Urine in a light fixture. How?

[MrFloppy]

Last evening, I was over the neighbors. We were sitting around their kitchen table which was lit by a pendant tiffany style lamp like this one: http://www.tiffanylamps-by-mercantila.com/Images/250x400/Quoizel_22_inch_Diameter_Hyacinth_Tiffany_Hanging_Fixture_Tiffany_Lamp.jpg

The lamp uses an incandescant bulb that has an 8" translucent globe around it. The bulb points down so the globe has an opening for the bulb and is prevented from falling by 3 small thumbscrews - like a lot of light fixtures.

So we're sitting there consuming fine ales. I look up and notice that the globe has some liquid in the bottom of it. The liquid is yellow. About 5-6 fl oz.

We take the globe down and sniff. It is urine.

The 6 of us sat there and tried to figure this out but we couldn't.

Immediately above the kitchen is a bedroom. The family is a very normal clean middle class family with two kids. We are satisfied that the boy did not take the globe down and pee in it for a laugh.

So what's with that? How did urine get into the globe of a light fixture that is 7' from the floor and above a large round table.

[Contrapuntal]

So what's with that? How did urine get into the globe of a light fixture that is 7' from the floor and above a large round table.The girl did it? Someone did. Your choices are 1) A human agent, or 2) A wizard did it.

[Napier]

>very normal clean middle class family

Well, I agree we can all begin by ruling out the thought it was one of them.

[panache45]

My guess is that though it may have smelled like urine, it was something else. Probably some water leaked in from somewhere else, between the ceiling and the upstairs floor, and became discolored through contact along the way.

Or: do they have a pet that may have peed on the floor above?

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Leaky pipes?

[MrFloppy]

No pets, no leaky pipes. The carpet in the room above the kitchen is perfect.

[A.R. Cane]

It would be unusual, but not impossible, for a drainage pipe to run through the center of a ceiling. If someone didn't do this intentionally, then it had to come into the globe from above, which would seem to indicate a leaking pipe, although, even a leaky pipe is unlikely to drip pure, or even nearly pure, urine. Conduit isn't normally used in home construction, although that would be a possiblity, in that conduit could provide a path for liquid to be channeled from some other place. It could be that it's not urine, perhaps rainwater, or condensation, that has been tainted by filtering through some material used in construction.
Then again, maybe it's just an incontinent poltergeist?

[Crafter_Man]

Sure it's human urine? Maybe a mouse lives in it or something.

[jjimm]

Does stewed insects look/smell like pee?

[bbs2k]

Well they sure do taste like urine!

[cwthree]

Could mice or other rodents have gotten into the fixture?

Could some other liquid have gotten into the fixture when someone was cleaning house? Old urine usually has an ammonia smell. Maybe someone sprayed the fixture with an ammonia-based cleaner, meaning to clean the outside, and some got inside?

[SpaceDog]

I agree with what everyone else said, I have another (unlikely) possibility.

You said you where in the kitchen, and it looks like you noticed not them. Perhaps it's been there for ages (or building up for ages). It's just possible that it's condensation that collects from steam in the kitchen.

I'd imagine that stale water that's coming with kitchen smells and is repeatedly heated and cooled would smell pretty much like urine.

The test would be to steam up the kitchen with the light off and see in the inside of the bowl is damp afterwards.

[Astroboy14]

Obviously a taste-test in in order to ascertain whether it is urine or not.

[Plynck]

Well they sure do taste like urine!I knew that if I clicked on this thread I would not be disappointed.It would be unusual, but not impossible, for a drainage pipe to run through the center of a ceiling.The only trouble though is that if the upstairs drain does run between or through floor joists, it was probably laid at a pitch that doesn't meet code. If there is a slow leak from the bathroom, it may follow the pipe, and drop off at the electrical fixture.

A simple check would be to unscrew the lamp fixture from the electrical box (kill the electricity, obviously), and see if there is any trace of moisture or urine smell in the box. Possible culprit would be the wax seal on the toilet needing replacement.

[Johnny L.A.]

Obviously a taste-test in in order to ascertain whether it is urine or not.
Blackadder: Is Captain Rum joining us for this bring-a-sample party, or is he going to sit this one out?

