Ever smelled burnt popcorn, melted crayons, or a faint whiff of ghostly seaweed in your workshop? That’s not your imagination—it’s the scent of components meeting their doom. In this episode of Engineer’s Grimoire, we explore the eerie but practical art of identifying overheated ICs, fried voltage regulators, scorched resistors, and burnt PCB traces by nose alone.

You’ll learn the chemistry behind those unforgettable smells, how to recognize early warning signs before smoke rises, and what repair or salvage rituals can save your project from the grave. Because in electronics, even the air itself carries warnings… if you dare to breathe them in.