Ceiling vent clogged with??

[Flymac]

78 201, my rear passenger ceiling vent has become clogged with this nest looking stuff...it looks exactly like grass, but it’s semi tough, plastic like.  My scoop vent is fully intact, so nothing that could have flown in...any idea what this could be that was sealed up the air channel? Old insulation or something? I’m stumped

also, that whole channel I believe is riveted to roof skin, so no way to open up and further investigate vs just trying to pull it all out and move on?

[carusoam]

There is somebody living in your attic and not paying rent. 

Some people prefer traps over poisons...

cleaning it out may be better with a vacuum, than blowing it out with compressed air, for health reasons...

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic or game warden...

Best regards,

-a-

[TTaylor]

The material looks like a mix of grass and horsehair from seat padding.  Not sure if your seats have horsehair padding or something nearby does.   If it is from your seats you should be able to see mouse droppings in the cabin.  Get a good light and look for the signs under your seats and along the sides of the cockpit.  

[Flymac]

This is up in the ceiling vent channel...it’s completely sealed to roof skin and only openings would be the air scoop or actual vents as I see it?...doesn’t seem possible for any past or present rodent activity to be in this area? Ha 

[Ron McBride]

Something may be accessing the vent channel from inside your plane. Pull the panel down and inspect it. Also, there is a drain line to vent any water from the roof vent over board.

 

Ron

[Vance Harral]

Believe it or not, older Mooneys have factory installed "straw" in the ventilation system.  No, that's not a joke.  Not sure exactly what the material is, but it's a light tan/yellow.  Air comes in through the overhead scoop and passes through this "filter" before entering the cabin.  I think the idea is that if the vent is open when flying through clouds and/or rain, the moisture is strained out and runs down a drain tube and out the belly rather than entering the cabin.

The M20J has a different ventilation system with a tail scoop, so not sure if it's designed the same way.  But since - as you say - it doesn't seem possible for rodents to get in there, I think you may be looking at factory-installed "filtration material".  I'm pretty sure this has been discussed at least once before on Mooneyspace, but I'm not having any luck coming up with it on a search.

[jetdriven]

It’s Hog’s hair.  In the parts catalog. 

[Vance Harral]

30 minutes ago, jetdriven said:

It’s Hog’s hair.  In the parts catalog. 

That's it!  Kept thinking it was horse hair, but that didn't turn up any hits in searches.  But as you say, it's right there in the manual:

 

If you want to replace with original, turns out Wal-Mart has a PMA department!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Natural-Aire-Hogs-Hair-Cut-To-Fit-Filter/16225736

[Hank]

But it says "non-procureable"!! How you gonna get any???

[carusoam]

Hank,

This is clearly the work of hangar fairies... or hangar rodentia... one of them has moved the ‘proper’ filter material to a less than proper place...

Does the Walmart Natural Aire hog filter material come from a real hog?

I’m thinking Lasar probably has some new Nauga filter material that may be slightly better than the non-procurable, non-nauga, stuff.

 

The real question... does that require taking down the ceiling to access?

My C had neither a filter nor a drain tube connected up there...

Best regards,

-a-

[Andy95W]

18 minutes ago, Hank said:

But it says "non-procureable"!! How you gonna get any???

Owner produced part? 

[jetdriven]

These guys can help you procure a hog.  Only in Texas. https://www.helibacon.com/

[Hank]

You can kill all the feral hogs you want in Alabama, too.

[smccray]

27 minutes ago, jetdriven said:

These guys can help you procure a hog.  Only in Texas. https://www.helibacon.com/

I’ve done it with a another company in south Texas. It’s about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. The land owners are happy as well as the hogs will tear up the land. 

[bradp]

8 hours ago, Hank said:

But it says "non-procureable"!! How you gonna get any???

In this situation it’s non-pork-curable

 

[FloridaMan]

If the relocation is the work of rodents, a thorough inspection is worthwhile. Excrement is highly corrosive. Amazon sells wireless borescopes for around $30 that use your smartphone as a screen and the quality is exceptional. 

[Flymac]

Thank you all for the helpful feedback! and some other..."interesting" feedback on hogs, where to procure, etc, haha.

I had my parts bulletin up on this one searching, but missed the more detailed section showing this...and I would have just never considered the whole idea theres a filter up there, pretty wild but smart I guess.  Seems theres actually 2 of them per the picture I found now. 

Bottom line I cant think of any way to really replace the filters or try to re-secure in its proper place...maybe I could try to push it back towards the scoop, but I bet it will just end up blowing forward again so will probably just pull out the clumps that have come free around the vent.