What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Mice Damage

F

facewhack

I'm New Here
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Several fellow builders have provided encouragement to share my story even though posting is not one of my strong points.
I completed the finishing kit in late 2013 and then put the build on hold while retiring, selling our house, moving, and building a new house at GE05 Gibson Field (Blue Mountain Air Park). The aircraft was stored in a garage for about 2 years. After moving the aircraft to it's new home, found that a family of mice found the RV-12 to be a very accomodating. After being evicted, started to assess the damage and decided to remove the entire bottom of the aircraft (bottom skin and all corner skins). The picture below :eek: shows the extensive damage on the skins. There is also extensive corrosion on the flanges of the floor and baggage ribs where the skins attached. No way I would have been able to clean that up without removing the skins. Currently in process of cleaning and treating affected areas (clean with Acteone, remove primer, sand to remove corrosion, treat with Alumiprep 33 and Alodine 1201, and reprime). Plan to order new parts this week and start reassembly over the next couple of weeks. I did a cursory look at wiring and brake lines and do not see any obvious damage from chewing but do need to do a more detailed inspection.
The lesson for me is to make sure the aircraft is protected from the little critters going forward. What are others doing to protect the aircraft from these freeloaders?

bf5riq.jpg
[/IMG]
 
I found Goo Gone to be a better mice s**t/p**s remover than acetone. :)


I also found that the AKZO primer (and any similar epoxy primer I would think) was impervious to the mouse sh*t/pi*s
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure cleaning / stripping will take care of it. Think about the rivets and lap joints on that bottom skin. I would rebuild from new. Be careful where and how you store aircraft parts.
 
I found mice evidence in my Bonanza at an annual several years ago. At the suggestion of my mechanic, I now keep a small box of poison on each tire. Even if the mice get in they will die and dehydrate. No problems after using this method.
 
I would heed this advice if it were mine. You might find the cost of some new pieces won't really cost all that much.

KALEWIS said:
I'm not sure cleaning / stripping will take care of it. Think about the rivets and lap joints on that bottom skin. I would rebuild from new. Be careful where and how you store aircraft parts.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for all of the replies. As clarification, the skins shown in the photo are being replaced with new parts - no plans to try and salvage. The affected lap joint areas are exposed with the skins removed and those are the areas being treated. Plan to use a corrosion inhibitor such as ACF-50 on all lap joints prior to reassembly.
 
mice

always ,always keep snap traps baited in my hangar. if a mouse ever passes thru i will find out at the trap before he sets up shop in the plane.
 
I worked on a plane (RV-9A) several years ago that had been in a barn for a number of years. The corrosion was so extensive that the belly skin under the baggage floor was showing deformation on the outside. When I removed it to investigate, some of the ribs were completely rotted away. I have never seen aluminum so badly corroded.
 
After having mice in my Cessna a number of times, I bought a rubber snake. He lives between the front and rear seats on the floor. Haven't had a mouse since.

Really.

Dave
 
Smell...and mice

OdorXit is the best for the smell. Had many mice in my Glasair wings. No major damage but the smell was overwhelming. OdorXit was the only thing that worked. John
 
Any Advice?

Now you all have me nervous.

I am about done with the RV-14 Wings and have access to another garage around two hours away. My plan is to store the completed wings there so that I can have enough room in my garage to continue with the remainder of the build.

How would you go about "sealing" the wings to avoid this issue. I wonder if plugging the lightening holes and anything else that seems like it could be entered would be the way to go. I am considering shooting a thin coat of primer on the outside of the wings as well to help with any potential corrosion. The garage is fairly air tight however in the summer this is a beach house and the doors are kept open during the day so I suppose there is potential for critters to enter.
 
I have wheel pants and main gear leg farings (top and bottom). With these in place, I can't think of a mouse entry point. So, am I wrong??

Tom
 
No time for humor

Dan, I know this makes you sick. All excited about getting to start building again after that lengthy delay...then finding this. Ouch. Well, I'm certainly not making Light of the situation....just trying to bring a smile:

Two mice walked into the mouse bar that had been set up in Dan?s empennage. They start off slowly, watching TV, drinking beer, eating peanuts. As the night goes on they move to mixed drinks, and then shooters, one after the other. Finally, the bartender says: "Last call." So, the bigger mouse says, "One more for me... and one more for my tiny friend." The bartender sets them up and they shoot them back. Suddenly, the tiny mouse falls over dead. The bigger mouse throws some money on the bar, puts on his coat and starts to leave. The bartender, yells: "Hey buddy, you can't just leave that lyin' there." To which the big mouse replies: "That's not a lion, that's a mouse."

source: http://jokes4us.com/animaljokes/mousejokes.html (not my site, just giving due credit)
 
Mouse repellent

JDBoston said:
Now you all have me nervous.

