What on earth is this?!? And where did it come from??

Swa33er · Aug 7, 2021

So I completed a CU change on Friday, (It was a bitch btw) and once I was done, when I turned the power back on, switched the pendant on above my head in the hallway and heard a crackling sound coming from the pendant.
I switched the power back off and took the lamp out, to see that it was smoking because there was a strange grease like substance that had been dripping down the flex of the pendant and into the lamp holder, shorting across the pins of the lamp.
I unscrewed the pendant and found what is in the picture I have attached.
Confused, I took up the floorboards above the fitting upstairs, expecting to find some sort of decomposing animal, but found absolutely nothing, totally dry, nothing out of the ordinary.
The property has been rewired as recently as the ‘new colours’ and after stripping the cables back in the fitting a little way, found them to be fine and no sign of any grease or moisture.
Along with having no idea where the hell this grease like stuff could have come from, even if it was sitting in the pendant screw cap like it is, how did it manage to find its way down the flex to such excess, that it’s flooded the lamp holder enough to short the lamp out ?
It’s not like the fitting has been in an incredibly greasy kitchen for years, it’s in the damn hallway!
Look forward to any theories ?

[ElectriciansForums.net] What on earth is this?!? And where did it come from??

westward10 · Aug 14, 2021

nbwriter said:
can never tell if this is tongue-in-cheek banter..? but if it is related to rodents, touching or tasting it is an incredibly bad idea. (i have to deal with rats and mice in my trade)... from a government website:

"Both wild rats and mice can carry many diseases including hantavirus, leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, Tularemia and Salmonella."

if it's really bugging you what it is, you can put some in a sealed specimen tube (with an air tight lid).
it should be clearly labelled (with a date) and sent off to a pro-lab for forensic analysis. (use gloves to put substance in tube, wipe off tube, dispose of wipe & gloves).

if you have to deal with dead rodents, i use one of those "litter pickers", wearing disposable gloves. after disposing of "mickey mouse", dispose of gloves, wash hands and litter picker. ?

so professional.... (there's a trending word for people like this: "frenemies") ?

kind regards, nb

Tongue in the cheek banter, what do you think.

nicebutdim · Aug 14, 2021

nbwriter said:
if you have to deal with dead rodents, i use one of those "litter pickers", wearing disposable gloves. after disposing of "mickey mouse", dispose of gloves, wash hands and litter picker. ?

Lift them through a plastic bag, then pull bag inside out and tie it for disposal.

I'd be happy to never find myself disposing of another rodent, but such is life.

Edit: For clarity, I only recommend the above method be used for dead rodents.