. I don't really have a way of connecting a hose like that to mine. I guess I'll just have to make do. I really think the one I bought was busted though. It literally didn't do a thing. I couldn't even smell where it had ran. I've returned it and am trying another one.

You should know instantly if it's working. If you can't smell it, then for sure it's not working. I run mine in our two upstairs bathrooms after cleaning them on the weekends and it fills the room very very quickly.
 
Yeah ozone is very noticeable right away if it's a working machine !

I will put mine in the vehicle and shut it in there


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Wait so Derrick wasn't correct with all that info? He certainly had me totally convinced. I know jack squat about ozone machines and how they work, but I was a believer in what he was preaching... I was even about to give him some props for dropping knowledge. :)

ozone machines needs a fresh supply of oxygen to continue making ozone. The ozone machine with the duct work has all the oxygen it needs to make ozone because it is OUTSIDE of the car. If your ozone generator is INSIDE the car leave one window cracked so it can continue getting oxygen and making ozone. Here's a link : https://www.odorfreemachines.com/car-odor-removal/

Read it and learn how an ozone generator works.

Look under the "Solutions" Area in the first paragraph.

It would be stupid of me to TRY and sound like I know what I'm talking about. I only care to give proven, factual knowledge, which is the reason for this forum.
 
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Ozone is a sanitizer. It will react with numerous items but its main intended victim is carbon. Guess what the biggest natural ozone generator is? Once you understand how it works, understanding an ozone generator is easy.
 
Really? I've never read anything about leaving the windows cracked, in fact I seem to read the opposite. You want it sealed up as much as possible.

Also, what sort of damage are you referring to?

I forgot to ask what type of generator do you have? If it the one that is placed TOTALLY INSIDE the car, with the cord going through the window, then you must leave the window cracked so it can get a fresh supply of oxygen(O2) and convert it into ozone(O3).

If yours uses ductwork, as shown in pdqgp's picture, then you need to seal the windows because the ozone generator is OUTSIDE the vehicle and is able to get the all the oxygen it needs to make ozone.
 
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You are correct that you want it sealed up. Ozone is heavier than air and will stack up in the vehicle as it fills the interior. The fresh air part is from the source. What I like to do is set the machine just outside the vehicle with a flexible dryer hose connecting the front of the machine to the window via a cardboard vent that allows for the ozone to pump into the vehicle and the machine to breathe fresh air doing so.

View attachment 59899

It's going to take 2-3 cycles of 1hr each to completely disinfect and clear any odors for good. Run it for an hour, vent it for a bit, then run it again, air it out, etc. I also tend to do at least one cycle with the HVAC going in high on hot and another on high / cold.

I like your way when using an ozone generator. The ones that are placed in the car are not my favorite for use in a vehicle.
 
Hmm. I don't really have a way of connecting a hose like that to mine. I guess I'll just have to make do. I really think the one I bought was busted though. It literally didn't do a thing. I couldn't even smell where it had ran. I've returned it and am trying another one.

You had a box type unit that you placed INSIDE the car. If you would have cracked a window a few of inches that smoke smell would have been attacked by the ozone that generator made and destroyed.

You had a good ozone generator but tried to get rid of smoke smell with an ozone generator WITHOUT a fresh supply of oxygen, which is basically like trying to kill a rattlesnake with a pistol WITHOUT bullets.

THROW THE PISTOL at it and run! LOL! :laughing:

Unfortunately, that's what you did. You threw an empty pistol at that smoke smell.
 
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My mom was given a Jeep that was owned by a smoker. She couldn't get the smell out. I used the Meguier's odor eliminator canister a few months ago and it still smells just like that, no smoke smell. For $10 I was very impressed, so was she.
 
Cigarette smoke can be stubborn, but it is doable. You replaced the head-liner which is good. Are the seats fabric or leather? Have you tried using a carpet extractor on the carpets and seats?

Use a good extractor pre-treatment, let that dwell, then extract. Using a Tornador with 10:1 of a good APC to clean the plastics, blast it into the vents, doors and seatbelts.

CarPro has a product called So2Pure. I used it once on a smoke filled Ford Ranger, like you the owner purchased used and she was very sensitive to cigarette odor, when she came back to get the car she said she could not smell it any more. I called her three weeks later to check in and she said she still couldn't smell it.

CarPro So2Pure Air Purifying Coating 120 ml.


For glass, here is a good article by Mike: https://www.autogeekonline.net/foru...indshield-review-blackfire-glass-cleaner.html

I've used the So2Pure also with great results.
 
You had a box type unit that you placed INSIDE the car. If you would have cracked a window a few of inches that smoke smell would have been attacked by the ozone that generator made and destroyed.

You had a good ozone generator but tried to get rid of smoke smell with an ozone generator WITHOUT a fresh supply of oxygen, which is basically like trying to kill a rattlesnake with a pistol WITHOUT bullets.

THROW THE PISTOL at it and run! LOL! :laughing:

Unfortunately, that's what you did. You threw an empty pistol at that smoke smell.

Thanks Derrick. So it's an SUV, so just crack one window a few inches?
 
Yes just open one window a few inches and close all the other windows.
This link will tell you all you need to know about using a ductless ozone generator.
https://www.odorfreemachines.com/car-odor-removal/

Ok thanks. I'm going to hit it one more time with everything I've got but if it whoops me again, I may bring it to you. I see you're in Charlotte. I'm up in Hickory.
 
Ok thanks. I'm going to hit it one more time with everything I've got but if it whoops me again, I may bring it to you. I see you're in Charlotte. I'm up in Hickory.

You will get it. Ozone has been working since Genesis and the first lightning storm. Lightning is the first, natural ozone generator. That's why when you go outside after a thunderstorm the air smells so fresh and clean. Remember to run your ventilation system every so often like the instructions from the website suggest and that smell will be gone. Nature has proven that ozone works.

BTW here is another good piece on removing cigarette smoke from that site, you could use. https://www.odorfreemachines.com/cigarette-odor-removal/
 
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