We aren’t the only ones that like our new air conditioner. This spring, some feathered friends decided it was a fine place to establish their nest. We evicted them before any eggs were laid.
Cleaning out the remnants wasn’t difficult. A tall step ladder and a Torx screwdriver are the essential tools.
Eight Torx screws hold the top on the Aventa. This is one of the six long screws. The two rear-most screws are shorter than the other six.
Markings on the special bit needed for the screws. It is a Torx T30 bit, one we had in a collection of security screw bits.
While the cover was off, Beth traced it on brown paper so she could make a cover that might prevent future nests.
Before reattaching the cover, I took the opportunity to clean the interior of the AC.
After fastening the cover down, we used wide painter’s tape to cover the long rear opening. The tape remained there during a couple of spring road camping trips where it wasn’t warm enough to want air conditioning. We had plenty of other projects going on, so the cover plans were put on the back burner.
June rolled around and it was time to exercise our generator. We do this once a month to keep everything lubed and insure it is ready when needed. Onan recommends that the generator should be run under load. In the winter we run an electric heater but, in warm weather, a better load is the air conditioner.
As advertised, the 3M painter’s tape came off without leaving any residue on the AC housing. What it didn’t do was cover all the openings to the air conditioner. What did we find behind the tape? You guessed it, another nest.
Just in case you may be concerned that Truma air conditioners are nest magnets, rest assured that birds, at least in our neighborhood, appear to be brand agnostic. We had birds nest in the Dometic AC the preceded the Truma.
You can see here that the holes on the underside of the AC are a nice size for smaller birds.
This time Beth went to work on a cover that would block all the vents.
Using material we had left over from the sailboat and recovering outdoor furniture, she pieced together enough fabric to make the cover. She even rolled and taped the inside seems.
A string sewn into the base allows it to fit snugly around the bottom of the air conditioner.
Here it is installed. I’m lucky to have married a crafty lady.
We take this off before driving and will leave it home while on trips, but when the van is at home, our Truma will be covered!
For more on our experience with the Truma Aventa, check out these older posts.