Hmmm Where The Hot Water 🤷🏼‍♂️ Flippin Mice 🐭 😄

[PP Bear]

Soooooo, the last time I used the gas hot water heater was at the Dorset Steam Fair and it worked great.

Haven’t needed to turn it on since and stupidly I didn’t check it out, until tonight, while we’re parked up in a FLT spot from Park4Night and it just wouldn’t work. Soooooo, I gets out the destructions and reads the faults blah blah blah and it all points to a 1.6A mini fuse on the PCB. There I am, at night, with the rear bed lifted, the water heater stripped down to the PCB and the fuse is fine and full voltage to the circuit.

Hmmmm, next I remove the switch gear from above the door and that’s all fine too. Lots of head scratching now. Soooo let’s trace the wires and I get to the point where they enter the floor and tadaaaaa, that’s where the ickle mice were coming in and munched up the wires Going to be painful getting it sorted. We’re wild camping for the next 4 days before heading to a couple of sites. Works fine on hookup, as they haven’t eaten that bit……..yet

 

[Spriddler]

Yebbut, as an FLT think about how much gas you're saving.

 

[Fdhadi]

Horrible little critters

 

[Just smiffy]

Are they living in the van somewhere do you think or just visitors…

 

[PP Bear]

Are they living in the van somewhere do you think or just visitors…

Think just visitors this time. Now we travel with the cat, we get a lot less of them. Think they popped in for a brew and left again

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[dryad]

wonder if it was that cheeky little chappie thats living in your shed?

 

[MisterB]

A box of two way Waco connecters will soon get you back working. They really are simple to use. I carry half a dozen two and three way with me and a few odd bits of cable as it's often easier to add a bit of cable between any damaged parts rather than struggle to connect what's left of the damaged cable.

 

[PP Bear]

A box of two way Waco connecters will soon get you back working. They really are simple to use. I carry half a dozen two and three way with me and a few odd bits of cable as it's often easier to add a bit of cable between any damaged parts rather than struggle to connect what's left of the damaged cable.

Don’t think they’ll do the job, there’s around 8 wires in that small bundle, which nearly all have been chewed through.

At the moment, I’ve not a lot spare to play with, as I pulled the chewed bit out from under the floor and that’s when I noticed the damage done.

Wish I had seen it sooner, as it would have saved me the trouble of stripping down to the boiler PCB to check the fuse

 

[funkyfunky]

Soooooo, the last time I used the gas hot water heater was at the Dorset Steam Fair and it worked great.

Haven’t needed to turn it on since and stupidly I didn’t check it out, until tonight, while we’re parked up in a FLT spot from Park4Night and it just wouldn’t work. Soooooo, I gets out the destructions and reads the faults blah blah blah and it all points to a 1.6A mini fuse on the PCB. There I am, at night, with the rear bed lifted, the water heater stripped down to the PCB and the fuse is fine and full voltage to the circuit.

Hmmmm, next I remove the switch gear from above the door and that’s all fine too. Lots of head scratching now. Soooo let’s trace the wires and I get to the point where they enter the floor and tadaaaaa, that’s where the ickle mice were coming in and munched up the wires Going to be painful getting it sorted. We’re wild camping for the next 4 days before heading to a couple of sites. Works fine on hookup, as they haven’t eaten that bit……..yet
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Naughty mouse

 

[Lenny HB]

Look on the bright side its an easy fix it could have been a lot worse.
I recently repaired the rear lighting loom on my mates Carthago foxes had chewed through the loom all 9 wires.

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[dryad]

Look on the bright side its an easy fix it could have been a lot worse.
I recently repaired the rear lighting loom on my mates Carthago foxes had chewed through the loom all 9 wires.

flippin' 'eck, he had foxes get in ? strewth, must have been a big hole..

.

 

[MisterB]

Don’t think they’ll do the job, there’s around 8 wires in that small bundle, which nearly all have been chewed through.

At the moment, I’ve not a lot spare to play with, as I pulled the chewed bit out from under the floor and that’s when I noticed the damage done.

Wish I had seen it sooner, as it would have saved me the trouble of stripping down to the boiler PCB to check the fuse

If you need to extend the cable so you can make a permanent fix, would a piece of ethernet cable or house alarm cable be of sufficient gauge? It might save having to buy a full roll of 8 core cable? Could you run it in a piece of conduit/trunking so the little buggers are less likely to do it again?

 

[Swiss]

I also had a fox problem, apparently it's quite common with the rise of urban foxes, I got in the van a while back, switched on the ignition and the dash lit up like a Christmas tree with one message after another mainly relating to braking, handbrake and cruise control issues, looked underneath and all the control cables to the back wheels and electric hand brake were hanging, completely chewed through. Fortunately being an electronics engineer I was able to repair/make a new wiring loom, 2 weeks later exactly the same thing happened again, I'm starting to get p!ssed off about by now, bearing in mind the Sprinter van was only 6 months old, fixed again with a few deterrent mods, good job I could sort it myself, god knows how much it would have cost at the Mercedes dealer!

 

[CleverTrevorUK]

a big guard dog may help with the fox issues - may be a bit of overkill on the mice tho!

