fried electronic smell

March 24, 2008 8:41 AM

What is that fried electronic smell?

I cooked my computer's power supply over the weekend and now the house has that fried electronic smell. Molecularly speaking, what is that? Should I evacuate?

posted by sisquoc15 to computers & internet (8 comments total)

It's quite likely the insulation on a wire that heated up due to excess current and burned away. It could be any number of things though, depending on what actually failed in the device. I wouldn't worry.
posted by phrontist at 8:50 AM on March 24

When electricity arcs through 'normal' air, ozone is produced, which has a distinctive smell that I tend to associate with friend electronics.
posted by nomisxid at 8:53 AM on March 24

No need to evacuate, what you're picking up are the complex hydrocarbon molecules created in the melting/combustion process, probably with some sulphur and perhaps a little phosphorus thrown in for good measure.

A very good airing, and washing any large fabric surfaces (e.g. curtains/cushions) and an oil burner with a few drops of tea-tree oil / menthol will probably do the trick in clearing out the smell - and yes, that is the voice of experience!
posted by Blacksun at 8:54 AM on March 24

You've got some Magic Smoke. Ozone, Silicon, some random other stuff. Open windows, Febreeze, burn some incense. No harm will come from small doses (else I would be dead by now). :)
posted by zengargoyle at 11:34 AM on March 24

Yeah, not toxic in small doses. And you can indeed not tell exactly what it is if you don't know exactly what's contributing to it.

If a PSU died, though, then a large component of the smell could be the guts of electrolytic capacitors. PSUs have big electros in them, electros are famously stinky when they blow up, and a faulty PSU with ruptured smoothing caps may still be perfectly capable of running its cooling fan, which'll blow the capacitor-stink hither and yon.
posted by dansdata at 12:02 PM on March 24

Fried or hot electronics typically smell phenolic to me.
posted by Good Brain at 2:05 PM on March 24

Yes, it's the capacitors. They store a charge. When it blows, instant ozone. Plus some other burning plastic-lead-copper etc. smells. Nasty.
posted by wafaa at 4:45 PM on March 24

There are a few different smells.. Overheating enamel on magnet wire, melting PVC insulation, exploding ICs, and burning PCB material all smell different. The classic smell, to me, is exploding ICs. Exploding ICs often cause, or are caused by arching, so ozone is a big part of that smell, but.. Well, generally I call it ozone, but I bet ozone and the smell of magic smoke are actually two different things that just happen to occur together a lot.
posted by Chuckles at 7:49 PM on March 24