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Old 04-25-2011, 06:48 PM   #1
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Mice Nest Dangers

A couple of years ago I was camping with my sister/brother in-law sitting around a nice late September campfire. It was getting a little chilly so my sister decided to go into her Jay Feather LGT 29N to turn on the furnace, and once the furnace started she came back out to the campfire. This was the first time the furnace had been turned on since the prior spring.

About ten minutes later someone screamed that there was smoke coming from her 29N, so I ran into her TT grabbing the fire extinguisher and immediately seen the source of the smoke.....the cold air furnace vent. Once I got to the vent I could see flames behind it and unloaded the extinguisher through the vent louvers. I had the flames out in about 5 seconds, then headed back outside to pull the shore power and turn the LP tanks off.

All said in done, we confirmed that there was no signs of heat building up in the walls, so we just opened up all the widows so the TT would air out. My sister stayed in my TT that evening. I took the following photos the next morning after removing the furnace vent cover:





The TT was taken to the Jayco dealer and they determined that the root cause was a mice nest. The entire furnace had to be replaced.

So, if your furnace has not been in operation for an extended period of time, when first starting it up give it a little run-time before leaving it unattended.

Oh, another great mouse nesting area....., behind the microwave.

Bob
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Old 04-25-2011, 11:25 PM   #2
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Good advise. We will be mouse proofing our trailer as soon as the weather breaks. Hopefully there won't be any openings on this one. I do have lots of steel wool just incase.
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Old 04-26-2011, 06:58 AM   #3
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Thanks for the heads up, one more thing to add to the pre-season checklist.
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Old 04-26-2011, 07:05 AM   #4
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Mice love RVing too....
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Old 04-26-2011, 09:57 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Seann45 View Post
Mice love RVing too....
I really needed that one Seann, I am heading to the farm this weekend for a family birthday and will take the time to check out if I still have a problem with mice after my last fall discovery. The weather here is starting to warm up and most of the snow is gone so I will be getting my rig ready to have that spray on insulation done, and hope my mice problem will be the thing of the past.
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Old 04-26-2011, 10:28 AM   #6
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Wow, scary!
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Old 04-27-2011, 04:47 PM   #7
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they will build a nest just about anywhere. Roasted mouse, anyone?
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Old 04-27-2011, 05:24 PM   #8
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If you feel the "critters" got into the RV's heating system because of an opening or them "drilling" into the factory "cheap" fabric flex pipe, I would simply replace the fabric flex pipe with real steel. Same steel flex piping they install on stick home dryer exhaust vents. re: http://www.kustom-parts.com/images/p...flexhose.3.gif

Within my area, many home hardware type stores sell steel flex pipe in 4" and 5" diameter. And for the sharp corners, use "real steel" 90 degree elbows. Real Steel pipes works for my Jayco TT as well.

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