 

[bigtree]

Soooooo, the last time I used the gas hot water heater was at the Dorset Steam Fair and it worked great.

Haven’t needed to turn it on since and stupidly I didn’t check it out, until tonight, while we’re parked up in a FLT spot from Park4Night and it just wouldn’t work. Soooooo, I gets out the destructions and reads the faults blah blah blah and it all points to a 1.6A mini fuse on the PCB. There I am, at night, with the rear bed lifted, the water heater stripped down to the PCB and the fuse is fine and full voltage to the circuit.

Hmmmm, next I remove the switch gear from above the door and that’s all fine too. Lots of head scratching now. Soooo let’s trace the wires and I get to the point where they enter the floor and tadaaaaa, that’s where the ickle mice were coming in and munched up the wires Going to be painful getting it sorted. We’re wild camping for the next 4 days before heading to a couple of sites. Works fine on hookup, as they haven’t eaten that bit……..yet
View attachment 745404

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View attachment 745406

Yesterday you were professing you loved the furry little things.

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[Poodlepower]

I have been spraying diluted peppermint oil in my motorhome over the winter and have never had any mice since. The previous winter they were an absolute nuisance and had done lots of damage.

 

[Phill D]

Don’t think they’ll do the job, there’s around 8 wires in that small bundle, which nearly all have been chewed through.

At the moment, I’ve not a lot spare to play with, as I pulled the chewed bit out from under the floor and that’s when I noticed the damage done.

Wish I had seen it sooner, as it would have saved me the trouble of stripping down to the boiler PCB to check the fuse

At least the wires are colour coded, my sons Transit had part of the central locking wiring cut through.
6 wires all white , even with the multi meter it took ages and a bit of verbal abuse to get it fixed.

 

[M and J]

Soooooo, the last time I used the gas hot water heater was at the Dorset Steam Fair and it worked great.

Haven’t needed to turn it on since and stupidly I didn’t check it out, until tonight, while we’re parked up in a FLT spot from Park4Night and it just wouldn’t work. Soooooo, I gets out the destructions and reads the faults blah blah blah and it all points to a 1.6A mini fuse on the PCB. There I am, at night, with the rear bed lifted, the water heater stripped down to the PCB and the fuse is fine and full voltage to the circuit.

Hmmmm, next I remove the switch gear from above the door and that’s all fine too. Lots of head scratching now. Soooo let’s trace the wires and I get to the point where they enter the floor and tadaaaaa, that’s where the ickle mice were coming in and munched up the wires Going to be painful getting it sorted. We’re wild camping for the next 4 days before heading to a couple of sites. Works fine on hookup, as they haven’t eaten that bit……..yet
View attachment 745404

View attachment 745405

View attachment 745406

Oh no, not more mice!! We've had so many in our van I started a tally count! We've even put a mouse trap under the front of the van and caught one yesterday. One day we caught two in two traps inside. I stupidly left two cartons of soya milk in the little cupboard under the oven. What a mess, the mice had drunk some of the milk, then spilt it and it went underneath the oven, then underneath the fridge and ended up coming out under the mat by the door entrance! We couldn't understand why there was milk under that mat. Today, there was the 12th mouse in a trap inside. There was a gap of a few days when we found nothing. I check twice a day morning and evening and we thought all our problems were over. We've had to remove and re-wash all the bedding, hoover up their numerous droppings and wiped everything down. They had managed to move into the cupboard under the bed where we keep the cutlery and pots and pans. All now indoors having been sterilised. We took the van out for the day to check everything was working OK. Some appear to be coming in through the engine, but they also have another route to get into the small cupboard. We've parked the van in the same place for many years and never had a problem despite being surrounded by fields. The only bright side was that it wasn't rats! Do you leave any food e.g. tins/jars in the van when not in use, or take all food out when van not in use? Any suggestions?

 

[Outdoors Dad]

It's frightening what damage these little bastard's can do! I regularly send my little dashund cross in the garage and surrounding areas for a go mouch!

 

[gus-lopez]

At least the wires are colour coded, my sons Transit had part of the central locking wiring cut through.
6 wires all white , even with the multi meter it took ages and a bit of verbal abuse to get it fixed.

when I changed a door lock on my transit I noticed they were all black

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[Nirvanauk]

Oh no, not more mice!! We've had so many in our van I started a tally count! We've even put a mouse trap under the front of the van and caught one yesterday. One day we caught two in two traps inside. I stupidly left two cartons of soya milk in the little cupboard under the oven. What a mess, the mice had drunk some of the milk, then spilt it and it went underneath the oven, then underneath the fridge and ended up coming out under the mat by the door entrance! We couldn't understand why there was milk under that mat. Today, there was the 12th mouse in a trap inside. There was a gap of a few days when we found nothing. I check twice a day morning and evening and we thought all our problems were over. We've had to remove and re-wash all the bedding, hoover up their numerous droppings and wiped everything down. They had managed to move into the cupboard under the bed where we keep the cutlery and pots and pans. All now indoors having been sterilised. We took the van out for the day to check everything was working OK. Some appear to be coming in through the engine, but they also have another route to get into the small cupboard. We've parked the van in the same place for many years and never had a problem despite being surrounded by fields. The only bright side was that it wasn't rats! Do you leave any food e.g. tins/jars in the van when not in use, or take all food out when van not in use? Any suggestions?

