A mouse in the House?
Over the many years, I’ve written articles about the ST head and some of the simple things you need do, one is flip the unit over on it’s back and notice the large open holes under each bell end.
You might not hear it, but these holes are the same as sirens. Do you remember Homer’s account of the sirens that called sailors onto the rocks? Well these holes call field mice, and they find your ST to be a nice and safe home. One of the first things you do is cut metal fabric and wire it in place over these holes. Yes, you should know Murphy by now, and you know he’ll make it happen if you take no precautions.
But let’s add.. some of us who know far better, don’t get around to doing what we should, and I have been so guilty at times… So, I don’t dare poke fun at Dave, as I know I have neglected a good many chores of my own..
Here’s Dave’s Mail:
From: dave s
Subject: st head inop
George: Dead st head after winter setting. Vermon got into doghouse. Moved twice, can’t find cd or wiring diagram for st. Want to check with vom and if necessary flash field. 12v, engine off ok? Point me in the right direction. For the first time in 7 years Lister had air in supply line took 3 bleeds to get it to stay running. When it rains it poors. Good to get fixed before you need it, right? Again 7 years of crank, fire, power, and now this. Thanks, from the 60 + club.
George’s response..
Dave, if the mice stayed in the dog house, that would be a good thing.. where they really like to be is in those bell ends, and of course, where they do the most damage is via their urine and rotting out insulation and converting metals to ooozing piles of oxides. And it’s amazing to see the bits of things they find to drag in for insulation after they strip what they can from the wires.
OK Dave and others.. Here’s an old ST page, with lots of links that should be helpful.
And just for the record.. I was the first to know the Yak Fat man! Do you know Yip Man, How about SW Lee? The world should know them all.
Dave, we’ll all be greatful to know what you find, and I’ll help in any way.. let’s leave bread crums here under comments, so others can follow.
GB
Dave says he’s having a bit of trouble posting here but the mice got in between a gap between the dog house and ST, he says it doesn’t take much of a crack to let the mice in, beware!
https://www.utterpower.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/mouse_bitten_ST.jpg
My ST is still in garage…have all the pieces to hook to engine but no time…thanks for the mesh reminder. I would have forgotten! I have a semi-feral cat that spends most of his time sleeping on the generator that we are using now. He does his job well leaving me mouse parts at least twice a week!
While working as a longhaul trucker a few years ago I recalled a similar problem along the Daniel Boone Highway in Kentucky I believe that’d installed an expensive early fog detection warning system with a nautilus shell-like collection horn terminating at the sensor. Nature threw a wrench in the works when D.O.T. crews discovered false positives from spiders building webs over this aperture that dew collected upon & it was too costly for crews to remove them. I don’t know if or how the problem was solved & I can’t find any links to the story in search except for a couple sentences from a Master’s research paper in Minnesota The visibility sensors for RWIS which use infrared light beam might report erroneous data if the
infrared light beam is attenuated by dirt or spider webs. In such a case, it may report a low visibility under conditions of a high visibility as its optical path is blocked. I hope this added to the discussion!
Shawn,
This is another excellent example of things made and deployed in the field, where we find surprises. Forrest Mims writes of spiders fouling sensors in equipment used to measure solar radiation, and other scientists report of finding temp sensors used at data collection sites for earth temperatures to be reading artificially high because of the way they were installed and where.
The Scientist strives to collect the most accurate data possible, those chasing their paycheck might select the readings that read in the favor of their continued employment..