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My induction hob, when in use for several minutes on high heat is producing a very heavy plastic smell. The hob is working properly besides this smell.

I opened the back of the hob and noticed this white paste that melted, it seems that this is what is causing the smell - what can it be?

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John
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  • Check wires, smell may come from burned insulation. – user263983 Feb 17 '21 at 19:12
  • I added another pictures, wires were all fine – John Feb 17 '21 at 19:17
  • Device can not be used without pot or something else on working surface. And it should be ferromagnetic. Overview it is overheating. Normally stove has overheating protection. – user263983 Feb 17 '21 at 19:27
  • There was a pot otherwise it can’t start – John Feb 17 '21 at 19:29
  • Feeder wires looks stranger. If it is strong smell must be burned plastic, visible. Take a look more places. – user263983 Feb 17 '21 at 19:33
  • There are independent power circuits for each coil. Was it for any HOB? There are no symptoms of heatstress in photo. I assume fan was running. – Tony Stewart EE75 Feb 17 '21 at 19:59
  • That’s a great point, I will try each hob one by one and see if it is localized to a specific one. The fan was running. Thanks! – John Feb 17 '21 at 20:01
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    If it's brand new it MAY be normal and go away in a few days. But as Tony suggests, run each hob (boil a pan of water) in turn and see if they are all the same. –  Feb 17 '21 at 20:18
  • epoxy and PVC fumes are toxic, so limit exposure – Tony Stewart EE75 Feb 17 '21 at 20:18
  • The white thermal paste is not the issue. It has not melted. – winny Feb 17 '21 at 20:58
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    With respect, if you are unaware that thermal paste is a thing, you are clearly not qualified to be poking around in this thing. That's E-tech 101 stuff. You don't know what you're looking at and you can seriously get hurt, or worse you get somebody else hurt (i.e. if a fire occurs). Even if you find the 'bad part', you're not in a position to know it's really a 'bad part', or if something else failed which in turn caused the part in question to overheat. (That's a very common scenario in electronics). Strongly suggest you send this to the manufacturer for repair or just get a new one. – Kyle B Feb 17 '21 at 22:37
  • please, carefully examine the power cord at both ends – jsotola Feb 18 '21 at 01:56

1 Answers1

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The white paste is normal. It's heatsink compound that is used to help the transfer of heat from that active semiconductor device to the large heat sink.

As far as your smell? It's not possible to tell from the information given.

Now it is possible that the device itself it getting too hot and since it's encased in plastic, that might be your cause.

jwh20
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  • The smell is intense, I had to open all windows for an hour to get rid of it, smell like plastic, I added one more picture – John Feb 17 '21 at 19:18
  • Clearly there is something wrong. A burning smell is not normal. – jwh20 Feb 17 '21 at 19:23
  • Is that expected for this white paste to be liquid? – John Feb 17 '21 at 19:23
  • @No, white paste should not be liquid. It is silicone based. – user263983 Feb 17 '21 at 19:29
  • Ok that’s an indicator, I could remove it (it was a tiny bit sticky) – John Feb 17 '21 at 19:31
  • Outside you can. Important has it between transistor and heatsink. But that stuff does not burn. – user263983 Feb 17 '21 at 19:36
  • The white paste actually can be a paste or grease which is really just a very viscous liquid. I still believe the white paste is normal. The problem is elsewhere. If something is that hot it may be possible to detect it by holding your hand close to it and feeling the heat come off of it. Of course if you touch something you may also get a shock or even get electrocuted. So maybe you don't want to do that. Your risk and your decision. But you have to find the source of the heat or call a competent technician to fix it. – user57037 Feb 17 '21 at 19:38
  • If you have a non-contact thermometer it may help pinpoint the hot spot. – John D Feb 17 '21 at 20:15
  • Note non-contact thermometers "see" heat reflections also - careful you're measuring an actual temperature and not whatever's reflected off a shiny surface. – rdtsc Feb 17 '21 at 20:55
  • @John Sticky is fine, runny is not fine, since it's sticky and not runny it's perfectly normal. I don't know why you are focused on this white paste. The paste is supposed to be there – user253751 Feb 18 '21 at 10:12