Smell of Burning Fan, is it Toxic?

[juroara]

I just bought a new free standing fan by Lasko. I turned it on and right away it smells like burning plastic. Uh, you shouldn't eat from a plastic bowl that smells like burning plastic, should I be breathing from a fan that smells like burning plastic? Isn't the smell of burning plastic, toxic? And do you know any brands that don't smell?

[Marvo]

Some electric motors produce weird smells when running a high RPM. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. If the smell is very strong and if there's smoke coming out (and if you can smell it further than a meter away), I suggest you replace the fan. The smell could be ozone, which is also a sign of a very broken fan.

[Maria92]

Is it burning plastic, or is it kind of that electrical burning smell? If the plastic itself is melting and burning, then yeah, that's toxic and get a new fan. Otherwise, that's ozone, which is slightly less toxic, and you should get a new fan anyway. I found a cute little fan that does the job without any smell. No idea what the brand is, but it's white, about a foot and a half high, rotates, and has four large white rectangular buttons on the base.

[juroara]

Don't know the brand? Now you're teasing me! The smell of plastic or ozone? It definitely has a plastic smell to it. This sucks! The whole reason why I wanted a new fan was to get rid of the stink of oil paints. Now it's just adding to the stink. Should I try running it to see if the smell goes away?

[Maria92]

Yeah, that could work. It may just be that the manufacturer left in some plastic bit where there shouldn't be one. Burning it off may do the trick. I recommend opening a window, though.