Mothballing a boiler, literally!

bill_105

One - Offer them a bailout package, say a villa in the Cayman islands with cheese. Two - get a wall mounted mod/con boiler; another benefit of sealed combustion. Three - Go get a cat.

John Vastyan

Mothvballing a boiler, literally!

The movie "Mouse Hunt" doesn't portray the anger I have at the lil' feller whose comfy honeymoon suite is in my boiler's air intake!

Always -- now, 3 times -- in the middle of the night, the Peerless cast iron gas boiler's automatic safety shutoff kicks in and we wake to no heat and no DHW. I shut off power + pop open the front panel, remove a steel elbow and find the nest has once again been sucked against the mesh protecting the combustion chamber. The mouse and his little bedmate make their escape and are ready to start all over again.

I've tried securing the area, and traps, to no avail. Poison was next, but they're still in there. The access is tight, so short of dismantling a lot of stuff outside the house, I'm trying to get them from the air intake close to the ground.

Hey, I'm thinking - mothballs! But wait - would anyone know if I can use these safely? I'd like to stink out the little critters by putting 10 or 12 near the air intake. No doubt some of the gas will be "inhaled" by the system and brought into the combustion chamber . . . but would this be harmful to the system?

Here's what Google tels me about mothballs: they're made from naphthalene, a hydrocarbon derived from coal tar that easily sublimates, or exudes gas acting as a fumigant. However these gases must build to high concentrations to be effective.

Moth balls made with naphthalene are toxic and high levels of exposure can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blood in the urine and jaundice, a yellow appearance to the skin. Naphthalene can also kill red blood cells.

But my Peerless boiler doesn't have red blood cells, so would anyone know if I'd be OK to use Nazi tactics on furry critters?

What say?

Mark Eatherton

Mickey Mauler...

You just wait until the S.P.C.A. gets ahold of this post mister...

I once had a professional trapper come out to look at a problem I was having with skunks.He asked me what I wanted him to do with the skunks once he'd caught them, and asked me, at $150.00 per skunk, how many skunks could I afford for him to capture. I looked at him quizically, and he said, "Because, if you keep letting them get in there (under our office), they'll keep on coming back for shelter and warmth..., and there's a WHOLE bunch of cold, homeless skunks in this neighborhood!"

What he taught me, is that the key to having to keep from getting rid of the beasts in the first place, is to NOT give them someplace to live! If it is impossible to raise the combustion air intake with a "snorkel or periscope" affair, maybe you can make them UNcomfortable with ultrasonic pest avoidance systems. Numerous manufacturers make them, and I have successfully deployed them in my mountain homes, and not seen sign nor mickey since.

I wouldn't suggest the use of mothballs in this case without running it by the boiler manufacturer first, and I think I can tell you what their answer will be before you do so.... I'd be worried about generating even more toxic or corrosive gasses in the boilers combustion chamber and exhaust system. Like nerve gas ;-(

At least they haven't started chewing through your PEX yet...

Thanks for all you've done John. Hope your situation turns out for the best.

ME

Steamhead (in transit)

Lucky says

adopt a homeless cat.

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John Vastyan

yikes; mothballs = nerve gas

Yeow. Never thought o' that. Thanks for the warning me about the nerve gas stew, Mark. The problem is, as I add even more detail here, I DID create a "snorkel" with the intake. I made this really cool contraption that looks like a mini extension of the house to contain the air intake and to keep snow from piling up against it. But the critters are smarter than I am. You think the SPCA'd give me permission to chain a real small, real mean cat in there . . . say, one twice the size of a mouse?

Thanks, all. I'm considering my options. Well, at least warmer weather's on the way.

Jack_44

snap traps or cats

I'd vote for snap traps or cats; both are permanent.

My wife votes for humane traps (the Mice Cube is a brand); but I'm the one that takes them on the long one way drive.

Intending no offense, ME, but the ultrasonic gismos are of disputable value, at the least.

Mickey & friends will probably leave as soon as it warms up. Just remember, there is no such thing as ONE mouse.

Mark Eatherton

No offense taken Jack..

and I too was a skeptic, until I applied them and didn't find or see any signs of Mickey's in my two cabins, where before there was PLENTY of signs.

I have a bunch of those inhumane sticky traps around and have not caught hide nor hair (pun intended) since placing the ultrasonics, so in my case, they worked. Now, if you have mice with small ears, or deaf mice, it may not work...:-)

The bad thing about those stickies for mickey's is, that if you catch one, you have to dispose of it in the trash immediately.

I had caught some mickey's on the stickies a few years ago, and had placed the capturies outside on top of my trash can so I could bag them for disposal later. When I went back later in the day to zip lock them for disposal, they were gone. Later that weekend, I saw a big magpie flying around with a white sticky stuck to it's beak!

Whooda thunk!

I now will zip lock them and dispose of them immediately...

Bird was having a hell of a time flying ;-(

ME

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

Many mice where I live

and the best way to get rid of them is to use poision spiked with some peanuts. Where I live we have to do this every spring and fall. Some people suggested getting a cat, what do you do to get rid of the cat? Get a homeless dog? It is a viscous cycle.

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

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Joannie_15

Hi, John

Is it okay that I'm laughing at you right now? I can just picture you missing deadlines as you hunt for mice, donned in safari gear, in your basement.

:-)

Joannie

Charlie from wmass

> and I too was a skeptic, until I applied them and

> didn't find or see any signs of Mickey's in my

> two cabins, where before there was PLENTY of

> signs.

>

> I have a bunch of those inhumane

> sticky traps around and have not caught hide nor

> hair (pun intended) since placing the

> ultrasonics, so in my case, they worked. Now, if

> you have mice with small ears, or deaf mice, it

> may not work...:-)

>

> The bad thing about those

> stickies for mickey's is, that if you catch one,

> you have to dispose of it in the trash

> immediately.

>

> I had caught some mickey's on

> the stickies a few years ago, and had placed the

> capturies outside on top of my trash can so I

> could bag them for disposal later. When I went

> back later in the day to zip lock them for

> disposal, they were gone. Later that weekend, I

> saw a big magpie flying around with a white

> sticky stuck to it's beak!

>

> Whooda thunk!

> I now will zip lock them and dispose of them

> immediately...

>

> Bird was having a hell of a

> time flying ;-(

>

> ME



Mark watch those ultra sonics. I had a customer who used them and a squirrel managed to enter the home through some loose hardware cloth. It acted as a trap door, it could get in that way but not out. the ultra sonics drove the squirrel crazy and it tried chewing through every window sill in the house to get away from the ultra sonics. By the way insurance does not cover rodent damage no matter how severe.

Charlie from wmass

Mark watch those ultra sonics. I had a customer who used them and a squirrel managed to enter the home through some loose hardware cloth. It acted as a trap door, it could get in that way but not out. the ultra sonics drove the squirrel crazy and it tried chewing through every window sill in the house to get away from the ultra sonics. By the way insurance does not cover rodent damage no matter how severe.

Jamie Hall

You don't mention

whether you already have a dog or cat (and neither is incompatible with mice: I have one barn cat who has made a pet of a field mouse; really! I don't have the heart to get rid of the mouse, and I love the cat!).

But. If you do, do NOT use poison, particularly if you have a dog. Almost all the current mouse/rat poisons function by inhibiting blood clotting, and the little critters can take a day or two to die. Should your dog or cat get hold of the pest in the meantime, they will get some of the poison too. It's less of a problem with a cat, as cats are more tolerant of the poison than a dog (although it can kill a cat, too), but dogs are very sensitive to the stuff -- and it's a mean way for your dog to die, and one poisoned mouse can do it.