Back East Don Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 My motorhome water system has already been winterized but still getting some use out of it. Been taking it fishing around Newport RI. During the summers I have typically have no need for heat. On these fishing trips I've been running the heat and lets just say it wasn't smelling like a rose. I had visions of something having made its home in my heater box. So today I decided to take a look. I pulled the heater fan out and broke out the USB camera and ran it up into the heating system. Also pulled the heater box output deflector and looked in from that end. Also managed to get the camera into the AC box. So far nothing. One whiff of the fan though and there is definitely a need to clean the system out. I'm familiar with a product called Fridgi-Fresh but I'd have to order it online as no one around here carries it. So off to Amazon I head. In reading through the reviews and questions I come across a post where someone says Lysol works about as well. I figure what have I got to lose. I grab a bottle and dilute it down about 20 to 1. I plastic tarp the floor and use a paint tray liner to catch what is going to come out from the seems. Fan goes back in after a good cleaning. Then using a long funnel, I slowly pour some of the mixture into the fan box via the grate in the recirculating door openings behind the glove box. As I suspected, I got a good deal of stuff coming out at the seams but the floor is vinyl and I got most of the gunk in the plastic or trays. The Lysol general purpose cleaner also foams up pretty good with the fan going. The water itself is dark black coming out and foul smelling. The motor is pretty much protected and there are drains in the heating/cooling system for condensation. So I figure nothing is going to get hurt from the cleaner/water. After a few cycles of cleaner then plain water, I up the concentration to foam things up further. At one point I have cleaner foam coming out the dash vents so I'm sure I got everywhere. I flush a bunch more times till the water is mostly clear in both the tray and also the AC drain tube in the engine compartment. By this point the engine has been running a good while and the heat is doing its thing drying it all out. I got both doors open but the windows are all fogged up initially from all the moisture. While I'm letting the engine run, I clean up. Plastic caught everything that got by the trays. Get everything all cleaned up and things are smelling so much better. Finished a bit too late this evening but will take it out tomorrow for a bit of a drive and see what the nose thinks. I've got the next two weeks off and Monday the temps are in the mid 50's. Looks like I'll run out of season before the temps get too cold to go out. Mostly everything ends Dec 31st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Never mind the heater, get to work on the dinette! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 Never mind the heater, get to work on the dinette! Jim It could very well happen. I've got two weeks off. Last week I took off, I fell off a ladder the very first day. Hoping to avoid another trip to the ER and weeks of recovery. Still not exactly 100% Last weekend, I cleaned up the garage and shop. Should have most of the materials. Just got to get past Christmas first. Also have to review my notes and drawings but I took another hard look at it today. Would be nice to get the two chair pedestals out of the way even if I don't get the table done till spring. Not exactly sure how it will benefit you unless you have a couple of Euro donor chairs. Otherwise it is just a couple of boxes not unlike what I ripped out plus a little metal fab and welding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 First I hurt my shoulder and could do little for a while. I have put off painting the house as long as I could so now must get that done. The shoulder still hurts but Dr said to use it. Then up and down ladders and such is killing my back so I am hobbling a bit. I use a leaf blower to clean out the garage and shop, the shop is just one end of the screened lanai. I have 2 RV captains type chairs,they seem to be a good fit. I have been unable to find reasonably priced swivel bases to play with. . I like your Euro chair idea and if I could find a Euro type chair for cheap I would like to experiment with it. I did find 2 for $30, they seemed to be a large frame so passed on them. Those chairs with foot stools would be much better than the RV seats. You are pretty creative and I am interested in how you will mount them to floor? It's not like we have 3/4" plywood and joists to work with! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 When I bought my '88 Escaper, the heater fan did not turn at all. It was one of the many repair jobs that brought the price down to less than half of what the RV was really worth. I pulled out the glove compartment w/door (this was really not necessary) removed about 8 screws that held in the motor/fan and pulled the fan out. The heater box was packed tight with a giant mouse house. I got the shop vacuum out and removed everything that I could with the vac. I used a bent coat hanger to dig into the duct work to get what I could. I still had pieces of mouse house in the duct work that I could not reach so I adapted my leaf blower to blow into all of the dash vents, floor vents and defroster vents. When I fired up the leaf blower, stuff flew out of the heater box that was hard to believe. When I reassembled the unit, I sprayed Lysol spray into the intake in front of the windshield until the spray was coming out of every vent. The entire process took about 2 hours and everything worked great. I was wearing a respirator during this whole process to avoid getting anything into my lungs. I had a friend that was on life support for 3 months due to a virus that he got from tearing apart a beaver dam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 I have had to do that every year with at least one of my vehicles. Heater core is the favorite target and air cleaner the second. As to disease? Some people just get sick easier then others. I've worked on many a beaver dam. Also used to trap them. Never got sick from it yet. On the other hand, my college prof brother got real sick with beaver fever and had never been out of the city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 I would be more concerned with Henna virus from mice droppings. That’s some bad stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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