Starcraft RV Owners Forum

Great Idea in making your own screens. I thought about buying the screens, but never have had much problem with mud daubers and such. Now to keep mice out, I had never considered that. Thanks for the idea.

ROund these parts we have Mud daubers that will build a nest of mud the size of a softball. Insect screens are a must.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_dauber

The holes in the refrigerator vent are plenty large enough for mice to enter - about 1". Don't ask me how they can scale the wall. I haven't had it happen, but others have had them get in that way. Camco sells screen inserts for these vents to the tune of $25. Must be a 500% profit margin! I bought $2 worth of 1/4" hardware cloth and made my own in 1/2 hour. I secured them with tie-wraps just like Camco.

Actually, I'm not a big fan of running appliances with vent screens in place, at least ones with screen small enough to keep insects out. I had trouble with my furnace shutting down in my last RV with the furnace screen in place. It must have restricted the air flow just enough to cause a problem. I got into the habit of putting the screens on in storage but removing them when camping.

In any case, I don't think 1/4" hardware cloth will cause a air flow problem. A few clothes dryer sheets seems to keep the bugs out during storage.