Comment by hamdingers
21 hours ago
On an M4 Macbook Pro it's mild and faintly sweet but not really pleasant the way the LCD deck is. Requires a lot of heat for a long time to become noticeable. Vent is less convenient for sniffing.
21 hours ago
On an M4 Macbook Pro it's mild and faintly sweet but not really pleasant the way the LCD deck is. Requires a lot of heat for a long time to become noticeable. Vent is less convenient for sniffing.
Some conformal coatings, which protect PCBs from dust and moisture, can emit ethyl acetate or butyl acetate if they weren't fully cured. The smell is sweet but absolutely revolting.
Wow this absolutely might be the answer!
Ethyl acetate is used to wash flux off PCBs.
It's also used as an artificial flavoring in British "pear drops" which is probably why some people say it smells like pineapple.
Thanks for confirming I'm not insane!
It is a sweet odor, but chemically irritating. It cannot be good to breathe.
I'm shocked no one has identified the source of the odor yet. Is it thermal paste? Flux/solder paste? Turtle jizz?