# New Ceiling Fan Smell



## jerseyguy1996

I just installed two Hunter ceiling fans that I purchased from Lowes. One of them is giving off a peculiar odor. It doesn't smell like anything burning but it is hard to describe what it is. Almost like an oily or lacquer smell. Any one else have any problems with this?


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## Wildie

jerseyguy1996 said:


> I just installed two Hunter ceiling fans that I purchased from Lowes. One of them is giving off a peculiar odor. It doesn't smell like anything burning but it is hard to describe what it is. Almost like an oily or lacquer smell. Any one else have any problems with this?


 The fans should smell the same! Over-heating on electrical equipment does give off a weird odor as the insulating lacquer starts to burn.
On a fan it could be shorted turns in the windings.
I would suggest that you would return the fan as defective!


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## jerseyguy1996

Wildie said:


> The fans should smell the same! Over-heating on electrical equipment does give off a weird odor as the insulating lacquer starts to burn.
> On a fan it could be shorted turns in the windings.
> I would suggest that you would return the fan as defective!


 
thanks......looks like I will be making another trip to Lowes.


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## Thurman

I also agree to remove and return the fan. I've installed many a ceiling fan and the only odor I can remember would be from the packaging materials. This will dissipate quickly when the fan starts running and the packaging is taken outside. I've also worked around hundreds of industrial electric motors which have "burnt-up". If you are smelling a hot oily or hot tar like smell, this does indeed sound as if it may be the insulation on the motor windings. This insulation is put on as a heated liquid form and then baked to harden it to prevent wires from vibrating against each other. _Any _problem within the wiring which would create a heat build-up will make this insulation start to smell like hot oil or hot tar. Please return the fan. David


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## Captflx

Do you perhaps have aluminum wiring? When I installed my new dishwasher about 2 years ago, I failed to get the wirenut tight enough and an odor developped about 6 months later. I never could find the "fishy odor" until the unit finally stopped working and I discovered the burned wire insulation and wirenut smelled like fish. Funny but true.


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## fyrefyter794

*beware!*

I have this problem coming from a ceiling fan, that smell is the over heating of those "plastics" resins whatever is in the fan, and it is outgassing formaldehyde! That is what the fishy smell is! This has made my 15 yo daughter VERY sick for the past 3 months and I just figured out where the smell was coming from last week. She has every test under the sun and has been having seizure like episodes since July. I just stumbled upon other post about the mystery fish smell and decided to have her room checked for formaldehyde. It was about 4 times over the limit for exposure to this gas which is very toxic and can cause a multitude of weird health problems!!! Please get rid of it NOW! It's very dangerous for persons who are sensitive to these fumes. 
fyrefyter794 at yahoo. com


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## Jerrkyd

I just purchased a Hunter fan and noticed a really strong odor coming from the plastic hanger ball right when I took it out of the package. I have noticed this smell from cheaply made platic products from China. I believe it meets the description of the odor descrbed by JerseyGuy (oily lacquer smell), but it does not smell like formaldehyde as described by fyrefyter794. The problem with this cheap Chinese plastic smell is that it does not seem to dissipate over time. If you google "Made in China Smell" you will see similar reports or descriptions of plastic products made in china. I have only smelled this odor from black plastic products like cheap platic sandles and a handle on a cheap piece of luggage. You can leave these things outside for days and the smell will not go away!


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## ajaxel

*Call the company*

I have the same issue with a newly installed Hunter fan. I called the company and they immediately said it is a bad capacitor. They are sending me a capacitor to replace the old one. Hopefully its easy to change.


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## JanBernier

*14 year old with same issue.*

I know this was 3 years ago but I have a fourteen year old with the same kind of thing going on and was wondering if you ever found out if it was the fishy smell that caused the seizure and how is your daughter now? My daughter had a seizure out of the blue they found no reason for it but she also had had this fishy smell going on in her room for about two months before. A month and a half now after the seizure I just found out it was the melting plastic ring on her ceiling light causing the smell. I was wondering if the fumes could have caused this. She also has signs of concussion, forgetfulness, sleepy and constant headache.



fyrefyter794 said:


> I have this problem coming from a ceiling fan, that smell is the over heating of those "plastics" resins whatever is in the fan, and it is outgassing formaldehyde! That is what the fishy smell is! This has made my 15 yo daughter VERY sick for the past 3 months and I just figured out where the smell was coming from last week. She has every test under the sun and has been having seizure like episodes since July. I just stumbled upon other post about the mystery fish smell and decided to have her room checked for formaldehyde. It was about 4 times over the limit for exposure to this gas which is very toxic and can cause a multitude of weird health problems!!! Please get rid of it NOW! It's very dangerous for persons who are sensitive to these fumes.
> fyrefyter794 at yahoo. com


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## Spdrcr60

Had the same issue with 2 Hunter fans recently installed. Called Hunter & they're sending 2 new wiring harnesses complete w/ new capacitor. Smell reminded me of a light balst off gasing from over heating, ie. this resin encased capacitor the size of a small pill case that's part of the design. Hunter representative even made a comment about their products being made in China, go figure. Once replaced if the odor persists after 48 hours, Hunter will replace the fans. What happened to quality control.


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## ritelec

Yeah. I've found that there are a lot of dead skunks in the roads this year. 

They smell too.


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## moemoemoe

*hunter fan*



Spdrcr60 said:


> Had the same issue with 2 Hunter fans recently installed. Called Hunter & they're sending 2 new wiring harnesses complete w/ new capacitor. Smell reminded me of a light balst off gasing from over heating, ie. this resin encased capacitor the size of a small pill case that's part of the design. Hunter representative even made a comment about their products being made in China, go figure. Once replaced if the odor persists after 48 hours, Hunter will replace the fans. What happened to quality control.



i just got a hunter ceiling fan with light and it has that smell that people are complaining about. i dont feel good about going to sleep with this thing on until im sure its not a danger. did they fix your problem or did it just stop smelling on its on?


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## G8RinNC

*Odd buring oil type smell after installing Hunter Ceiling Fan*

All,

I just installed a Hunter ceiling fan - $130.00 before install and have always loved Hunter - in my daughters upstairs room. Low and behold, terrible odor emanating from fan and permeating the entire upstairs. I have had to open windows and turn off the fan and light. 

Based upon feedback here - I am done with Hunter. The first one I bought had a broken globe (unbox and return to HD), second was full install and now defective and potentially harmful (Chinese made?) materials in the product.

Fugetaboutit. No more Hunters for my family. Deinstalling, raising hell and returning tomorrow. 

Be well.


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## billycoops

Just moved into a 10 year old home that has a Hunter fan in the office. With all the high temps here in South Florida, I began running this fan continuously. After a couple weeks I began to experience a unique odor. Looked into a number of possible causes including mold (UGH!!). After googling this issue I was sent to a thread at this website and sure enough, I am certain the odor is emanating from the fan. Its only been a couple days BUT the odor is going away to a degree after turning it off. How long should I expect before this odor leaves the flooring, leather chairs desk etc. Do I need to repaint the walls as well and does anyone out there have some suggestions to completely eradicate this unique smell? Thankjs


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