My house on fire????

Graf, this may seem like a stupid question but do you live in Florida? The reason being that there are some serious brush fires going down here and this morning when I woke up, I could smell the smoke in my house. Outside was very smoky and hazy too. Then again, if you were in Fla, you probably would have considered that. Good luck.

feel the walls around all your outlets. any warm spots? you could have overloaded the wires in the wall(highly unlikely). a short or loose wire in an outlet can cause a slow steady draw which will produce heat. do you have an attic crawl space? go up there if you do. a fire can burn in the attic for a long time without you knowing. i hope everything is ok.

where do you live? i thaught the same thing untill i wached the news there 209 wild fires burning in florida and georga right now and i live like 300 miles from the nearest fire bt my house was filled with smoke and smelled like it was gona burn down.

man, theres so many possibilities it sucks..... I live near chicago....

Im so lost, I guess I just have to call an electrician

I have seriously checked everything... I was hopin someone would know exactly what it was by past experience.... I didnt EXPECT an answer, I was just hopin 4 one..... I knew that I was gonna have to call someone.... just didnt want to..

Was your room on a seperate breaker? If so, what is its AMP rating?

If its not on a seperate breaker, what breaker is it plugged into (AMP rating)? (what does the breaker run? lights, dishwater, water heater, etc?)

How many amps are you currently using with all your grow room stuff plugged in?

bwbig said:

Was your room on a seperate breaker? If so, what is its AMP rating?

If its not on a seperate breaker, what breaker is it plugged into (AMP rating)? (what does the breaker run? lights, dishwater, water heater, etc?)

How many amps are you currently using with all your grow room stuff plugged in?

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and thats why I need to call an electrician...... I dont even know where to look for this shit dude,, Im struck

Did you just recently turn your heat back on.
Some times when you switch from ac to heat you get a simmilar smell from dust in the ducts.
Also you may have had a dust buildup on top of the lights or the ballasts.

If you still can not find it I would get a smoke detector and have someone keep an eye out while you are not there.

I know exactly what smell you are talking about but that isnt it.....

it seems like this is past my control, Im not going to start pulling sockets out and fuck up and cross a wire and THEN burn the house down.... Im getting on the phone w/ an electrician pretty soon here.........

unless we get an electrician to stop in here and verify something..... wishful-thinking

Always better to be safe than sorry..
I would not worry about the electrician being suspicious.
I think as long as it is not obvious like stuff laying out then you will be ok.
Most of those types of people either smoke or do something even harder.

Besides electrical systems can do strange and unexplainable things.
They usually say a fire was caused by electrical probs when they do no know what else it could be.
Good luck with smell and rest easy about being found out.

If you don't have a kick ass ventilation system in yer grow area that smell could linger for awhile...for sure.

You said you checked the ballasts..did you take the covers off em? Sometimes you can see grey/black soot on the outside of the case...but if it's a wire inside it may not show up like that if it didn't flame out/arc...etc.
you can aslo plug em in one at a time and feel them to see if one is getting really hot.

It could be yer wiring if it's an older home. Is it? Older homes are not set up for these high voltage runs...and that there are other material in the walls of older homes than fiberglass insulation..like paper and fabrics..etc.

just make sure aLL evidence of yer grow is out of SIGHT before the guy comes in to check. I know of 3 people who got popped because a nosey handyman was on their property unattended...so be there and watch him..at least from a distance. Don't just let em loose. (I figure you know this/am not thinking your a dumbass..just wanna say it so others also know)

be careful. Good luck

bt dt

theres nothing out layin around or anything, its just that the smell I*S coming from the grow area.... the smell has been there since 7pm yesterday... at that time I took EVERYTHING out from there, the smell is still there definately.... thats why Im thinking behind the wall outlets/in the wall

I have holes and nails everywhere from hanging boards and lamps everywhere.... like 50 holes in the ceiling, no shit..... It would look kinda weird to me if I were just visiting, thats just me though--- guilty conscience I guess

Most fire dpeartments have a device that they run along walls to find hot spots.If you dare I would call and speak with your F.D. and tell them you suspect you have something burning in the walls. Most F.D. will come over and check for hot spots for you..Stress its not a emergency but you are worried..

You may have pierced some wiring with all them nails. And some current may discharge into your wall, causing hot spots or melting wire insulation. You may want to go to fuse box and flip the breaker thats controling that area of your home.

if you have everything out of there then stop worrying. all they can do is GUESS what you had running. it's none of their business. don't let your house burn down. find out what it is.

don't call 911. they will send the flashing lights. you don't want that. if you do call someone try to be somewhat unpanicked. try to keep it on the downlow. you don't need a 60' ladder truck with it's lights on outside your house.

Im calling an electrician.... Ill keep u all posted, thanks for your input, I appreciate all of your responses

Hope he finds the problem.

Go ahead and call sparky,you checked out all your ballasts timers lights and all,an you didnt find anything.You are drawing alot of power to that room.Old houses where not wire for todays electric uses of today.Also a rodent may have chewed the wireing to that room. Call sparky {electrician} and stay with him the whole time hes there.I do think a smoke detector would be a good thing too.Wish I could be of more help.Good luck Peace

think he will or what???

not sure if that was sarcasm showing his face or not lol

If you're stuck, then this is your last option. is there a chimney breast? i don't know Graf, maybe if I could smell it with you.

Is it a paper burning smell or a burnt out tv smell?