Owners of a certain model of Dell laptop have been subjected to very unpleasant “cat urine” odours emanating from their new machines.

The powerful odour is “not at all health hazard” and seems to have been caused by a “manufacturing process that has now been changed,” according to SteveB, a senior technical consultant for Dell posting on the company’s support forums.

Dell was first made aware of the issue in June 2013 when a Dell user called “three west” first posted about the smell of a new Dell Latitude E6430u saying “the machine is great, but it smells as if it was assembled near a tomcat's litter box. It is truly awful! It seems to be coming from the keyboard”.

Cleaning is not the answer

Dell first suggested cleaning the keyboard and air vents around the laptop to cure the smell, but as more and more users complained of the same stench being emitted from the laptop from different countries and regions, it soon became clear that it wasn’t users to blame but the actual laptop.

“Well .. here I am Sunday doing some work on the couch and my wife says ,"What stinks like cat pee?". I said ... I think its this laptop ... she puts her nose up to the keyboard and BAM! It really stinks,” said gambit29.

Fixed but still smelling in the home

The smell was narrowed down to an issue with manufacturing, which was apparently resolved in October, meaning that new machines running off the production line were cured of the cat-pee smell.

For all those suffering from the smell, the only solution was to return the affected laptops to Dell for a replacement, although Dell was initially worried it wouldn’t “have sufficient stock for everyone and also that any parts we are sending out do not also have the same issue”.

Unfortunately, not all of Dell’s replacement machines were free from odour as one user complained: “I just received my 5th replacement 6430u yesterday and the smell is still there ...”

Dell Latitude E6430u users are now advised to contact technical support to arrange for an exchange of any odour afflicted machines.

Dell failed to elaborate exactly what was causing the issue, but the majority of users complained that the laptop’s palm rest and keyboard seemed to be the culprit.

“If you order an E6430u now, it will not have the issue,” SteveB added.

• In September, Dell’s founder Michael Dell bought back the PC manufacturer in a $24.8bn deal