Grill to keep rodents out of the TAB 400 undercarriage.

Gravens

Hi Folks,

     Did you attach grill material to keep rodents out of your TAB 400 undercarriage?  If what did you use?  How did you attach it?

TomCanada

I haven't done it yet but plan on doing it once we get our unit delivered in March. I plan on using clear silicone (thought about using contact cement but I think silicone is more forgiving) and some automotive grill mesh.  Search for "mesh sheet" on AliExpress.com and you'll find tons of options. This stuff is fairly easy to trim with some tin snips and looks nice and clean. Just waiting to install!

Gravens

That was my idea.  Do you think the silicone will hold up to the pressure of road wind, water, and grit?

Also need to find material with <4mm holes.

Verna

@MandyLea has a YouTube video of how she and Kendrick rodent-proofed their T@B 400. 

I can tell you in my former 2019 400, there is a wiring and pipe chase that goes from one side of the 400 to the other under the floor in front of the bed. There is an oversized hole in the floor under the bed that is large enough for a rodent to enter. 

So, look also from within, in addition to the underneath for openings for rodents. 

ScottG

Search around here. I can't put my finger on it, but I recall at least one post where someone documented their efforts to screen over the holes in the 400 frame.

TomCanada

Gravens said:

That was my idea.  Do you think the silicone will hold up to the pressure of road wind, water, and grit?

Also need to find material with <4mm holes.

The stuff I bought has 6mm x 3mm holes, so effectively 3mm in terms of keeping critters out.  Silicone should hold up - I recently resealed my tub and that stuff is insanely tenacious.  Other people suggest using construction adhesive but that might be overkill.  The silicon can be removed with some elbow grease if you ever need to in the future. I also bought some protective edging to protect brake wiring from rubbing against the edge of the mesh.  I'll post photos of all this in a month or two when I get to installing it.

CJax

@Verna, @MandyLea, would you kindly post a link to the rodent-proofing video? We generally just bring a Terrier, but he is getting lazy...

Cheers

DougH

https://youtu.be/lrmhrx7yLs0

CJax

Thank you @DougH!

Verna

@DougH, thank you. I have trouble finding specific YouTube videos!

DougH

Well I have plenty of time as we numbly stare out the window at the twenty feet of snow smothering all the houses. They say on the news it's only a few flakes, maybe a half inch in DFW so far, but here in Texas that's the apocalypse.

Bayliss

Here's some info, @Gravens:

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/8095/are-mice-an-issue/p1

Denny16

@Gravens what year is your TaB400?  The plumbing and wiring chase Verna referred to under the rear bunk looks like this:

You can see the water lines and 120VAC line running across the floor. This is on a 2018/2019 only.  The large wood blocks are supports for the battery.  This was in turn covered by a false floor under the bed, creating a storage area shown here:

This plywood floor covered the actual trailer floor area in the back, covering the plumbing and wire AC wire run.  

The hole for the water tank plumbing going through the floor is under the wardrobe locker floor, is large enough for a rodent to gain access, and usemthe plumbing runs for a highway, and looks like this:

This hole,goes through the floor to the water tank, he top of which is about an inch below the floor underside the trailer.  I plugged this with closed cell foam and a cover on top.  A mouse could enter here and have fee run in the plumbing runs, which out being seen.

Another possible access,point is under the galley sink, where the drain goes through the floor:

The hole is circled in red, and shown by arrow. This  area is also covered by a false floor creating the under sink storage locker, there is a hole here also that could allow pets to enter, and use the plumbing run under the galley cabinet to gain access to the rear.

The 2020/2021 TaB400 models do not have a false floor, but a double partition for the plumbing and wiring:

You can see the new plumbing/wiring chase in the bottom of the photo, under the removable top panel,  with wires and pipes entering from the right side of photo in the Alde compartment.  Not sure how water tank is plumbed from the Nautilus to the water tank, but there is no doubt a hole in the floor some ware behind the lower storage area under the wardrobe locker/3- way fridge option cabinet.  Going to be harder to get to...

n
Whilst nüCamp does an excellent job of designing and building the TaB, they should pay more attention to some of these details, like closing up the plumbing holes in the floor to keep dirt and rodents put.  The hold under the wardrobe on our TaB allowed a lot of fine dust to enter and spread under the wardrobe locker and Alde compartment after a trip to Burning Man and back, made by the previous owner of the trailer.
cheers

Gravens

I have the 2021.

Verna

@Gravens, you can see the examples of what you need to look for. Start by opening up under the bed and go from inch to inch looking for any holes and covering those holes. Then, if you have the closet, check under it. Check under your A/C unit, under the kitchen sink. Go over the 400 with a fine tooth comb, 

When all this snow melts, I will do the same with my new 320, inch by inch, looking for any holes through the floor. 

Denny16

The only holes under the rear bunk are the Alde and low point drains.
cheers

Verna

@Denny16, @Gravens mentioned he has a newer model than you. As in the past, we have found that nüCamp does make changes during the model year and also between the different year models. He needs to find what his model has. 

Denny16

I agree Verna, Gravens needs to take a look under his rear bunk area, and see where the Alde yellow relief valves are and inspect how large the drain line holes are in his TaB.  He should check the battery compartment also, just so he knows what is where.

I posted a photo of the under bunk area on the 2021 TaB 400 above.  Also on the 2021 TaB400 I looked at, only the low point and Alde drains were going through the floor under the bunk.  There is no false floor in the under bunk storage area, and battery cables go through the interior partitions.
@aGravens, you should also pull the louvered cover panel off under the wash room door, and see if the hole under the shower P Trap drain goes all the way through.
cheers

Michigan_Mike

I’ve used this stuff along with steel wool to keep rodents out of my trailers.  Works great and you can buy it at Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc.  

Gravens

Found that l
Metal leaf gutter guards will work great and are cost effective.  Extremely small holes so it will even keep mud dobers out

Denny16

Grand idea!

Cheers

TomCanada

Michigan_Mike said:

I’ve used this stuff along with steel wool to keep rodents out of my trailers.  Works great and you can buy it at Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc.  

Looks like a much cheaper alternative to standard stainless/copper/bronze wool sold as wool.  Curious though - how easy is it to cut those pads to size for stuffing into the gap surrounding pipes/drains?

Denny16

Small tin snips should do the trick.
cheers

DanManz

@Gravens Part of the trick in keeping these critters out is also plugging the lateral passageways between cabinets, from under the bunk into the rest of the camper, drain lines, etc.  It's best (although sometimes hard) to keep them out in the first place but if one gets in, you want to be sure he has no place to go.  I spent a couple days plugging every hole I could find and it still seems like every time I get in to look at some little thing, I find one more hole I missed!  Not sure how they do it but it appears a motivated mouse can squeeze through a space about 1/4" X 1/4".