bufbooth Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Last October I had a Heater Blower motor fire due to mice build their nest in the blower motor assembly and on the blower motor speed regulator which is in the vent. For a few seconds I thought I was going to lose the motorhome, black smoke had filled the entire cab. After a minute of fire extinguisher and water use, the fire was out. The final damage ended up being a half melted Blower assembly, a 1/4 melted A/C evaporator, and some rubber matting and carpet damage. I decide to try to make it a little harder on the mice this time around, I armored up the blower assembly a bit. Also, I am thinking about constructing a mouse tire barrier that wraps around each tire, maybe something like using 12 inch aluminum flashing. The following are the pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 There are many mouse and squirrel proofing ideas on the internet. None of which work 100% My mother had squirrels in her attic she was told to put moth balls up there. When asked how effective they were she responded the squirrels are up there playing golf and bowling. On one site dryer sheets are hyped for mouse and mosquito repelling. I took a dryer sheet into a mosquito infected area and had several mosquito's land on my hand but not one on the dryer sheet, so they do work. Doubt they are any good for mice either. I had 2 cats that were fed in the hallway in front of a cabinet. One day I opened a drawer on the cabinet and there was about a pound of cat food in it. The mice would steal the cats food and store it in the dresser! So a multi pronged defense is needed. Plug holes, cat, traps, prayer. Good luck Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Big problem. Be sure to check your air filter box too. It's not so much of a problem with a FI engine but many older vehicles with carbs they plugged up the air filters over heating the catalytic converter setting fire to the vehicle. I have caught quite a few with stuff call Gluy Lewy it's a sticky pad with bait figuring mice can't jump real high I put them on top of the tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Or you could take a different approach and block their ability to climb up into the vehicle. It is a non chemical approach. Put tall sheet metal rings around the tires. You can buy rolls of wide metal flashing from places such as Home Depot and form it into rings making sure the way you join the seam is not something that will be easy to climb. A few small sheet metal screws should work OK. You might need to get creative with the shape of your metal barrier to get it as tall as possible inside of the wheel well area, meaning a true circle is probably not going to be the optimal shape to get maximum height of metal. Mice can't climb slick metal and hopefully they won't be able to jump that high. Link to image of sheet metal rings around a tire, its an airplane in this photo but you will get the idea from it http://eaaforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1198&d=1322837977 If you leave a hose or cord connected to the RV put a funnel shaped object on the cord near the top that they can't climb past when crawling up the cord or hose. Funnels are not difficult to make from the flashing. Don't park next to bushes or any object they could jump across to the RV hood, tires or bumpers from. Don't park in an area of grass that is not kept mowed short. You should be parked on pavement or a graveled pad. Or if you can't do that stake a tarp or landscape barrier cloth on the ground to prevent vegetation growth under or near the RV while in storage. Just remember when camping not to park in tall grass if you can avoid doing so. Be sure you have stuffed stainless steel wool into any gaps on plumbing lines or the gasoline filler tube line going into the RV. A squirt of expanding foam will help hold it in place and also keep out drafts and exhaust fumes. Be sure at this time of the year to daily pickup and remove any fallen fruits in your yard. Those fruits attract mice and rats. Don't park near a vegetable garden. Food sources attract them and at this time of year there is plenty of it around. In the fall the problem is going to be worse because they are looking for a winter home to nest in. So now is the time if you are putting our RV away for winter to take these simple protective measures. Some cats live to hunt, others don't. But cat urine and poop will attract mice and rats if the rodent is infected with toxoplasma gondii. It is a common parasite that has a life cycle that is competed in rodents and cats. So don't have a cat litter box in a garage if you park your RV or car in the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanman Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 When my Mom was living out in the woods the kind of small mice with a fanned tail were eating the rubber insulation on the wiring under the hood of her Dodge Caravan. Had to put plastic spiralwrap over everything, which worked. You could see the marks in the dust made by their tails, but no chewing on the spiralwrap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bufbooth Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 I screened in the air filter intake a few years ago, and even the coach heater exhaust pipe, could not believe they got in there, but they did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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