Percy: Oh no, he's been swigging his for ages. He says he likes it. Actually, come to think of it, he started before the water ran out.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Videogame residue.

































From the Wii.

:D

[Khampelf]

We are satisfied that the boy did not take the globe down and pee in it for a laugh.



This is the premise I'd examine most closely. Occam's razor points to it.

Any possibilty of a disgruntled tradesman?

[Si Amigo]

Perhaps your boy "pissed off" one of his freinds.

[MrFloppy]

I agree with what everyone else said, I have another (unlikely) possibility.

You said you where in the kitchen, and it looks like you noticed not them. Perhaps it's been there for ages (or building up for ages). It's just possible that it's condensation that collects from steam in the kitchen.

I'd imagine that stale water that's coming with kitchen smells and is repeatedly heated and cooled would smell pretty much like urine.

The test would be to steam up the kitchen with the light off and see in the inside of the bowl is damp afterwards.

I'm going to have to go with this one. The fixture is in the kitchen area. Having said that, there are three identical fixtures in the kitchen. None have the smelly stuff in them.

As for the wiring methods, my house is identical and I just ripped my kitchen apart. All wiring is NM cable strung through the joists. No pipes are anywhere near this fixture. No conduit.

Wierd happenings.

[danceswithcats]

The only trouble though is that if the upstairs drain does run between or through floor joists, it was probably laid at a pitch that doesn't meet code. If there is a slow leak from the bathroom, it may follow the pipe, and drop off at the electrical fixture.

Don't know why you'd say that. Under IRC 3005.3 and UPC 708.0, 1/8"/1' slope is adequate for 4" pipe (3" pipe if under 36 Fixture Units). Therefore, a water closet floor flange turning immediately 90° could run laterally ~8' in 4" pipe before meeting the DWV stack, assuming 2 x 8 solid sawn framing of the floor assembly.

[Joey P]

Perhaps your boy "pissed off" one of his freinds.
I think "pissed ON" would make more sense here.

[Jman]

I agree with what everyone else said, I have another (unlikely) possibility.

You said you where in the kitchen, and it looks like you noticed not them. Perhaps it's been there for ages (or building up for ages). It's just possible that it's condensation that collects from steam in the kitchen.

I'd imagine that stale water that's coming with kitchen smells and is repeatedly heated and cooled would smell pretty much like urine.

The test would be to steam up the kitchen with the light off and see in the inside of the bowl is damp afterwards.


I'd say that this is extraordinarily unlikely...unless there is enough condensation to deposit 3-4 oz of water in steam every time they cook, it's not going to build up...it'll condense for a few minutes, and evaporate. Unless they're cooking more or less 24/7, there's just no way for so much condensate to build up so that it wouldn't evaporate before the next cooking session. If it was that bad, it would feel like a steam bath every time they cooked! (a real, fully spritzed steam bath from a spa, not hyperbole).

[Mangetout]

I took apart a (supposedly) waterproof outdoor bulkhead light fitting once - because it was visibly half filled with a straw-coloured liquid. It smelled like fishy piss - but it was just accumulated rainwater and (I think) a mixture of bacterial growth residues, dirt and whatever chemicals might have leached out of the fittings and the brick and mortar wall above (to which the power cable was affixed) - it was filling because it was installed with the cable gland pointing upwards and rainwater was dripping in through the cable gland.

I don't think there's any possibility of the liquid actually being urine in my case, due to the placement of the fitting - and my observation that it filled up again over subsequent months following the initial emptying - although it never smelled as bad subsequently, but I think that's just because I wasn't letting it sit there as long.

[cmkeller]

Did the light fixture come from a store that advertises itself as "number one in the business"?

[Plynck]

Don't know why you'd say that.Because I found that it had been done in my house with a bathroom remodeling project. The drain for the shower and sink was about 12' away from the stack. I had no idea that it didn't meet code until the kitchen below was redone and the pipes above were exposed. Agree that this would be unlikely in new construction, but remodeling brings out the worst in compromises.

Academic issue, anyway; MrFloppy says that there are no pipes above.