Why does my breaker box smell like fish? The most likely cause is an electrical fault of a component or components inside the breaker box. The fishy smell is due to melting or burning of plastic or insulation producing a distinctive ‘ammonia-like’ smell. If you notice your breaker box smelling like fish, get in touch with an electrician as soon as possible. Of course, if you notice any signs of fire, such as the smell or smoke getting worse, then get in touch with your local fire service.
This post will go into detail about possible causes for why the breaker box smells like fish and possible solutions that you can use to resolve the situation.
What Is Inside A Breaker Box
A breaker box is the location of several common electrical components.
Your breaker box could have a main switch, miniature circuit breakers (MCB’s), Residual current devices (RCD’s), relays, timers and contactors, to name a few.
Certain components such as MCB’s help protect cables from short circuits and overloads which can cause fires and electric shocks.
RCD’s help protect people from electric shocks when the phase current in an electrical appliance or device leaks to earth via a fault.
Other devices like relays and timers function as ‘switches’ for different circuits, such as a water heater, for example.
Main switches ‘turn off’ power to the breaker box.
The reason why the breaker box smells like fish is that one of these components has failed, resulting in burning.
The following reasons will go into what might have happened.
Why Does My Breaker Box Smell Like Fish? – Reason #1
Component Inside Breaker Box Has Loose Connection
The first possible reason is a loose connection or poor termination. This could apply to any component inside the breaker box. The reason a loose connection is bad is that it will cause sparking between the contacts of whatever has a loose connection (MCB, RCD, etc), eventually leading to the melting and burning of that component. As discussed earlier, melting gives out the fishy smell.
Why Does My Breaker Box Smell Like Fish? – Reason #2
Component Current Rating Exceeded
This applies more to RCD’s, relays, contactors and timers. These components have a current rating where if this has been exceeded the component starts to fail. A current rating can be found on the front of the component, depending on what it is. It’ll say something like ‘10A’. In the case of a timer, it means that the timer is rated for no more than 10 amps through it. Once this has been exceeded, it’ll begin to fail or melt in most cases.
Why Does My Breaker Box Smell Like Fish? – Reason #3
Resonance
More likely in an industrial type situation where there are a lot of motors or transformers present. Resonant frequencies can cause the neutral to become very hot. Obviously, if a hot component came into contact with another component in the breaker box then burning could occur.
Why Does My Breaker Box Smell Like Fish? – Reason #4
Water Intrusion
Breaker boxes are not allowed in wet areas unless they follow waterproofing regulations. With this being said, water intrusion can still happen, either by accident, damage or by wear and tear. When this happens, water comes into contact with an electrical component inside the breaker box, causing a short circuit which generates heat and the distinctive fishy smell.
Why Does My Breaker Box Smell Like Fish? – Reason #5
Rodent Or Animal Intrusion
Breaker boxes are places where hazardous voltages are present. There are many places where you can get an electric shock. Unfortunately, rodents can choose to make this place their home. That is, until they put their body across live terminals and cause a short circuit. When this happens melting of electrical equipment and/or burnt rat can occur. This may or may not trip the circuit breaker.
Why Does My Breaker Box Smell Like Fish?
What To Do.
There are many causes for why your breaker box smells like fish. If you can see smoke, it’s important to resolve the potential fire as soon as possible. If it doesn’t seem like a fire is imminent, check if any circuit breakers have tripped. That will give you a clue as to what has caused the problem. A tripped breaker will indicate something isn’t right. The possible reasons discussed in this post will include loose connections, exceeding current rating, as well as, water or rodent intrusion into your breaker box.