Gas Furnace gone wild

It's 1:00 AM in Central Florida and the temperature is 34 degrees. I'm in a deep sleep and suddenly a horrendous noise wakes me. The coach is shaking like a washing machine out of balance and a noise is coming from the foot of the bed that sounds like a drum solo. In a trance like state, I jump from my bed and search for the source. The noise is loudest at the gas furnace return vent. So, I go to the control panel and shut off the heat. Now the furnace has about a two-minute delay after shutting down before the fan stops turning. Eventually it shuts down and the noise goes away. I get out another ceramic heater, placed it in the living room and went back to bed. After about an hour of rolling the problem around in my mind, I think to myself, it may be a mouse in the squirrel cage fan. For the past week we have been catching the little varmints. Eventually I go back to sleep.

The next morning, I get up, take the cover off the Suburban RV Furnace to look inside and sure enough a dead mouse laying in the squirrel cage. Apparently, he couldn't keep up with the 1750 RPMs. I removed the dead mouse with a pair of surgical clamps and turn the heat back on. All is well. The furnace is spinning, no noise, plenty of heat, problem solved.

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