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Electrical Wiring

Strange Plastic Smell in Laundry Room/ wiring??

14 years ago

I just walking into the laundry room and it has an odd smell. Kind of like plastic. I was just in there an hour ago and there was no smell. The laundry room has a 13 year old refrigerator as well as a washer and dryer (both 13 years old). The washer and dryer have not been used today.

We pulled out the fridge and sniffed behind it but could not tell if the odor was coming from it. Could it be the fridge? Or is this an electrical wiring symptom? It's 10:30 p.m. here and we're worried about going to sleep now.

Any ideas?

Oh, we smelled all inside the fridge and dryer and washer, just to make sure there wasn't something strange in there. Couldn't find anything.

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Comments (3)

Ron Natalie
14 years ago
You didn't say where you are, but is it possible that you've had the first cold snap of the year and the heat just fired up?
trsinc
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for answering, ronnatalie. I know the smell you are thinking of... that's different.

I couldn't sleep wondering if something was about to catch on fire. So we unplugged the fridge and after a few hours the smell was gone. So, I went out and bought a new fridge today.

After posting here last night, I called the fire department. They said that it could be some kind of wiring melting or a part shorting and melting plastic, etc. They offered to come out and do a check to make sure that it was not electrical wiring in the walls or attic. I didn't feel it was necessary at that time but it sure was comforting to know they do that!

So, problem solved. Maybe our electric bill will go down now.
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hrajotte
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Got mice? They love the heat from the compressor and they love chewing on wires sometimes. Maybe one got fried back there?

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