Dauber Screen

[onekla]

We have a 2013 3100RL and are looking for a dobber screen that goes over the hot water heater. Has anyone been able to find one that fits? Our camping world carries some but they're not big enough.

[NCFischers]

I made one with some aluminum screen and a hot glue gun.

[BusyCarol]

Okay...all bite...what is a 'dobber screen'?

[NCFischers]

Mud dobber and wasp screen.

[onekla]

Camping World calls them "flying insect screens". They keep out the dirt dobbers.

[DQDick]

Like Jim we made them for the frig vents also. In Kansas in the summer those guys will nest everywhere and screw a lot of stuff up badly.

[GregN]

You can also try Tweetys.com. They have alot of rv parts. Good to cover the vents for the refer on the outside. Another place to check once in awhile are the air conds on the roof. Had the wasps get in there on my old travel trailer.

[WeBeFulltime]

My dealer installed screens with the deal onto our water heater, furnace, and reefer.

[Flymutt]

If you google "RV mud dauber screen" I bet you get a host of retailers but Tweety's or Dyersonline probably have them. You might also try Amazon. I had a dealer tell me that it was not good to cover up the refer vent with screen but to rather put mothballs (in a half-cut opened can), dryer sheets or a pet flea collar in the compartment. I'm going to try the pet collar thing (woof...woof) this year, since I read that mothballs are flamable.

[mhs4771]

Just remember for the fridge don't go too small on the screen. Regular window screen cuts air flow approx in half and you need sufficient air flow up through the fridge for it to work properly. That's part of the reason unit with the fridge in a slide have fans to help increase the air flow with both vents on the side they don't get the natural convection of the heat rising.

[Art-n-Marge]

Here's another source with different shapes and sizes... if you want to try a search, the correct spelling is "dauber" (as in Mud Dauber which is a type of wasp - when I was little and we were running around a park, my older brother ran smack into one and it stung him between the eyes; it was not pretty. The memories are still quite vivid to this day)

http://www.makariosrv.com/search.php...creens&x=0&y=0

[Flymutt]

quote:Originally posted by Art-n-Marge

Here's another source with different shapes and sizes... if you want to try a search, the correct spelling is "dauber" (as in Mud Dauber which is a type of wasp - when I was little and we were running around a park, my older brother ran smack into one and it stung him between the eyes; it was not pretty. The memories are still quite vivid to this day)

http://www.makariosrv.com/search.php...creens&x=0&y=0

Hey...I got it right!

[BusyCarol]

Ohhhh now I get it! We used to have those little buggers in a few of the campsites I have used over the years! They are a nuisance! The no-see-ums in Florida are just as bad, not because they nest, but because they bite!!! In Florida my mom wouldn't clean the screens because it made it harder for the no-see-ums to get in. We will have to look into a dauber screen. Thanks everyone for the info!

[DQDick]

The dauber's don't live everywhere. The problem they present is that they make nests made out of mud that can unbalance fan blades, plug exhaust and intake openings and mess with air circulation. While there are probably wasps in most parts of the country, dauber's don't live everywhere. If you don't have them in your area you probably shouldn't worry about it. Check and make sure you don't have some other bee or something to worry about, however.

[onekla]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

[Art-n-Marge]

Warning about what DQDick says. I have mud daubers where I live (Murrieta/Temecula, in Southern California) and the bad news is that last summer I had a mud dauber problem in my rig! The good news is that they hunted and killed every (Black Widow) spider that had nested around my rig.

The mud dauber nest was in the front storage compartment (all kinds of openings and gaps in that area) on the other side of the batteries. A screen would not have worked for that area. I waited for fall, the new hatchlings took off and I was able to scrape the almost concrete-like nests out of the compartment. I would not like any part of that nest around vents in the rig.

So far, I still have no spiders in the rig and the mud daubers have not returned.

[onekla]

I spoke with our Camping World today and they have more sizes of the dauber screens on order. We'll see if they get our size in. Thanks again, everyone!