Weird Plastic smell

catty · Apr 12, 2013

Hello

bought a new motherboard which i installed about 7 days ago. When i was plugging a usb at the back about 2 days ago i noticed a slight plastic smell. Im not even sure if its exactly a burning smell, and as it is not noticeable unless i stick my nose right on the fan on the back. Its really not noticeable if i am just sitting on my desk or even when im sat down next to the PC. It might get a little stronger when im running a game but since the air gets so much warmer its kind of hard to tell.

I've open the case and smelled the psu and around the HDD but the smell seems to come off the PCU fan , not anywhere else.

If this was any stronger i would at least be sure something was wrong , but im just not sure if this something to worry about or not? And if so what could it be? My cpu was perfect with the old mother board.

Temps are between 19 and 25 on idle for the CPU. Motherboard ( GA-Z77xUd5h) run around 39 degress on idle.

Load temps for cpu is about 40 when i play a game. But this smells seems to be there always not just when i play a game. It doesnt seem to get stronger either, as i said i can only smell it if i stick my nose behind the fan in the back.

Is my cpu dying ??

scout_03 · Apr 12, 2013

check he cpu fan cable if it is not touching a hot thing on the board and did you have thermal paste between the cpu and the cooler ?

catty · Apr 12, 2013

yep i even cleaned off the old paste and added new paste. The cable is not touching anything as far as i can see, its curled ( cant think of the correct word here ) around the edges of the fan (there is a small indentation on the sides if the fan for cables , if that makes any sense) so it doesnt seem to be touching anything.

scout_03 · Apr 12, 2013

if you touch the cooler and on the motherboard do you feel a place that is more hot then the other ?

catty · Apr 12, 2013

i havent really noticed anything being very warm on either the heat sink or the gpu. I havent touched the motherboard at all though, i wasnt sure about electricity ... silly question probably , but if i turn off the pc , turn the power off and take out the power cable in the back can i just touch the motherboard everywhere between the cables and stuff without worry?

mcnumpty23 · Apr 12, 2013

after you turn off the power dont touch anything until you

press the on/off button on the pc

capacitors hold charge--you may see leds if your case has them or the fans kick over

catty · Apr 12, 2013

ok i will go and check now then. ill update asap

catty · Apr 12, 2013

ok i think ive figured it out. The edge of the heat sink at the top ( the part directed towards the roof of my case), a small part on the side is uneven, some of the little spikes are spiked upwards and it is deformed... so thats whats burning then ??? Why on earth would my heat sink be melting then?

mcnumpty23 · Apr 12, 2013

your heatsinks made of metal so it wont be melting

can you upload a picture to make it a bit clearer what it looks like?

catty · Apr 12, 2013

yes , my explanations are terrible i know! i will make one now.

catty · Apr 12, 2013

here we go , u should be able to see what i mean now

and here is one zoomed out , so u can see what fan the smell seems to come from.

catty · Apr 12, 2013

and btw ive tried to touch a couple of parts on the motherboard and the sink but nothing rly feels any warmer than the rest. also the smell seems to appear as soon as the pc starts and i can smell the air being pushed out by the fans in the back.

mcnumpty23 · Apr 12, 2013

yes can see some damage to the fins

but quite honestly that shouldnt matter

your temps are really ok

could the smell be coming from the fan to the left of the heatsink in your photo?

i assume that ones an exhaust fan

catty · Apr 12, 2013

If an exhaust fan is what is placed in the back of the case and blows air out then yep thats it! i guess that could be it yeah. Is there a way of maybe checking this or would i have to simply replace it and see if the smell continues? And why do you think the fins have been damaged like that btw ?

Thank you so much for the assistance and the quick replies btw

!!!

mcnumpty23 · Apr 12, 2013

fins could have been damaged in transit or by clipping the fan on

dont need to replace it just take the exhaust fan off and see if the smell stops--if the smell stops then replace

the exhaust fan

wont cause any problem not using the exhaust fan for a while

catty · Apr 12, 2013

ah ofc lol... not my smartest moment! Ok its quite late here so im gonna get some sleep first and then take it out first thing in the morning!

Im hoping that's the problem , really dont want there to be a problem with the CPU or the brand new motherboard!

Ill update this as soon as i have more info.

As i said , thx so much for the assistance , will get bk to you as soon as i know more!

mcnumpty23 · Apr 13, 2013

you are welcome

yeah its 5am here i better call it a night as well

catty · Apr 13, 2013

Allright plugged out the exhaust fan this morning and still noticed a slight smell. It is even less obvious then it was before but that could just be because the exhaust fan isnt blowing out the air. it is very slight , i just dont understand what this plastic smell could be. Not even sure if im being paranoid.

Could it be the heat sink fan ? Its a noctua fan, that i can take off and replace without having to replace the entire heat sink. Maybe ill do that once i get home from shopping.

scout_03 · Apr 13, 2013

yes you could replace the noctua fan without removing the cooler just unclip it and waht is that white strip we see between the fan and the cooler ? another thing why you fan is facing back of the case does it should be in the front over the memory stick and pushing air in the fin to the back .

catty · Apr 13, 2013

oh really i had no idea i though it should push it backwards towards the exhaust fan , i didnt realise it pushes air in... right i will unclip it then and exchange the fan with another noctua fan ( i have a spare one) and place it on the other side, pointing towards my memory sticks!

The white strip you see is what came with the cooler. they are 2 white (silicon?) strips that stick to the heat sink and the fan goes on top of them. Ive always had them so i dont think that would really be the problem.

but i will get on to switching the fan and replacing it aswell.

I'll get back to you guys as soon as i have more info.

scout_03 · Apr 13, 2013

this way it is set just pull air from the cooler and not pushing hot air from the cooler out the the back case fan . what is the model of that noctua cooler ?

catty · Apr 13, 2013

Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler i believe , its quite old but works well sofar.

scout_03 · Apr 13, 2013

it still a good cooler this is how they install it http://www.noctua.at/pdf/manuals/noctua_nh_u12p_manual_en.pdf

catty · Apr 14, 2013

ok so did as you said , and also turned the fan towards the cooler instead of away which it said i should do according to the manual u linked! It actually brought down the temp by a few degrees of both the cpu and the motherboard so thats gd aswell. The smell, while still being the same last night after ive done that , it seems to have gotten much better today and i had the pc on all day ! So im starting to think that maybe i was just being paranoid and perhaps the new motherboard smells different then my old one?? im not sure... but the smell has definitely gotten even more subtle and today was a much hotter day than yesterday!

So for now i think this seems to have solved the problem, im not sure what we did in the end , but either way thank you both very much!!!!

mcnumpty23 · Apr 14, 2013

you are welcome

just keep an eye on it (or a nose)

Weird Plastic smell

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