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Computer Suddenly Smells of Chemicals after 6 Years

JohnSmith2
By JohnSmith2
in Troubleshooting
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I woke up this morning to find that my tower computer is suddenly creating a strong, potent, unusual chemical smell coming from the top (the area around the radiator and its fans). I turned it off, let it cool down for 20 minutes, and the smell disappeared. The smell returned once I started the computer again.

 

It is watercooled with a Corsair Hydro H100I AIO with the radiator mounted to the top with two fans exhausting the air through the top. The air that comes out from the top is what smells the strongest. When I put my head inside the case (so beneath the radiator) the smell is much, much weaker, barely even noticeable. All fans in the case are spinning.

 

The computer is almost 6 years old. 5960x at 3.87GHz, two NVIDIA GTX 970s, Thermaltake 1000W 80+G PSU.

 

I'm not sure if the smell is burning plastic, chemicals inside the AIO cooler whose smells are somehow escaping, or what exactly. I've looked inside the machine and nothing is different than before. No dead bugs inside the machine. Recently cleaned (canned air), so not much dust. No plastic is melted. Nothing sounds unusual. Temperatures are still perfectly normal even when both GPUs and the CPU are simultaneously under full load (GPUs and CPU all in the low 70s, Celsius). The computer is perfectly functioning. I just have no idea what's suddenly causing the smell when it has never smelled for the past 6 years.

 

What could be causing this? What should I do?

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Check over your AIO for any leaks!!! Make sure it is not leaking into the PSU or other sensitive electrical components.

 

Also, check if it is that classic electrical smell from the PSU to rule out the PSU. 

CPU Cooler Tier List  || Motherboard VRMs Tier List || Motherboard Beep & POST Codes || Graphics Card Tier List || PSU Tier List 

 

Main System Specifications: 

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X ||  CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 Air Cooler ||  RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB(4x8GB) DDR4-3600 CL18  ||  Mobo: ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero X570  ||  SSD: Samsung 970 EVO 1TB M.2-2280 Boot Drive/Some Games)  ||  HDD: 2X Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB(Game Drive)  ||  GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming RX 6900XT  ||  PSU: EVGA P2 1600W  ||  Case: Corsair 5000D Airflow  ||  Mouse: Logitech G502 Hero SE RGB  ||  Keyboard: Logitech G513 Carbon RGB with GX Blue Clicky Switches  ||  Mouse Pad: MAINGEAR ASSIST XL ||  Monitor: ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B 34" 

 

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4 minutes ago, JohnSmith2 said:

What could be causing this? What should I do?

Aside from what @CommanderAlex has said, look for bad/leaking caps, that will cause that issue as well.

So will a failing power supply.

NOTE: I no longer frequent this site. If you really need help, PM/DM me and my e.mail will alert me. 

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Could be grime within the pump itself that smells without really affecting temps that much...
https://youtu.be/6mK3bJNXAxw?t=77

^Worst case over time, not that this is the same, but gives you an idea of growth inside..

Maximums - Asus Z97-K /w i5 4690 Bclk @106.9Mhz * x39 = 4.17Ghz, 8GB of 2600Mhz DDR3,.. Gigabyte GTX970 G1-Gaming @ 1550Mhz

 

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2 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

This is why I am hesitant to run an AIO. That's terrifying....

 

Love my Noctua NH-D15 😎.

CPU Cooler Tier List  || Motherboard VRMs Tier List || Motherboard Beep & POST Codes || Graphics Card Tier List || PSU Tier List 

 

Main System Specifications: 

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X ||  CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 Air Cooler ||  RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB(4x8GB) DDR4-3600 CL18  ||  Mobo: ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero X570  ||  SSD: Samsung 970 EVO 1TB M.2-2280 Boot Drive/Some Games)  ||  HDD: 2X Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB(Game Drive)  ||  GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming RX 6900XT  ||  PSU: EVGA P2 1600W  ||  Case: Corsair 5000D Airflow  ||  Mouse: Logitech G502 Hero SE RGB  ||  Keyboard: Logitech G513 Carbon RGB with GX Blue Clicky Switches  ||  Mouse Pad: MAINGEAR ASSIST XL ||  Monitor: ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B 34" 

 

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5 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

This is why I am hesitant to run an AIO. That's terrifying....

 

Do you drive a car or ride with anyone who has?  :)

 

AIO's are fine, failure rates are incredibly low and... non-life-threatening even!!!

 

 

"Do what makes the experience better" - in regards to PCs and Life itself.

 

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2 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

failure rates are incredibly low and... non-life-threatening even!!!

This is true, but leaking out over my highly prized computer...is not acceptible.

Air cooling lacks this issue, I'll stick with air, thanks

NOTE: I no longer frequent this site. If you really need help, PM/DM me and my e.mail will alert me. 

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  • Author

The AIO is certainly not leaking. PSU has no smell whatsoever. I will send some pictures of the inside in a bit.

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As far as I can tell, everything looks fine, visibly. Could the two top fans above the radiator be the source of the smell? Could the motor in the fans cause a smell? Those fans are still spinning, but maybe the motor is about to burn out or something.

 

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7 minutes ago, JohnSmith2 said:

As far as I can tell, everything looks fine, visibly. Could the two top fans above the radiator be the source of the smell? Could the motor in the fans cause a smell? Those fans are still spinning, but maybe the motor is about to burn out or something.

 

~Snipped Photos~

The fans are usually DC brushless motors so unless the circuitry is going bad causing the smell, then that would be the cause...although it looks like your computer needs a good cleaning of all that dust. 

CPU Cooler Tier List  || Motherboard VRMs Tier List || Motherboard Beep & POST Codes || Graphics Card Tier List || PSU Tier List 

 

Main System Specifications: 

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X ||  CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 Air Cooler ||  RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB(4x8GB) DDR4-3600 CL18  ||  Mobo: ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero X570  ||  SSD: Samsung 970 EVO 1TB M.2-2280 Boot Drive/Some Games)  ||  HDD: 2X Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB(Game Drive)  ||  GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming RX 6900XT  ||  PSU: EVGA P2 1600W  ||  Case: Corsair 5000D Airflow  ||  Mouse: Logitech G502 Hero SE RGB  ||  Keyboard: Logitech G513 Carbon RGB with GX Blue Clicky Switches  ||  Mouse Pad: MAINGEAR ASSIST XL ||  Monitor: ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B 34" 

 

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-> Moved to Troubleshooting

^^^^ That's my post ^^^^
<-- This is me --- That's your scrollbar -->
vvvv Who's there? vvvv

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I woke up this morning and the smell is completely gone. I don't know how or why it would have only lasted one day, but I will keep a close eye (nose?) on it to see if I encounter this issue again.

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Turns out it was not the computer at all; a power strip mounted to the desk directly above the computer had an AC adapter / power brick to a 15 year old magnavox montior plugged into it, and the adapter itself had started leaking some clear, ghastly-smelling fluid. Because of the positioning, the exhaust from the computer was blowing the fumes upward so I was getting a strong whiff of it. The reason the smell had disappeared, as mentioned in my post above, was because I had unplugged that particular monitor since my first post for an unrelated reason, and hence the adapter was no longer generating the smell.

 

Moral of the story: AC adapters to old computer equipment can overheat / melt / leak and smell horrendous.

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