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- Oct 13, 2010
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Mice are trivial to trap with a standard mouse trap and peanut butter. Rats are much harder since they are smarter and more wary of unfamiliar things. Certainly a standard sized mouse trap will not trap them!
We're trying to outsmart rodents getting into the crawlspace. So far the rodents are winning. They can bite right through the vent screens and they are too smart to get caught in the traps. The long term solution is we are going to have to find crawlspace vents made of titanium. Short term today we put motion lights outside the vents to scare them off, and plugged the holes with steel scrubbie pads drenched in mint oil. The mint oil stuff got good reviews on Amazon as a repellent.
Here's something interesting I just found about the rats' ability to withstand electric shocks, from reading product literature on electric traps.
"... the rat steps onto the metal plates, completing the circuit and the trap delivers a quick, humane 8,000 volt shock. Since rats have the ability to restart their heart, the shock is applied for 2 minutes ensuring a high kill rate."
How about electric rat traps? They are clean, efficient, fast hence humane. See following video (fast forward to 1:40).
For a deterrence, ultrasonic repellers are supposedly good on rodents if placed close to the point of entry.
We need to talk about this addiction to rat electrocution porn.Here's another video showing a BIG rat getting killed instantaneously by electrocution (forward to 0:40).......
You can get a new microwave for $50 - or a lot less at the Salvation Army or Habitat ReStore.......... Tried all of these, and immediately after "solving" the problem, all appears ok, until the next time we cook.
.......
You can get a new microwave for $50 - or a lot less at the Salvation Army or Habitat ReStore.
....
Now I wonder if there is something else I could have done, or could do in the future. A few years ago, I would have taken the microwave apart for cleaning, but now, it's a bit too heavy and more than what I want to tackle. Apart from the self venting filters which only work for the stove below, no easy access.
Any personal experience with this?
You can get a new microwave for $50 - or a lot less at the Salvation Army or Habitat ReStore.
But the built in are more $$$, and not so easy to get in/out.
But here's a suggestion - use some of those cleaning methods again, but this time, after you run the u-wave with the lemon/vinegar/whatever, set a small desk fan in the oven. and leave it running with the door open a bit (will need it open to run the cord in anyway).
This way, you can get air circulating in there all day. It might help push some of the freshening vapors through the nooks and crannies inside, and flush it all out with fresh air. Might take a week of this, but it should help, I think.
Good luck!
-ERD50
Another basement water leak today.
I noticed that the carpet was squishy and that's a bad sign.
Turns out that the temperature / pressure valve on the cold water heater was leaking. This valve discharges into an aluminum pan that I cleverly installed under the heater, which has a discharge directly to floor drain.
But a hole has corroded in the aluminum pan and the water drained onto the floor anyway. I guess I should have gone for the plastic pan.
Valve has been replaced and discharge rerouted directly to a drain.
Any ideas on how to patch the hole? I can just see it under the heater.
If the pan is dry, try spraying that rubbery Flex Seal into the pan:
As Seen on TV Flex Seal - Walmart.com
Any ideas on how to patch the hole? I can just see it under the heater.
Good idea. What is a cooler coating?If you can reach the bad spot, I would use several layers of aluminum tape followed by brush-on cooler coating. I have used this method to repair rain gutters and an evaporative cooler pan. In both cases a durable repair.
Good idea. What is a cooler coating?
I'm also curious as to why it corroded through there. Perhaps the concrete itself is causing the corrosion.........
Fixed my old trusty shaver by replacing the old, corroded battery with a new one by removing the old, adding some solder to the connections, then adding the new.
Feels good going back to cordless rechargeable