How To Keep Wasps Out

[BENTE]

ok i have a pal that lives in florida. he tells me they get wasps in the vents of their refrigerator, and their hot water heater.. he does not own a forrest river camper so i told him i would come ask ya'll..

so if any of you have a suggestion please let me know....

[TulsaSteve]

Dang.. I read the subject and I was hoping you were going to tell us how to keep wasps out!

Wish I knew.. I get them in my chimney at home every year... One year I went into the attic to spray.. The spray got on the rafters, made them slick as ice and I ended up with one foot in an upstairs bathroom.

DOH!

[dimurrrw]

Flying Insect Screens - Product - Camping World
http://www.camco.net/Menu.cfm?SupCat...CategoryId=270

[EdJunior]

I just used some window screen in my old Skamper. Got to get "a round tuit" on the new 5er. All the flying buggers are getting pretty bad around here.

[grhodes50]

Here's a link for what your friend might be looking for.
RVWholesalers.com RV Parts and Accessories*,*Results for screens

I bought mine at my dealership.

[Acara]

Method "A" ...

Buy a Hartz Flea collar.
Cut collar in half
Put half in the heater vent & the other half in the fridge vent
Replace semi-annually


Method "B"

Go and buy a roll of expanded metal "gutter guard". Comes in 6" x 20" or 50' lineal foot rolls. Don't use the plastic version (at least not on the heater vent. The actual spec is called 1/4 #18 or 1/4" #20 (1/4" swd (short way of diamond), 18 gauge sheet) G60 galvanized or aluminum.

You have four basic entry points for Wasp (a.k.a. Mud-daubers(sp?) if your from up North ....at least thats what my wonderful & lovely yankee wife calls them). Range/stove vent, furnace vent, fridge vent, heater vent....
. Range/stove vent and furnace vent are most likely the culprit if you have wasp inside your unit.

Measure for your particular units .... but most post 2005 units are as follows (material cuts with household scissors);

Stove discharge vent is 4-1/2" (h) x 11" (L) .. I usually take the full 6" roll width and fold it pback on itself at the 4-1/2" mark with a 60-degree return bend (the return bend makes it stay in the vent cover easier).

Rear heater vent is 5" (H) x 7"(W)
(you will need three trash bag twist ties, cut-in half, to install. Strip the plastic off the wire ties to expose the metal (eliminates melted plastic fire hazard). Open the vent cover and attach the gutter guard ppieces from the inside using the trash bag ties.

Fridge vents; Remove the cover. The slat openings are actually horizontal ... so cut the expanded metal gutter guard to length and form the gutter guard over the openings from the inside & then Duct/HP tape the guards in place from the edges. Hospital-edge the rounded corners on the ends of the slat & tape over to seal.

Furnace vents; cut 3" OD circles and cut 4 more trash bag ties in half & strip the plasti for fastening. These covers will mount externally with the trash bag ties.

If this is too much of a DIY,, you can also buy pre-made mesh covers for he penetrations and vents ...... but the methods mentioned above will cost you about $6.00-$8.00 either way, and take under an hour to make/install.

As an alternate to the expanded metal, you can also use the galvanized "hardware cloth" that they sell in any DIY store (spec is 1/4 X 1/4 A 23 GA, gaw ... but most stores sell it as 1/4", .025 welded, galvanized after, or "utility" cloth).Personally I find the expanded metal diamond pattern easier to work with & you dont have to worry about lining up squares to reduce the opening.

[Acara]

Careful on the insect screen. The uncoated aluminum or bronze are fine ...but the epoxy coated or fiberglass insect screens aren't rated for the exaust temps of the furnace or heater discharge vents.
Also you've got a significant difference in openings ( % open area) on that insect screen, so the air flow and heat dissipation rate are going to be affected.

The OEM punched vents are typically 1/4" or 1/2" square lattice patterns, which have greater than 50% open area and much higher VFR than insect screen (.045" x .055" rectangular openings).

[BENTE]

wow those are alot of good ideas i just told him to use steel wool but your ideas are better than mine



thanks alot

[Acara]

The steel wool (and other things) may work as a physical barrier, but unfortunately you will probably affect the VFR (volumetric flow rate) of the discharge and backpressure the vent.

Typicallly it's only a 12v motor and a "cheap-as-they-could-make-it" plastic fan blade in most cases ..... so they dont generate a lot discharge pressure.

Nice thing about the gutter guard is that you can use the rest of the roll to put a guard are your roof discharge vents (exact height of the bracket and stack) and you can also make covers for your stabilizer jacks and spare tie mounting arm (the other places that the mud wasp love to make thier nest in Florida).

[BENTE]

he said they only make a nest when it is in storage i told him to use the steel wool until he goes out in it.. then to make sure he takes it out


thanks for the imput and for replying