Normal for 15 year old AV equipment to still have chemical smell?

September 9, 2018 12:07 PM

I've very sensitive to odor and just noticed that the area where my TV, and AV equipment (and multiple power outlets) is has that chemical odor I associate with newly opened electronics from China. I can't discern the source of ti and just wondered if anyone had suggestions of what it could possibly be?
posted by Jon44 to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

If the space is enclosed or anything is left on 100% of the time the heat generated could be causing equipment to emit chemical odors. the less ventilation available, the worse the problem.
posted by noloveforned at 12:19 PM on September 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

I had a related issue a year or so ago; I'd swapped out my cable modem, but not the power brick (because I thought I didn't need to, as the modem I was replacing and the new modem were similar models from the same manufacturer). The old brick, powering the new modem, had a vile odor until I dug up the correct brick and swapped it in. My wife and I had a hell of a time tracking down the source.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 12:28 PM on September 9, 2018 [2 favorites]

My CD player is a 2nd generation Philips from the mid-80s [yes yes, which broke directly when new and I yelled at the repair guy who didn't fix it properly multiple times and then they repaired it so thoroughly that it's still running fine 33 years later]. It still begins to stink like a cheap 1970s toy every time halfway through a CD. Or in other words, it really could be anything in your TV area, and 15 years is nothing.
posted by Namlit at 2:05 PM on September 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

Feel around the area when you most notice the smell to see if anything is hot (or unusually warm), including power bricks, power cords, power bars, outlets, switches, TV, AV gear, etc. You may have something starting to overheat/short out or going bad. You could also press your nose up to the air vents of each piece of equipment - it feels silly but you’ll probably detect which one is giving off that smell.
posted by pocams at 7:30 PM on September 9, 2018

Electrolytic capacitors have a chemical smell if they start leaking . . .
posted by aspersioncast at 2:14 PM on September 11, 2018