Bats in the belfry

[Dave W]

Well, not actually the belfry but the fridge upper vent.
A couple weeks ago I washed the trailer and chased a bat off the outside of that vent, not thinking that he actually may have been living inside of it. Jump ahead to yesterday while winterizing the unit, did my usual inspection and to put a plastic weather shield on the vent. In two weeks, that bat had left me a good many little poops that look at first glance, like mouse turds.

Jump ahead to today and now it's suit up time for cleanup. The Province of Quebec has possibly the best site on cleaning bat poo up. Not fun - 9-1 bleach/water disinfecting solution, heavy gloves, 9 mil HF nitrile for me), goggles, face mask, paper towels, a wash with (antibacterial Dawn for me) then let everything dry. I'll finish with a spray of 90% alcohol. Yes, both 120 and 12 volt power is off.

For that cover, and since the 5er will be back on the same site next summer, those louvers have been covered with screening, pop riveted in place. I may add a couple vent holes to open more cooling area.

....and I thought I had experienced virtually everything while trailering. What's next!?

[DQDick]

They do make screens to fit in the vent openings. I use them on both our rigs, primarily becuase of the muddobbers. They also seem to help with rain driven by high wind as we have never had to use the magnet trick and frequently like yesterday have had heavy rain driven by 50-70mph wind.

[rohrmann]

Originally Posted by Dave W

Well, not actually the belfry but the fridge upper vent.
A couple weeks ago I washed the trailer and chased a bat off the outside of that vent, not thinking that he actually may have been living inside of it. Jump ahead to yesterday while winterizing the unit, did my usual inspection and to put a plastic weather shield on the vent. In two weeks, that bat had left me a good many little poops that look at first glance, like mouse turds.

Jump ahead to today and now it's suit up time for cleanup. The Province of Quebec has possibly the best site on cleaning bat poo up. Not fun - 9-1 bleach/water disinfecting solution, heavy gloves, 9 mil HF nitrile for me), goggles, face mask, paper towels, a wash with (antibacterial Dawn for me) then let everything dry. I'll finish with a spray of 90% alcohol. Yes, both 120 and 12 volt power is off.

For that cover, and since the 5er will be back on the same site next summer, those louvers have been covered with screening, pop riveted in place. I may add a couple vent holes to open more cooling area.

....and I thought I had experienced virtually everything while trailering. What's next!?

Might have to change your MOC handle to Batman & Batgirl

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by DQDick

They do make screens to fit in the vent openings. I use them on both our rigs, primarily becuase of the muddobbers. They also seem to help with rain driven by high wind as we have never had to use the magnet trick and frequently like yesterday have had heavy rain driven by 50-70mph wind.

Just ordered a set of 3 of the CAMCO screens for the lower vent. The upper has a mod already for the added two fans so would not have worked well there

Originally Posted by rohrmann

Might have to change your MOC handle to Batman & Batgirl

Been called/named (much) worse


One more winterizing surprise was that the toilet valve quit. Thetford sells a separate and complete base assembly for their Style 2 that's a bunch less dollars then a complete new toilet tho I did 'lust' for a Gpmetic 320 and would have gone that way if it was still SeaLand. It looks like when Dometic bought that SeaLand name they cost improved(?) it.

[rohrmann]

We've had our Dometic 310 for about eight years now, and we full time, and have not had to replace anything including the valve seal. Still holds water fine and flushes perfectly. We got rid of the Thetford after several months of trouble, including one incident when the pedal blew off the toilet one night, and fortunately I was able to wake up fast enough to stop the water flow before we had a flood. Money spent on one of the Dometic toilets, 310 or 320, will be an excellent investment.

[scottz]

Always wondered what a belfry was. Now I know.

the part of a bell tower or steeple in which bells are housed.
a bell tower or steeple housing bells, especially one that is part of a church.

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by rohrmann

We've had our Dometic 310 for about eight years now, and we full time, and have not had to replace anything including the valve seal. Still holds water fine and flushes perfectly. We got rid of the Thetford after several months of trouble, including one incident when the pedal blew off the toilet one night, and fortunately I was able to wake up fast enough to stop the water flow before we had a flood. Money spent on one of the Dometic toilets, 310 or 320, will be an excellent investment.

Bob - it came down the a couple factors whether I was going to fix the Thetfords or go to a Dometic and regardless of what I said above, it wasn't the dollars but $75 vs $265 did help the sway:


= this one has lasted 7 plus years of 60 to 100 days use/year after a warranty replacement of the OE after a month
= We will probably have to end our RVing days in another couple years or less due to age related issues.

Will I be sorry - we'll see, but in effect, the new base makes this one as new again and our current one has had no reliability issues until this week.

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by scottz

Always wondered what a belfry was. Now I know.

the part of a bell tower or steeple in which bells are housed.
a bell tower or steeple housing bells, especially one that is part of a church.

A day leaning something new is always good.


(Ever wonder if Batman's cave actually had bats? )

[Dave W]

Ordered and received the Camco fridge vent screen. Received and installed. They fit perfectly in the Dometic 20" vents. Onnly negative is that they only supply three tie wraps and in white which will deteriorate quickly in direct sun. Into my box of electrical stuff and dug out a pack of black. I used 3/screen.


Thetford toilet. Asked the DW which color I needed - and her usually unerring eye said white. Nope, according to the impossible to see in place. it's bone color. Correct one is on its way.


It is a simple change over - 2 screws, unhook the vacuum breaker clamp and remove, give the china bowl a CCW twist and its' apart. Oh, and I could probably have saved the original with a new ball seal