You never know what you will find

When ever I take the cover off someone’s roof top AC unit I repeat the same mantra over and over, “no bees, no bees, no bees”. I am not really worried about honeybees, it’s more than likely I will run into their hornet cousins or a family of mud dobbers. Don’t get me wrong, I have spray but I don’t like having to use it.

On a recent call I had to investigate why a furnace in a recently purchased trailer was not working properly. It’s an older trailer and had been used in a warm dry desert area for a while. Right off the bat I noticed evidence of insect around the intake and exhaust ports. When I pulled the unit this is what I found.

Thankfully the new tenants were either absent or dormant. It took a while but I was able to clear them all out. The combustion chamber needed a good scrubbing too.

I tuned the burner, reassembled the furnace and it purred like a kitten.

Many people don’t realize that insects are attracted to LP gas. That is one reason they make their way into furnace and water heater ports. Most manufacturers recommend that you don’t add screens to exhaust ports when the units are in operation. Restricting air flow through the burner system can be dangerous. When the season warms up, believe me, there are screens on my burner exhaust ports!

Routine maintenance and inspections are vital to RV life. Don’t wait until it’s too late. If you are not comfortable doing your own maintenance please give your local mobile tech a call. Most techs, including me, do routine maintenance work for affordable flat rates.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.