Step 1 – Unplug the power

The first step is to deactivate the apartment (or private house). This is done by moving the insertion machine lever to the “off” position or by loosening the plugs if the wires are old. About, how to safely disconnect electricity, tell us in the corresponding article.

Next, you need to turn off all electrical appliances plugged into sockets. Everything is simple here – we pull out the plugs of their ports, only carefully so as not to pull the entire mechanism out of the strobe.

After complete blackout, you have practically protected yourself from fire. Then it’s up to you to call the master so that he quickly determines the cause of the burning smells of wires and eliminates the problem qualitatively. Another option is to try to solve the problem yourself. The information below is suitable for those who decide to act on the second path.

Step 2 – Perform an electrical wiring review

Here, you can initially try to identify the smell emanating from it. It is possible that the problem place will be detected immediately, and then it will only be necessary to remove the breakdown. However, most often it is not possible to quickly find the damaged place, therefore, to find the source of the smell, you will need to do a wiring audit.

Usually, ignition wires occur at the intersection of wires in junction boxes, at the terminals of plugs, as well as directly in the shield itself, at the connection points of circuit breakers and other devices. In addition, the problem may lie in the fixtures (the same chandelier) or the same household appliances.

A visual inspection of all the problem areas listed should help you find a place that smells like burnt wires. Unscrew the plugs, remove the covers from the junction boxes and inspect the sockets of electrical appliances. If you notice contact with burnt or charred plastic, this is likely the cause of the burning smell in that area.

In addition, a short circuit may occur directly in the hidden wiring – a cable in the wall. About, how to find a short circuit, tell us in the article. Without special tools and skills, this is almost impossible to do.

Another important point – try to remember, after which the smell is burned into the room. Perhaps you have recently connected a new electric stove or washing machine. If the wiring is old, it is likely that the cable cross-section is smaller than expected, as a result of which the cable does not withstand the load and melts. Here will help to solve the problem only replacing the wiring in the apartment.

Also, the unpleasant odor may be caused by the household appliances themselves. If you notice that it smells like wires while the washing machine is running or the vacuum cleaner is running, that could be the case (if there is no smell the rest of the time, even if other electrical appliances are plugged into that outlet). Instructions for DIY appliance repair we also provided for reading.

Well, the last thing I would like to note is that sometimes the smell of burning wires in an apartment may not mean at all that you have problems. There are many situations where the cause of an emergency lies in the neighbors, as a result of which the singing smell is transmitted to you through the ventilation.

So we have listed the main causes of the malfunction. If you yourself were not able to find and solve the problem, or if the apartment began to smell burnt after you decided to do the wiring yourself, we recommend contacting the wizard. In both the first and second cases, he will diagnose himself, find the problem area and eliminate the danger.

What is important to know

To protect your house or apartment from fire, we recommend installing an RCD in the shield that will turn on immediately when detected leakage current.

The leak itself occurs when the cable insulation is damaged, for example, melted, and as a result it burns out.

You should also understand that old wiring is not designed to connect powerful electric stoves, stoves, etc. If you decide to connect the oven, draw a separate line to the connection point that can withstand such loads. About, how to calculate the cable cross-section for current and power, we told in the corresponding article.

That’s all I wanted to tell you about it smelling like wires in the apartment and what to do in this case. If you do not know where to contact to help you solve the problem, we recommend that you still resort to the services of a private electrician, the expectation of a specialist in their housing office can be very long, and the quality of the work of these masters is not always high.