Guests in my overhead vent?

[blaine beaven]

My 1978J was in the shop from October to March for an avionics upgrade, engine work and an annual. The interior came out and I took the opportunity to replace the overhead vents with some 3D printed ones from a fellow MS’er. 

I have rarely used the overhead vents in my 10 years of ownership. The old plastic louvres were in poor shape and would crumble on touch. However, when I did use them, they worked well. 

Post upgrade I have noticed grass coming out of the vents, which is odd because there is no grass near where the plane parks. Today I pulled the eyeballs and used a pick, pliers, and vacuum to pull a bunch of grass and a weird mesh out of the plenum. 

I park outside. I’ve never had mice or anything like that in the plane. I’ve never seen any sign or smell of rodents. I also have no idea how they could get in the overhead vent system. Any ideas where this is from? Has anyone else had this before? 
 

 

[varlajo]

Unlikely rodents since there appears to be no poop pellets

[blaine beaven]

24 minutes ago, varlajo said:

Unlikely rodents since there appears to be no poop pellets

That's what I thought too... I could find no poop, or fur, and it just smelled like old, dry grass. 

[N201MKTurbo]

That is horse hair that was put there in the factory to coalesce rain water that enters the ram air scoop. After coalescing, it drains out the drain line by the battery vent.

[MikeOH]

21 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

That is horse hair that was put there in the factory to coalesce rain water that enters the ram air scoop. After coalescing, it drains out the drain line by the battery vent.

So, not airworthy until he stuffs it back in?

[blaine beaven]

According to the parts manual, my plane was not so high class to receive "horse hair", but was relegated to "hog-hair"...

 

The pictures I found suggests that it should all be aft of the rear vents, however most of it was stuffed into the front vent areas. Very odd how that might have happened unless the plenum was opened up during the avionics upgrade, and something got messed up in there. Of course, my avionics shop mentioned no such thing.

So my plane remains rodent free, but now I cannot properly coalesce my rain water. I am not sure how I feel about this. 

 

 

[Hank]

2 hours ago, blaine beaven said:

According to the parts manual, my plane was not so high class to receive "horse hair", but was relegated to "hog-hair"...

Sadly, your hog hair filter is "no -procureable." You may need to replace it with horsehair. Just don't use camelhair, it's too soft.

[dkkim73]

This is the best April fools thread ever. Oh wait, it's not. 

That's an oddly elegant solution. I was thinking of what else to use, plastic sponge pad, fiberglass, cotton, wool, and i realize both those types are pretty good in terms of flow, micro texture, and mold resistance. 

I would offer you boxes of shed dog fur, but I think it would work poorly and someone will bring up the need for an STC

This is going to sound odd, but maybe human hair would work if you can't find horse? 

[N201MKTurbo]

There must have been a hog farm next to the Mooney factory.

[varlajo]

[Hank]

2 hours ago, varlajo said:

This, just ne sure to get stainless steel scrub pads. Regular steel wool will rust away pretty quick. There's a reason Brillo pads have disappeared (at least from my kitchen).

[MikeOH]

Note to self: Make friends with a hog farmer...could come in handy

[Bartman]

I removed the plenum for repairs many years ago. Overnight, a rogue hangar elf tossed the hog hair material. I now have great overhead vent airflow, and sacrifice by not flying with the vent open while raining.