Red Wasps - Ugh, in the AC Shroud

[Rocketgirl]

To start, wasp allergies run in the family and I have never been stung, so I am very cautious with them. The Sunline 1950 RV has been sitting for a few weeks, unplugged. I had been periodically running the AC now and then prior to that to help eliminate the humidity.

Last time I ran the AC a few weeks ago, the AC compressor shut down and it was just the fan blowing. I figured it froze, so I shut it off and restarted it later to check. It was blowing cold again, I shut it off.

Fast forward to today. I was taking pictures of the roof to assess if I needed to do any patching, when I saw red wasps come out from the AC shroud, and the vent cover for the bathroom. When I plugged in the power cord into the house, a wasp came out from under the RV in response.

I carefully went inside, not knowing if they had gotten inside or not. I quickly clicked the AC to low, and swiftly left the area not knowing how the wasps would react.

I came back a couple of hours later, and the RV was warm, like just the fan had been running for those hours. I looked outside the RV for the familiar stream of condensation from the AC, bone dry.

I checked the bathroom roof vent, and it was securely closed, no breech, so the wasps just must be in the vent cover itself.

So, could the wasps nest be doing something to prevent the AC from working properly? What is the best way to get rid of the wasps without poisoning the air intake, and the inside of the RV??

I am only interested in the wasps in this thread. I will trouble shoot the AC later. Thank you for any wasp remediation for the AC you might have that does not include endangering myself with either stings or insecticide.

[JohnB]

I can answer the "easier" question.

Yes, if wasps have made a large enough nest on the outside roof unit coil and they clogged up the coil, then the AC unit will not cool right.

This is the cleaning procedure and should look like your 2002 unit. http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...ics-10405.html

Now to the wasps...I know some about the insect allergic reactions from back country wilderness medical safety training. If you are allergic to bees, or think you may be, this is not really something you want to tackle.

A call to Terminix or other pest control service may be the best thing to do. They have the right equipment and know how to deal with these buggers. We had a major nest in my mothers house a few years ago. They got in a small hole in the siding and made the nest between the ceiling and the attic floor. It was bad... we tried at night to blast the hole with spray and sealed the hole shut but that is not phase them. Terminix came and did their thing and life was good after that.

The problem is, you do not know if this is a small nest or a really large one. And it seems you know you have 2 locations of them.

Sorry I can't help much more on the bees things.

John