Unused Dryers and Rodents

[lordkenmore]

A probably vintage GE dryer is available for my use. It would probably be a step up from from what I've been using. But it was stored for a year, with vent unconnected in a location where there has been some history of issues with rodents. So...I'm wondering: is rodent invasion of a dryer an issue to be concerned about?

I have seen the dryer run, without any connection to the vent, and no mice flew out. Nor are there any other immediately obvious signs. But I know from bitter experience that rodents can get into weird places.

 

[fan-of-fans]

How about just remove the back panel and have a look?

Speaking of rodents, even dryers that are used can get them. I know of an older guy that replaced a Kenmore electric dryer because the drum stopped turning. It turned out that a snake had slithered in from outside through the vent and gotten wrapped around the motor somehow. After the snake was removed all was well again for the new owner whom he gave it to!

 

[tolivac]

Snakes get into microwave relay station gensets-at these sites each had an Onan 14Kw genset for backup power I was asked to test the generator-looked like it hadn't run in some time.The starter couldn't turn it over.Tried the backup hand crank-was able to get the generator to "roll-over" this time.Then it started with the starter-after it ran for a few minutes-HORRRIBLE smell came from it.Shut it down.A snake of some sort made a home in the generator part of the set.Poor snake was chopped and cooked!!!Natuarly a dryer would be a warm place-even after it was turned off.Snakes sense heat.And he would be looking for his favorite food----MICE-Snake could get two things-a fresh meal and a warm place to live!Rodents also love trying to live in transmitters!!But a hostile place-High voltages,Hot parts,and spinning fans and blowers.Snakes get into them,too!

 

[christfr]

yep been there done that.. prob a really good idea to peek inside and check the wires. those bad boys seem to love to eat wires.

 

[arbilab]

They don't just hang out there, they nest and the artifacts of nesting should be visible upon inspection.

As TV repairman I went to a lady's house. She had no sound. Mice had eaten the entire speaker.

A commercial airliner was crashed because muddauber wasps built a nest in the captain's pitot.

Few limits to what vermin can do.

 

[tolivac]

Not just mice-cockroaches can eat wiring insulation,too.At one time I fixed TV's part time-back when they still had tubes in them and you could really FIX them-A customers set was not working at all-open the back to check--and it was loaded with roaches.Had to quickly move the set outside and douse it with roach killer-told the customer to get a new TV-after the roaches left and the bug spray vapors died down the roaches ate the insulation on the wires and flyback transformer.Fuse in power supply was blown.The roaches turned the TV into a basket case.No telling how long they had been living in there.Good home-warm,lots of wiring to eat!

 

[turquoisedude]

AARGH! Don't get me going about mice in appliances...  I think I'll have to seriously consider getting a 'patrol cat' in the next house if there is a storage outbuilding to keep the little devils out of the ranges and dryers.  They love to eat insulation and my poor GE Washer-Dryer Combo had ALL of the wiring chewed by mice.  The little buggers even ate the probe for the dry thermostat... 

 

[lordkenmore]

Thanks for the answers. I probably should see if I can get at least a quick peak inside at the wiring. Or else just assume the worst, and come up with a Plan B. (This is not a dryer for collecting. It's just for use.)

>AARGH! Don't get me going about mice in appliances... I think I'll have to seriously consider getting a 'patrol cat' in the next house if there is a storage outbuilding to keep the little devils out of the ranges and dryers.

Don't get me started on mice in general, let alone appliances! I've had several battles...

At one time, I heavily used XFCE software to provide the "desktop environment" on various Linux systems I've used. It was good in that it was fast on older hardware. Their emblem is what I assume is a mouse. At one time, I'd have said it was a good choice, actually--it represents the light and fast nature of XFCE, plus it could be more warm and fuzzy than what some other developers use. (One appearance of this rodent can be seen on the upper right part of this Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xfce)

But after an extended mouse battle, including a $500 car repair bill, I reached the point where I'd see the XFCE rodent appear, and I'd cringe.