P. U. – What’s that Smell?
When a circuit breaker overheats, the plastics and heat-resistant chemicals used to make the breakers, as well as outlets or wiring insulation, may emit a fishy or urine-like odor. You can often smell the odor throughout the house, but it is more intense near the breaker box or in the room of the faulty outlet or wiring. The odor may intensify or diminish with changing temperatures and circuit usage. Because it is often a circuit breaker of a high-demand appliance (HVAC, dishwasher, etc.), it can be difficult to identify the origin as those appliances are not always running.
The odor can be caused by any number of electrical problems, including but not limited to:
- Overloaded circuits
- Short circuits
- Undersized wiring
- Undersized circuit breakers
- Loose plugs in outlets
- Improperly inserted circuit breakers
- Damaged outlets
- Damaged electrical insulation
Typically, the fishy smell is an early indicator of a serious electrical problem that could lead to a fire. So, the first call to make when you when you notice a pungent fishy, urine-like, or burnt plastic smell near your breaker box, any outlets or electrical devices? Your electrician! He/She has the equipment to do a thorough inspection to find the scary culprit.
NOTE: I am not a licensed electrician, nor do I pretend to be one! I learned the above, first-hand. The photo of the burned breakers (yes, we had TWO of them) are of our breakers.
Our first clue was the fishy odor. Then our HVAC breaker tripped 3 days in a row. We made the call and what we found out was that the 60 amp HVAC breaker contacts were not making the proper connections. That breaker overheated and melted and then started burning the one across from it in the breaker box.
© Debe Maxwell | The Maxwell House Group | RE/MAX Executive | CharlotteBroker@icloud.com | P. U. – What’s that Smell?