PC smells like burning plastic

[ChristmasElf]

I would like to share a weird issue I have with my PC. Don't know which category this fits in so sorry if it's in the wrong place..

I'll try to describe the problem as detailed as possible to finally find a solution.

I've built a new PC almost 2 Years ago, since that time it's been running fine without any problems. No BSOD, no shutdowns, no hangs nothing whatsoever.

Despite that like 6-7 months ago I started to notice a somewhat odd smell which is coming from the back of the PC where the exhaust fan is. I would describe the smell as someone was melting some plastic, the smell is not very intense but it's definitely there. It's noticeable when the PC is under load, for example when running a game and whole system builds some heat.

At that time if I go and smell the area in the back of the case where the exhaust fan is I can clearly notice the smell which is coming out with some hot air being pushed by the fan.

I have decided to check what's going on and opened the case to see if something was looking burned. I have found nothing out of the ordinary, everything seemed absolutely fine. Then I put my PC under load with the case open to try to find the smell, but it was very hard to trace it, i THINK it's coming from somewhere on the motherboard ut no real clue where exactly.. It's definitely not from the PSU or the GPU. Like I said before it's coming out with the hot air where the exhaust fan is in the back. There it is the most noticeable.

I have checked my temperatures and they are perfect under load: CPU ~55C, GPU 70-72C, MB & HDD temps also low.

I really don't understand where the smell is coming from, as I said before everything has been working fine since I noticed that smell. Also after visual inspection everything seems OK.

 

Could anyone think of an idea what could this be? Because I'm clueless atm..

 

My specs

 

i7 6700k

ASUS Z170-A

Crucial 16GB DDR4 2400

Noctua NH-U14S

500GB SSD & 1TB HDD

EVGA GTX 1070FTW

Corsair RM550x

Fractal Define R5 with stock fans

 

 

 

[.Apex.]

@ChristmasElf

 

how hot is the air coming out of the exhaust ?

 

because i think i've had this issue with my old hot as f*** APU, with an air restricted case, the air was hot and there was a smell with it, i don't think it was plastic though.

 

i can't obviously smell your PC, but i think you should replace the fans and add more fans to your PC.

[.Apex.]

@ChristmasElf

 

it seems like Define R5 is very air restricted as well.

[dcgreen2k]

Have you taken your motherboard out of the case to fully check it? Are there any exposed wires touching anything?

[iBabySlapper]

21 minutes ago, ChristmasElf said:

I would like to share a weird issue I have with my PC. Don't know which category this fits in so sorry if it's in the wrong place..

I'll try to describe the problem as detailed as possible to finally find a solution.

I've built a new PC almost 2 Years ago, since that time it's been running fine without any problems. No BSOD, no shutdowns, no hangs nothing whatsoever.

Despite that like 6-7 months ago I started to notice a somewhat odd smell which is coming from the back of the PC where the exhaust fan is. I would describe the smell as someone was melting some plastic, the smell is not very intense but it's definitely there. It's noticeable when the PC is under load, for example when running a game and whole system builds some heat.

At that time if I go and smell the area in the back of the case where the exhaust fan is I can clearly notice the smell which is coming out with some hot air being pushed by the fan.

I have decided to check what's going on and opened the case to see if something was looking burned. I have found nothing out of the ordinary, everything seemed absolutely fine. Then I put my PC under load with the case open to try to find the smell, but it was very hard to trace it, i THINK it's coming from somewhere on the motherboard ut no real clue where exactly.. It's definitely not from the PSU or the GPU. Like I said before it's coming out with the hot air where the exhaust fan is in the back. There it is the most noticeable.

I have checked my temperatures and they are perfect under load: CPU ~55C, GPU 70-72C, MB & HDD temps also low.

I really don't understand where the smell is coming from, as I said before everything has been working fine since I noticed that smell. Also after visual inspection everything seems OK.

 

Could anyone think of an idea what could this be? Because I'm clueless atm..

 

My specs

 

i7 6700k

ASUS Z170-A

Crucial 16GB DDR4 2400

Noctua NH-U14S

500GB SSD & 1TB HDD

EVGA GTX 1070FTW

Corsair RM550x

Fractal Define R5 with stock fans

 

 

 

Can't say I've encountered what you're encountering now, but a burning smell would usually come out a burning surface component; like a capacitor, or a trapped PSU wire.

I'd start with checking to see if any of your PSU wires are touching your motherboard.

[onthecircuit]

24 minutes ago, ChristmasElf said:

I would like to share a weird issue I have with my PC. Don't know which category this fits in so sorry if it's in the wrong place..

I'll try to describe the problem as detailed as possible to finally find a solution.

I've built a new PC almost 2 Years ago, since that time it's been running fine without any problems. No BSOD, no shutdowns, no hangs nothing whatsoever.

Despite that like 6-7 months ago I started to notice a somewhat odd smell which is coming from the back of the PC where the exhaust fan is. I would describe the smell as someone was melting some plastic, the smell is not very intense but it's definitely there. It's noticeable when the PC is under load, for example when running a game and whole system builds some heat.

At that time if I go and smell the area in the back of the case where the exhaust fan is I can clearly notice the smell which is coming out with some hot air being pushed by the fan.

I have decided to check what's going on and opened the case to see if something was looking burned. I have found nothing out of the ordinary, everything seemed absolutely fine. Then I put my PC under load with the case open to try to find the smell, but it was very hard to trace it, i THINK it's coming from somewhere on the motherboard ut no real clue where exactly.. It's definitely not from the PSU or the GPU. Like I said before it's coming out with the hot air where the exhaust fan is in the back. There it is the most noticeable.

I have checked my temperatures and they are perfect under load: CPU ~55C, GPU 70-72C, MB & HDD temps also low.

I really don't understand where the smell is coming from, as I said before everything has been working fine since I noticed that smell. Also after visual inspection everything seems OK.

 

Could anyone think of an idea what could this be? Because I'm clueless atm..

 

My specs

 

i7 6700k

ASUS Z170-A

Crucial 16GB DDR4 2400

Noctua NH-U14S

500GB SSD & 1TB HDD

EVGA GTX 1070FTW

Corsair RM550x

Fractal Define R5 with stock fans

 

 

 

YOUR SMELLING THE GUTS OF BAD COOLING FOR AN I7-K

[onthecircuit]

no proboly not but whatever

[ChristmasElf]

1 hour ago, syn2112 said:

@ChristmasElf

 

how hot is the air coming out of the exhaust ?

 

because i think i've had this issue with my old hot as f*** APU, with an air restricted case, the air was hot and there was a smell with it, i don't think it was plastic though.

 

i can't obviously smell your PC, but i think you should replace the fans and add more fans to your PC.

I'd say pretty warm. But how it's possible that hot air has a smell?

I'll have access  to my PC in few days so I'm going to check it again.

 

One more thing that gives me headache: if you look up asus z170-a on the internet you can see a white plastic shield on the heat sink. Could this plastic thing cause the smell?