We've been in the mid-forties all day, with occasional steady rain. With the high humidity, the chill goes to the bone, so running the heater to break the chill is necessary.
My sister-in-law asked me to check on my other sister-in-law's heater. She said it had the odor of something dead when it was running. I went to check it out; hoping it was something easy to find.
I looked with a flashlight, found nothing, and decided I need to go further into the system to find the source of the odor. Removing the squirrel cage blower revealed the problem: a dead mouse was laying on the heating coils. With the squirrel cage blower out, I decided the best thing was to go ahead and clean the fins. A little time with a screwdriver, small brush, and a shop-vac removed the accumulated dust. After replacing the blower, and checking the operation, the heater checked out ok. Vacuuming the cabinet removed the dust that accumulated over time.
I need to do the same cleaning for my furnace. I'll wait for a nice day, with cool temperatures, and do the deed on a much better day for the task.
Ahhh, hot rotten mouse. I've never smelled that, but can imagine.
ReplyDeleteJudging by the condition of the mouse, it was there for awhile. I don't think she wanted to ask me to help and put up with the odor for too long.
DeleteI have found dead mice fried inside copier power supplies and high voltage units...not pretty.
ReplyDeleteYou are a good person to help out your sister in law.
I found a mouse in my work computer. I wouldn't have known, except for the odor. After that episode, I set out poison all in the office, and changed to glue traps after having to find where they died.
DeleteI have two sister-in-laws that are border line misandrists. I understand how they reached that point. Things have to be really wrong for them to ask for help