Joe Frickin' Friday Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 House A/C went bad on Monday night about 9 PM. Condensor fan bearings started screaming loud enough to piss off the neighbors, so we had to shut it down. Bad timing, as the high yesterday (and today) was about 93. Scheduled a service call for this afternoon, but yesterday after work I ripped into it myself. When I lifted the cover off of the condenser unit in the backyard, I found a mouse staring back at me. It took me a minute to realize that the reason she wasn't fleeing for her life (despite my gently prodding her with a ratchet extension) was that she had five babies hanging onto her. Not newborns, but maybe adolescents - fully formed, and with a good coat of gray fur - the five of which together pretty much equaled her mass. With hemostats I grabbed her by the tail and picked her up and the babies hung on to her; it was kinda funny. Like I dumbass I set the whole mouse-ball on the ground a couple of feet away, and she promptly ran back into the A/C unit, this time hiding down below where I couldn't find her again. Anyway, I got the fan motor bearings lubed up again, so that all works fine now. Today I have to go back and and permanently evict the mouse family and seal up the gap she used for access. Link to comment
Glenn Reed Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 If the noise was bad for the neighbors, think how loud it must have been for the mice! Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 If the noise was bad for the neighbors, think how loud it must have been for the mice! I was thinking the same thing. It'd be loud enough in there just with normal operation, but when you're 12 inches away from bearings that are screaming loud enough to command the attention of people 100 feet away? Wow! Link to comment
BerndM Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Your motor bearings had the old style oil tubes?? Cool. I wish mine did, but my bearings are sealed so when they start to howl, its way expensive. Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Your motor bearings had the old style oil tubes?? Cool. I wish mine did, but my bearings are sealed so when they start to howl, its way expensive. If you're thinking of the "fill daily" oil reservoirs often seen on old shop machinery, this wasn't it. "Bearings" is a generalization; they were simple Oilite bushings, surrounded by felt packs that serves as the oil reservoir. It was just a matter of prying off the steel cap covering each end of the motor, pouring in some oil, and pounding the cap back on. Link to comment
Albert Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 If the noise was bad for the neighbors, think how loud it must have been for the mice! I was thinking the same thing. It'd be loud enough in there just with normal operation, but when you're 12 inches away from bearings that are screaming loud enough to command the attention of people 100 feet away? Wow! I suspect there was nothing wrong with the bearings. When you kicked the unit on momma mouse was screaming to shut if off before you woke the kids. Link to comment
EddyQ Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Today I have to go back and and permanently evict the mouse family and seal up the gap she used for access. Good luck with that. I had a family in the gas grill. After I removed them, I cooked the nest. Next day, it was back as if I did nothing. SO, cooked it again. And again it was rebuilt. Finally, I had to set a trap. Unlike you, there were no babies. Link to comment
DavidEBSmith Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Why do you care if there's a mouse family in your AC? If they're in a spot where they're not interfering with something moving, there's no problem. If they get into a spot where there's something moving, it's a self-correcting problem. Evolution in action. Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 Why do you care if there's a mouse family in your AC? Like rats, mice will chew on electrical wires. If I'm lucky, they'll only electrocute themselves; if I'm not, they might also damage the A/C and/or start a fire. Link to comment
MT Wallet Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 You're right Mitch, Rats, mice and squirrels love to sharpen their teeth on the insulation on the wires. Mice are one of those critters that constantly scent marks everything. Kill 'em now or they will Pee on everything and the next time you have to work on the unit the stink will be so bad you'll gag. Link to comment
4wheeldog Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 A couple of years ago, I had a mouse momma set up house keeping in the air filter housing of my 4 runner. When I found her/them, she made a run for it with a couple of the pinkies. I cleaned out the rest, and went for a test drive. All good......Until I turned on the ventilation fan. Thump thump thump. Ever have to clean pureed mouse bits and gore out of a fan? Yuck. A couple weeks later, I went through the same crap with another one. Ever since, I keep a sticky trap in the air filter housing......Somehow that keeps them out of there, which is fine with me. I strongly dislike rodents. Link to comment
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