[embroiderysnob]

OK, what can it be... we have read many sites that suggest that it is the electrical lighting in bathroom... even electrician is stumped... help...

[tkrussell]

Please get back with a better description of the problem, as I do not understand.

[tkrussell]

I did get your PM.

I have never had a fish smell complaint, but and gotten other odor complaints. I can imagine that perhaps some plastics may emit an odor similar to fish, or a... all I can say is... plastic.

Smells or odors may be subjective, and when plastics are heated they do give off odors.

Even adhesives, that may be used in the manufacture of several items, such as the lamps, may emit odors.

Or even the painted finish of the fixtures.

Try using different lamps by a different manufacturer before going doing a drastic of changing the fixtures.

Or is there some rubber or plastic gasket in the fixtures?

I doubt the odor is from the paint on the fixtures, or the insulation on the wires.

This is all I can think of so far, if I think of anything else I will post back.

If you discover what is causing the odors please let us know.

[craigbrooks]

embroiderysnob,

Immediately after purchasing an older home (60 years old) we experienced a intermittent fishy smell in one of the bedrooms. After months of frustration I finally tracked the cause down to a brocken receptacle that was arching and melting the receptacle material (an early form of plastic I suppose). The receptacle in question was not even in use, but the arch occurred when there was a load increase downstream of it.

Hope this helps.

[Athena555]

I had a terrible fishy smell in my home-office that only arose when I plugged in a space heater. It was like some food had gone bad, or some fish had been left out to spoil. Very awful - and strong. We washed down all the surfaces in the room and even replaced the heater, but the mysterious smell persisted. We had no clue where the smell was coming from until I happened upon some posts on this site. After hearing about someone else's light socket problem, I thought I'd check out the electrical outlet our heater was plugged into -- it reeked! Turns out the heater was drawing too much electricity. I'm not sure why that produces a rotten fish smell, but the smell's gone now that switched outlets.

[sallyjones1234]

Horrible smell in bathroom! NOT from the drain. It was from a very small sticker that was on a light fixture above the sink in our master bathroom.

It's important to me to explain our story so hopefully we can help someone else and prevent them from going through what we went through... One afternoon our entire family noticed a very strange smell in our master suite. Initially it smelled exactly like a dead squirrel in the walls. We went several days and realized it was coming from the bathroom. We did lots of research and cleaned our drains with every kind of cleaner you can imagine. We cleaned the sinks, the whirlpool drains in the tub and even made sure the p-traps had water in them. We checked the toilet to make sure it was sealed correctly. The smell seemed to go from dead squirrel to rotten fish. It was almost unbearable.

Then, we hired a plumber. After paying him for an hour of his time, the smell was till there. He could find nothing wrong. He even called his supervisor and I heard him say how clean our drains were. He recommended the next step paying him 500.00 for a smoke bomb to check our venting system. Since it was right around Christmas, we decided to not spend that money, and keep the bathroom door shut, and reassess after the holidays.

As I was "smelling" and thinking, I realized how much it really smelled like fish instead of dead squirrel. So, I googled "fish smell". It was here where I read that a light fixture can produce this smell. After church one day, I was standing by my sink and could really smell the "fish". Right then I realized that it seemed to very much be coming from the light right above my head. So, I got my husband who is much taller than me and he looked right above my head and into the light. I told him about what I had read. He started looking at the light fixtures. There were 5 of them, and a few weeks ago a light bulb had burned out. So, we replaced it. However, we replaced it with a decorative bulb that was longer than the others - not too long, just longer. As he was looking at the fixture, he noticed that this one in particular had the different kind of bulb, but also had a sticker on it. As he was messing with the fixture, he noticed the fish smell on his hands. Then, he got the sticker off and it smelled exactly like fish. We took the sticker to our children to ask them if they recognized the smell and they all said that it smelled like the smell from our bathroom. THAT WAS IT! Our problem was solved.

The sticker was about 2 inches long, but only 1/2 an inch tall - it was very small. It was clear and had black writing on it - "made in China and also something about the wattage". It was on the part of the fixture where you screw in the bulb.

It is amazing how bad this very small sticker made almost 1000 square feet smell. It was to the point where we were thinking about selling the house.

I'm so grateful that we found the problem, and also for the people earlier who posted about their light fixtures being their problem. I hope this helps you! :) Good Luck - I know you'll figure it out!

[tkrussell]

Sally, thank you so much for letting us know the odor was from the label on the socket, probably from the adhesive that was used.

Amazing the stuff we get from China, that causes issues such as this.

I would have never thought of checking the label on a fixture, more I would think the heat is affecting the plastice lampholder.

I will put this thread as a Sticky so it is near the beginning of this forum to help others that have this odor and hopefully direct them to check the labels on fixtures, etc.

[Bennyj]

Once we had a fishy smell from a light fixture. Ended up finding out that it was a fish- a fish sandwich that one of the kids hid in there so they didn't have to eat it.

[Ed2447]

I had a funny smell from a compact fluorescent lamp. It was a burnt circuit board inside, just before it failed. I was glad I found it when I was home, as I wondered if it could have caused a fire.

[Donald30]

We once detected a fishy smell from the foil insulation in a light fixture as it heated up.

[ElectricianMan]

Ok, what can it be... We have read many sites that suggest that it is the electrical lighting in bathroom... Even electrician is stumped... Help...

Anytime electricity is causing the smell it is because of heat . Period . Deenergize the circuitry to the bathroom . If smell goes away then re-energize the circuitry to the lighting without turning the lighting on for a few days . If the smell comes back then it is the wiring inside one of the junction boxes . If the spell does not come back then turn on the lighting . Light fixtures emit heat . Even a small amount of material on a light fixture can produce odor for a long amount of time . I have ran into this particular problem and the solution was changing the lightbulbs . The Bulls had a coating on them that was emitting a smell . Lightbulbs come from China . Need I say more ? Do not do any electrical work unless you are a Link Removed licensed electrician and have obtained a permit from a local authority having jurisdiction and have disconnected all power to the structure and or entire neighborhood .

[wendiet]

Hi I had the same fishy smelling problem when I turned on my tumble dryer, drove me mad for 2 days, like you I cleaned everything insite!! To no avail. Thought id Google fishy smell and saw that it could be electrical so I removed the plug from the adaptor which was in the main socket and hey presto found the culprit!! The adaptor plug was melting at the pins!! Thank goodness I found it in time hate to think what could have happened... So warning to anyone who smells fish check all you electrics including plugs!!

[Hannsel]

The fishy smell in my bedroom had been driving me insane for months, I even started sleeping in another room. Couldn't find anything anywhere, even looked in the ceiling above my room in case of rats or a dead animal... and all along it was the lightbulb! It was corroded and nasty, which explains why the smell would go away whenever I had moved out for a while, because I hadn't been switching the lights on! I hate to think what breathing in that stuff might do to me :(

[Quazimeto]

I have the same problem. I have tracked it down to the plastic things that hold the glass lamp shades on the collar where the bulb screws in. There must be a replacement and I am on the hunt for it. I bet that is your problem, too.

If anyone has any idea of the name of the part or where to get the part, I would be very appreciative!

[Quazimeto]

I found the part at Home Depot. It is called a "White Threaded Socket Ring"

Westinghouse White Threaded Socket Ring 7000100 at The Home Depot

Problem solved.

Oh, and I asked the lamp dept people to smell the old ring. They could not believe it. They will never forget it.