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The following is taken from the summary page of an inspection that was conducted on 7-30-07 at a trailer home in Barefoot Bay North of Vero Beach Florida. Fish odor in the property was from an overheating electrical component. Though the component was only at 130F and might not likely to catch fire anytime soon, such conditions should be addressed by a licenses electrical as soon as possible.
The client has lived at the property for 6 months and the client reported headaches in the morning for the last 3 months and feels the fish odors and headaches may be connected.
(Please note that a proving connection between the clients headaches and these odors was never made, it is very possible that her headaches were from something completely unrelated to these fish odors.)
The clients primary concern was strong offensive fish odors in the front guest bedroom, during the start of the inspection the client reported that the odors were a fish like odor. In addition the client pointed out decay and moisture damage in the bottom of the wall in the front guest bedroom and she thought their was a connection between this fish odor and the decay and moisture intrusion. Moldy water damaged building material and fish odor in the same room may just be a coincidence do not let it trick you. Water damage typically is associated with musty mold odors however the odor detected was a odor exactly like that of dead fish.
The client reported that this fishy mystery odor comes and goes and in fact the inspector observed the odor to be very weak at the start of the investigation and it changed in strength a few times. Though odors coming and going sounds strange it is common and easily explained. When the sun heats a wall the air and odors in that wall expands and pushes air and any unusual odors that may be present out of the wall, and when the wind blows it creates pressure differentials in the wall that also may force odors out of the wall, in addition an AC unit turning on can pull air out of the wall via it's AC return. When the inspector smelled around the breaker panel in this room the inspector smelled a mild to strong odor that seemed exactly like dead fish. The client reported that the odor filled the entire room in the past and appeared stronger when the AC unit was turned on.
The inspector discovered that the fish odor smelled strongest near the breaker panel. The breaker panel is a typical 150 Amp breaker panel with copper 120 volt wires and breaded aluminum main service cables and some breaded aluminum 240 volt wires, antioxidant paste was observed. No rust, or burnt wires, or other unusual conditions were noted in or around the panel.
When the inspector removed the breaker panel cover the strong fish odor rose out of the panel and upward along with warm air rising from behind the panel. Warm air rising out of a panel is not typical. The identity of the compound creating this odor is unknown but it may be the result of the breakdown of some man made plastic like substance in the breaker panel that is breaking down because of the heat.
Some of the breakers are warmer than normal thus the breakers are overheating and causing the panel to be warm. The hottest breaker was the dining room breaker at 130F this breaker appeared to be the source of heat when tested with a laser thermometer.
This condition should be checked by an electrician as soon as possible. This may indicate loose connections in the panel. Warning overheating electrical components can cause house fire. If the odor is not originating in the panel it may be originating from deeper in the plastic conduit that brings the wires to your panel. Have any and all required repairs made soon.
The client was warned during the inspection that she should contact an electrician because of the overheating breaker that may be a fire hazard. The client reported to this inspector repeatedly that she would have her electrician check the condition the next day.
Additional sampling for volatile organic compounds will probably help this inspector identify the fumes you are breathing such can be done if desired, but getting this condition repaired by an electrician is more important than identification of chemicals. You may need to have an electrician change the dining room breaker or the entire panel, have this condition corrected properly and soon for safety.
The following is some information that the inspector found on the internet regarding this condition.
It confirms the inspectors findings that overheating electrical components can cause fish odors in homes.
Hello all - My parents are having an issue with a somewhat fishy odor that comes & goes in one area of the house.
We kept smelling a fishy smell and it turned out to be an electrical outlet that was melting inside the wall. The circuit was overloaded (we did not know that). It took the outlet smoking before we figured it out. Since then we smelled that fishy smell again and found another outlet to replace.
Mon, Jul 17, 06 at 16:39
On another thread, a "fishy" smell turned out to be melting plastic light covers....the bulbs were too high wattage. I would check everything plastic in the area.
Posted by gaffari (My Page ) on
Tue, Sep 26, 06 at 13:30
Found the source of the smell. Thanks to the posting by LOGIC - I saw that the plastic fixtures (supplied by the builder) were melting. We took them down and they smelled like fish!!!! Thanks for the all the help.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/disaster/msg0511092410993.html
My apartment has a constant smell of fish in the kitchen but despite cleaning it with every product known to mankind the smell won't go away.
This can be an electrical problem. I had an undeniable fish smell in my house. Apparently some wiring (especially in old homes) will give off this smell when it overheats- check your lights and other electrical devices. or better yet call an electrician.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/020706/good-questions/good-questions-fish-smell-mystery-006324
A few weeks back, I wrote into AAC about a fishy odor that was coming from my dining room. This wasn't a constant smell.
Well we finally found out what the smell was. One night, around midnight, I was going to bed and turned off the light in the dining room. I could smell that fishy odor again, this time it was not as strong, but I could smell it.
I went over to the dining room window where the smell was much stronger. I kept smelling around the window until I came to an electrical outlet. As I got closer to the electrical outlet the smell was stronger. I touched the outlet and it was extremely hot. The smell was coming out of the holes.
We are very fortunate to have had this warning (smell) as you hear families perish from faulty wiring or electrical fires.
http://ask-a-chick.com/forum/questions_display1.php?question_id=43663
We discovered the smell in my daughter's room!It is coming from the ceiling light. We were burning a 100W bulb in a max 75W socket and we think it was making the socket smell (must have been plastic getting too hot). Anyway, we left her bedroom light off for 10 days just to be sure....and no more smell.
from some thread online?
Thanks a million to those of you who helped us figure out what was causing the fishy smell in our bedroom (we had 100 watt bulbs in 40 watt sockets -- whoops).
http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/other-home-garden/bad-smell-house-comes-goes-49917-2.html
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