I am about done with the RV-14 Wings and have access to another garage around two hours away. My plan is to store the completed wings there so that I can have enough room in my garage to continue with the remainder of the build.

How would you go about "sealing" the wings to avoid this issue. I wonder if plugging the lightening holes and anything else that seems like it could be entered would be the way to go. I am considering shooting a thin coat of primer on the outside of the wings as well to help with any potential corrosion. The garage is fairly air tight however in the summer this is a beach house and the doors are kept open during the day so I suppose there is potential for critters to enter.
Click to expand...

Moth balls in an old sock or nylon bag works like a charm. Harmful to pets, children and you though so remove before flight and to keep them out of the controls. I would put them in the lightning holes and cover the wing with plastic to keep the gas in and the bird droppings off.
I could not find any corrosive action between Naphthalene (moth balls) and aluminum.
I did find this on US Motors.com: "table of corrosive chemicals"
Naphthalene: is processed in aluminum stills, reactors, fractionators, heat exchangers, piping, receivers and storage tanks at temperatures above 3000F. - See more at: http://www.usmotors.com/TechDocs/ProFacts/Corrosive-Chemicals#sthash.hetpixav.dpuf
You could also hang the wings from the rafters with wire and have the wire pass thru a large flat aluminum disc.
Jerry
 
JDBoston said:
Now you all have me nervous.

I am about done with the RV-14 Wings and have access to another garage around two hours away. My plan is to store the completed wings there so that I can have enough room in my garage to continue with the remainder of the build.

How would you go about "sealing" the wings to avoid this issue. I wonder if plugging the lightening holes and anything else that seems like it could be entered would be the way to go. I am considering shooting a thin coat of primer on the outside of the wings as well to help with any potential corrosion. The garage is fairly air tight however in the summer this is a beach house and the doors are kept open during the day so I suppose there is potential for critters to enter.
Click to expand...

If this is a beach house at the ocean I would be more cocerned about the salt air than the mice.
 
I absolutely hate mice and their stinking damage. I have found them in all my cars, even if stored within a mouse free garage. One hour in the wrong place is enough. I am investigating an electronic barrier, but probably will not prove fruitful, as it gets low allocation of time right now.

Here is a site found some time ago. The author is a PhD Zoologist. He did his Dissertation on deer mice in Wisconsin. He indicates all the smelly, and noisy methods don't consistently work. Note that he uses a barrier, and some different types of traps within the perimeter to catch interlopers (jumpers). He recommends two traps, as they travel in pairs. I searched for his Dissertation but - no joy.

http://www.hastingsreserve.org/mammals/MiceInCars.html?PartnerID=&RefID=&EmailID=

Happy hunting!
 
If a pencil end will fit in a hole, mice will fit through that hole. I also have baited traps around my parts, and the dogs let me know if any critters are in the living room-wing-emp-cowl-pants-fairing-canopy-ect...... storage area.
 
David Paule said:
After having mice in my Cessna a number of times, I bought a rubber snake. He lives between the front and rear seats on the floor. Haven't had a mouse since.
Click to expand...
We put a couple of them on our porch columns to discourage the doves and robins. They worked... right up until Year 2 when the birds figured out they were fake. We found one in the flower bed with beak marks on it, and another used as part of a nest. :rolleyes:
 
I found mice had infiltrated an aluminum wing on my LP-49 glider. They corroded a little bit of aluminum, but not so bad. Most of it was OK after cleaning but one piece had to be reinforced. But, they destroyed nearly all the aluminum pop rivets. I had to drill out all the rivets on the top, lay the skin open, drill out many, many of the rivets on the spar and spar cap, clean everything and put it back together.
As far as keeping them out, I'm a farmer and have lots of machinery that only gets used once a year. In my combine, I try to remove all food sources but of course that never works. I open everything up so there are no hide holes. Then I put in mothballs by the box. Mothballs in overwhelming numbers will work for most of a year. The other smellers like dryer cloth, spruce or balm sprigs doesn't work. They nest in it.
I use lots and lots of poison around the machinery. I have no cats or dogs and it's in a building, so this works for me. Won't for all.
Frequent use seems to help, but I've seen a mouse next appear overnight (just like a bird nest). Loathsome creatures.
 
Keep some lights on

They also don't like light.

I leave the two 60W equiv. LED bulbs on 24/7 in my hangar storage room and that has worked for many years. The yearly extra electricity cost is less than $10.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top