A Seasonal Warning

At the start of this year I had to seek help from the others in this helpful group about a problem that I had, my habitation and other 12volt systems were dead except when on EHU when everything worked as normal.
I had a few replies but it seemed that everyone was as stumped as I was. I managed to find an Autosleeper dealer's engineer who pointed me to the hidden fuses, and there are quite a few where you would never suspect, but to no avail.
I "Bit the Bullet" and surrendered the van to a Main Dealer who had difficulty tracing the fault but it all became clear when the engineer phoned me today.
I had a rodent infestation over the storage period a little while back and it took a lot of effort to rid the van of the smell and excrement of these pests but I hadn't realised that the little * Inappropriate Word * had chewed through wires behind the gas fire in our Nuevo which are pretty inaccessible to we mere mortals and that has been the cause of all my travails.
I littered the van with Rodent Killer Bait after the smell experience but it was too late as the cable damage had been done but wasn't evident for a while after.
At this time of year we tend to mothball our units even if only for a short period of time so take heed of my experience and leave bait for these furry visitors, I haven't had the bill from the Dealer yet but we all know it will have been an expensive lesson to learn!

Pleased your free from the wee beasties Mc, and your electrical problem is solved.
Boaby

We've done this before, I suspect it'll be an annual problem.

Here is my solution:-


It's rodent scarer from PRIMROSE, google them. IN the first pic it was on top of the fuse box on the Warwick, its now on top of the battery on the Exec.
I also have a bat detector so can listen to this thing at work, it screams!! Any rodent will be out of there in seconds assuming it ever got in.
It is loud enough that we don't, now, use a 2nd one in the hab area, the underbonnet one does all the van.

We know it works, reversed down the drive after 3 weeks away, just as we came to a stop 3 mice ran like hell out of a bush. That was it working!

For those worried about your pets, Maisie here, was right beside it, all switched on, new batteries, and completely unconcerned.....

They DO use 2 x PP3 batteries and really they need to be high quality ones. Lifetime 3 months max in my experience. if the wee red light flashes it's working.

Work better than bait IMHO as bait attracts the wee * Inappropriate Word * who then eat it and die. SO, they come into the van to get "food" They cr8p all over the place, then die, usually in a hard to get place.


Battery Operated Sonic Rat and Mouse Repeller By PestBye:registered:

[ltr]4.6 star rating371 Reviews


[/ltr]



[size=36]£21.99[/size]

burlingtonboaby wrote:Pleased your free from the wee beasties Mc, and your electrical problem is solved.
Boaby

Cheers Boaby,
Lang may yer lum reek!

Looks like the RAF have been laying mines again there Ian. Dropped em in from the herc did you?
Sorry to see your problems Mcalid and thanks for the warning, had a number of them in the garage and killed about six with cheap traps, haven't seen any more for ages, fortunately none have made the van yet.
We have a number of badgers around here which I believe are partial to the little rodents so I shall forgive them for wrecking the lawns.

IanH wrote:We've done this before, I suspect it'll be an annual problem.

Here is my solution:-


It's rodent scarer from PRIMROSE, google them. IN the first pic it was on top of the fuse box on the Warwick, its now on top of the battery on the Exec.
I also have a bat detector so can listen to this thing at work, it screams!! Any rodent will be out of there in seconds assuming it ever got in.
It is loud enough that we don't, now, use a 2nd one in the hab area, the underbonnet one does all the van.

We know it works, reversed down the drive after 3 weeks away, just as we came to a stop 3 mice ran like hell out of a bush. That was it working!

For those worried about your pets, Maisie here, was right beside it, all switched on, new batteries, and completely unconcerned.....

They DO use 2 x PP3 batteries and really they need to be high quality ones. Lifetime 3 months max in my experience. if the wee red light flashes it's working.

Work better than bait IMHO as bait attracts the wee * Inappropriate Word * who then eat it and die. SO, they come into the van to get "food" They cr8p all over the place, then die, usually in a hard to get place.


Battery Operated Sonic Rat and Mouse Repeller By PestBye:registered:

[ltr]4.6 star rating371 Reviews


[/ltr]

SKU 
PB0070

[size=36]£21.99[/size]

Fairly typical it's out of stock!

Brand: Concept Research Pest Deterrents
Pest-Controller Ultrasonic Mouse Deterrent | Pest Deterrents
SKU: 196121

£18.99 £19.99

[size]
Incl. VAT 20%
ELECTRIC FENCE ONLINE........



[/size]

Web site is Electric Fence Online......

That's ordered, thanks Ian! A whole pound cheaper than Amazon too....

Co-incidentally just renewed the batteries in my Primrose mouse deterent devices.  The little devils made a mess of the underbonnet sound deadening on my last van and the first I knew about it was when my MoT tester drew my attention to the problem.  As he pointed out it could have been worse as they had left the electrics alone.  Each year I grumble about the cost of the batteries but then contemplate the cost of sorting out the problems.  If anyone is interested Tesco had packs of two of the appropriate 9V batteries for £3-50 yesterday, less than half the price of Duracel.  Mine lasted the twelve months after renewal last year.

Tony Comber