What to do when smelling that "Electronic burn smell"

Dancer

Dancer

Dancer

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17 Mar 2003
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London
What I want to know is what do I do if I smell "something" getting hot/melting/burning. Also, if you can't find the source and it goes away, what should you do next? What might have been damaged if anything? Is it safe anymore. Below is the lengthy description of what happened.

Ok I was playing wow with my wife today when suddenly, at last boss I might add, we smelled a strong burning/melting smell :eek:. I've smelled it before when computers go bad...

So we paniced, turned the PCs off (wiping on the last boss) and started sniffing around :cool:. I took off the covers but everything looked ok. The smell was strong and persisted for about half an hour after we opened the window, but we couldn't figure out where it came from. Our computers stand close together and there are lots of wires and power sockets at the back. My wife wasn't even convinced it was the computers, possibly it could have been the kitchen.

Our flatscreen monitors were hot, but didn't smell of burning.

Well, since I couldn't find any damage or see anything, I decided to start both PCs again. They both started fine and we've been playing for several hours (finally killing that last boss in mana tombs) and there has been no smell or problems of any kind. A bit worried, but what can I do? :confused:

Thanks
 
Get the barbeque gear out? :)

I'd keep an eye on it though, and when the smell starts again open the PCs before switching it off to see if there is anything obvious. It could just be something has just fallen into the computer like a piece of paper and burnt on the heatsink.
 
It could be that, or it could be excess Thermal Compound burning off the heatsink. Providing nothing has gone wrong, and the smell has gone away, there shouldnt be anything to worry about.
 
The last time that happened to me my motherboard started smouldering after 6 months.
Luckily I only live 400 yards from OCUK and they exchanged it.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, both insightful and humerous.

I am on my PC and everything is fine temperature wise.

On the wife's PC the PSU does have a high frequence sound when I turn the power switch on the PSU on. It's not very loud but clearly audible. It's just over a year old Antect Smart Power 450W. Maybe I should consider getting a new PSU before it dies and takes the rest of the system with it?
 
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