I was catching a lot of mice in traps in the van, then it dawned on me that by baiting the traps with chocolate they were being enticed inside!! What I do now is take everything out and wipe every surface down with diluted dettol. it works.

 

[Phill D]

when I changed a door lock on my transit I noticed they were all black

Thinking about it they may well have been, I just remember it was a real pain and all were the same colour,
And jumbled up as a previous owner put an angle grinder through them.
Don’t ask

 

[Hoovie]

If you need to extend the cable so you can make a permanent fix, would a piece of ethernet cable or house alarm cable be of sufficient gauge? It might save having to buy a full roll of 8 core cable? Could you run it in a piece of conduit/trunking so the little buggers are less likely to do it again?

Alarm cable or ethernet would be much too thin. Go to a motor factors or agricultural store and you could buy a single metre of 7-core trailer cable which would be perfect.

 

[PP Bear]

Yesterday you were professing you loved the furry little things.

Yep, still love em, as I do all creatures, but can still be pee’d off with the little blighters

 

[PP Bear]

If you need to extend the cable so you can make a permanent fix, would a piece of ethernet cable or house alarm cable be of sufficient gauge? It might save having to buy a full roll of 8 core cable? Could you run it in a piece of conduit/trunking so the little buggers are less likely to do it again?

That’s most probably what I’ll have to do, which should see the problem sorted. Thanks for your input, now where’s me bifocals

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[Just smiffy]

On my road there are more cats then people, nothing lives in a mile radius of my van as they seem to like craping on my artificial grass…

 

[PP Bear]

Oh no, not more mice!! We've had so many in our van I started a tally count! We've even put a mouse trap under the front of the van and caught one yesterday. One day we caught two in two traps inside. I stupidly left two cartons of soya milk in the little cupboard under the oven. What a mess, the mice had drunk some of the milk, then spilt it and it went underneath the oven, then underneath the fridge and ended up coming out under the mat by the door entrance! We couldn't understand why there was milk under that mat. Today, there was the 12th mouse in a trap inside. There was a gap of a few days when we found nothing. I check twice a day morning and evening and we thought all our problems were over. We've had to remove and re-wash all the bedding, hoover up their numerous droppings and wiped everything down. They had managed to move into the cupboard under the bed where we keep the cutlery and pots and pans. All now indoors having been sterilised. We took the van out for the day to check everything was working OK. Some appear to be coming in through the engine, but they also have another route to get into the small cupboard. We've parked the van in the same place for many years and never had a problem despite being surrounded by fields. The only bright side was that it wasn't rats! Do you leave any food e.g. tins/jars in the van when not in use, or take all food out when van not in use? Any suggestions?

Never leave by food in the van and I spread tumble drier sheets around as it makes the inside smell nice and helps keep them away. Also now travel with a rescue cat so hopefully it adds to the deterrent as well

 

[Poodlepower]

Oh no, not more mice!! We've had so many in our van I started a tally count! We've even put a mouse trap under the front of the van and caught one yesterday. One day we caught two in two traps inside. I stupidly left two cartons of soya milk in the little cupboard under the oven. What a mess, the mice had drunk some of the milk, then spilt it and it went underneath the oven, then underneath the fridge and ended up coming out under the mat by the door entrance! We couldn't understand why there was milk under that mat. Today, there was the 12th mouse in a trap inside. There was a gap of a few days when we found nothing. I check twice a day morning and evening and we thought all our problems were over. We've had to remove and re-wash all the bedding, hoover up their numerous droppings and wiped everything down. They had managed to move into the cupboard under the bed where we keep the cutlery and pots and pans. All now indoors having been sterilised. We took the van out for the day to check everything was working OK. Some appear to be coming in through the engine, but they also have another route to get into the small cupboard. We've parked the van in the same place for many years and never had a problem despite being surrounded by fields. The only bright side was that it wasn't rats! Do you leave any food e.g. tins/jars in the van when not in use, or take all food out when van not in use? Any suggestions?

This year I took absolutely everything out and sprayed all round with diluted peppermint oil. Amazingly, none came into my van this winter. Such a relief.

 

[Gringo2]

I also had a fox problem, apparently it's quite common with the rise of urban foxes, I got in the van a while back, switched on the ignition and the dash lit up like a Christmas tree with one message after another mainly relating to braking, handbrake and cruise control issues, looked underneath and all the control cables to the back wheels and electric hand brake were hanging, completely chewed through. Fortunately being an electronics engineer I was able to repair/make a new wiring loom, 2 weeks later exactly the same thing happened again, I'm starting to get p!ssed off about by now, bearing in mind the Sprinter van was only 6 months old, fixed again with a few deterrent mods, good job I could sort it myself, god knows how much it would have cost at the Mercedes dealer!

Had the same fox issue with my car. They chewed out 2 lambda sensor looms. Back order from main dealer. 2k inc Vat.