remote car for looking inside my air ducts....rats!

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
Duct corners and tees cost more than straight runs. Mobile homes are built to cut costs everywhere possible. So I would expect to see very few turns and tees in your duct work.

I would expect that with a camera taped to a fish tape, you could view every cubic inch of your duct work without ever having to turn a corner, simply by dropping it into every vent in every room.

And once you find the rat chit you're looking for, you could probably take it a step further and tape a shop vac hose to the fishtape along side the taped on camera.

If you happen to see actual vermin, perhaps you could also tape on a handgun. Maybe a laser sight to go along with it.

If they just made fish tapes with Picatinny rails, this would be a lot easier and save a lot of tape.
 

atferrari

Joined Jan 6, 2004
4,764
I was once told the story about "good mice". The story was prompted by my asking an engineer why he washed his coffee cup every day...

He had worked at a research facility that imported primates from Asia. They had also imported Asian sized cockroaches! The cockroaches were a problem until one day when a cage of lab mice was dropped and released the mice. The mice controlled the cockroaches. However, the mice started making nests in electronic equipment by chewing the insulation off the wires. The mice were eventually exterminated but the cockroaches came back.

Oh, yeah, why was the engineer so meticulous with the cleanliness of his coffee cup?? One morning he had found a cockroach trapped in his cup. A habit he had not lost.
I cannot guarantee how true is the story but... In an aircraftcarrier they decided to exterminate the rats by bringing some couples of ferrets which seemed to take charge quite quickly and in not time there were no more rats. Guess who were the new plague. . .
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
Any other ideas...??.....taking the underside rubber covering off (covering the bottom of the entire trailer) to access the ducts is a really expensive option.
How is that a expensive option?

I stripped the bottom out of my old 14" 70" trailer in less than an hour with nothing more than a utility knife and a roll of large trash bags to hold everything.

It made working under the house on wiring plumbing heating and whatever else so much easier plus gave ma a good foot or more of additional clearance as well.

Also with that out there is no way for anything to hide between the floor and underside liner now either which is more likely where the majority of your rats are living any way.
 

Phil-S

Joined Dec 4, 2015
238
Hungry Jack Russell or Ferret then 0.22 when they get flushed out.
Like others, forget the humane traps, rats need instant extermination.
I had one in the compost heap with just the tail sticking out - it had got stuck head first so loaded up the 0.22 and shot it up goolies.
A more technical approach might be some sort of high voltage, but you need to keep it on for at least three minutes as rumour has it that rats can restart their hearts - always 0.22 as a backup
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
always 0.22 as a backup
A pellet rifle will do the job if you are in a country which has disarmed its non-criminal citizens...or hire a criminal. They are more likely to know where to find a .22 cal gun.

Please go to your profile page and type in the country where you are. It helps us find parts for you and know which electrical system you are provided with.
 
One other option that worked for me. Pet ferrets. They are really easy to care for. They sleep 20 hrs a day. They hunt mice. They are very friendly to people and dogs. As far as r/c stuff goes, hobbyking has tiny FPV camera gear very cheap.
 

nerdegutta

Joined Dec 15, 2009
2,684
I use a 5.5 mm pellet rifle, or a 5.5 mm pellet pistol. Depends on the distance.

In my profession we have traps which gives the rodent high voltage for 2 minutes. That's enough.
 

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
The way I read OP's post, he doesn't have a rat problem. He has a rat SHIT problem. The rats are already gone but the allergens they left behind in the ducts are disturbed every time the fan blows.
 

seekertom

Joined Apr 30, 2011
2
Undeniably You have a situation Which will let you explore your ingenuity. I really like the idea Of a remote control car Since you have metal ductwork I don't think you'll see many cases where the car would get stuck Unless there are very sharp turns. Because you have a limited distance to go I would rather use a tether And not worry about the RF control If you use appropriate sized cabling It would be light enough weight That the car would pull ups. Also the car you select Most likely will need to be geared down so it would have more power and less speed. Reading some of the other replies I don't believe anyone mentioned Your main problem is you need to clean the air ducts because the smell or whatever that is in the air is making you sick. If you can block off the duct system from going through the air handler And used a lot of forced air and possibly vibration It might help eliminate some of the problems. Also you might take a look on the internet For a product to kill mold and mildew. I recently saw one that is an aerosol and works much like a bug bomb. I would do that in the Ducks to killed any mold and mildew. But the car idea is so intriguing even if I didn't have a rat problem I would want to do it Good luck my friend bye.
 
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