Rodents chewing through cables

[Yagonyonok]

I am having problems with mice/rats chewing through wires. Our unit sits flush with ground level, and has several sealed, removable compartments. The wiring harness running between these compartments is being chewed through. Rigid conduit is not an option since we need to be able to disconnect the various components.

As for other pertinent information; the cables range from CAT5e cable to #6 AWG four conductor cables. The run lengths are 2-6ft, and space if very limited, so flexibility of the wire is important.

I know this is not a unique problem, but haven’t been able to find a feasible solution that fits our applications. Right now I’m looking for some sort of armored cable. The problem will be trying to transition from this to our water tight connectors.

Short of completely redesigning our entire system so that the mice can’t get, is there anything that you have used or could recommend?

Thanks in advance.


Engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand, into shapes we cannot precisely analyse so as to withstand forces we cannot properly assess, in such a way that the public has no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance.
-A R Dykes

 

[vpl]

Mike, you just need a good squirrel dog. They don't even come into our neighbors yards any more.

Patricia Lougheed

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[drawoh]

Yagonyonok,

Kevlar has a low elastic modulus, which makes it resistant to impact loads. This is probably not a problem with rats. I agree with the comments about stainless steel, above.

Some cats chew on wires because they perceive them as playtoys. If the cables are heavy enough and/or properly tied down, they will not be attractive to the cat. Cats are more voracious than snakes, they are cuddlier, and they are much safer to handle than a lot of desert snakes. They can be a distraction sometimes.

Can you modify your modules so that they slide in and engage connectors at the rear like with a VME or cPCI rack or an ARINC box? This eliminates the need for flexible cables.

JHG

 

[IRstuff]

We've had rats in our garage. They've chewed through PET juice bottles and containers as if they were paper.

I think that anything that's softer than tooth enamel will be at risk...

TTFN

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[KENAT]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/115/800/=4dgpzm

Right hand side, third from top. The exact stuff I was thinking of in my first post and Mike mentioned above.

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[Yagonyonok]

Kenat,
I just ordered some of that to try. Thanks for all the advice.

Engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand, into shapes we cannot precisely analyse so as to withstand forces we cannot properly assess, in such a way that the public has no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance.
-A R Dykes

 

[DRWeig]

Good looking stuff!

That will slow them down severely -- but may not stop them.

Depending on the rats' determination, you may need to put some nasty sticky stuff (same goo they put on glue traps for mice) on your cable, then a sacrificial wrap on top of that. Direct-bury coax cable can be bought with this feature already in there. The animals can start to chew, but they're repulsed by the taste and texture of the sticky stuff.

My rat experience involved instrumenting rat cages for temperature monitoring for a VA hospital laboratory years ago. Stainless 316 probes, 16 ga wall thickness, lasted about three weeks between replacements. The rats would gnaw all the way through, my 4" probes would be in two completely separated pieces.

I'm not sure where to get the goop -- perhaps a local pest control company? Don't know where to buy the coax I mentioned either, but it's what the local cable company in Memphis originally put in. Even the raccoons won't bite all the way into it when it's sitting out above grade for their chewing pleasure...

Good luck with it, and please let us know what works!

Good on ya,

Goober Dave

 

[ScottyUK]

Have you looked at the flexible conduit systems from the likes of Kopex, Adaptaflex and so on?

http://www.kopex.co.uk/productpage.asp?a=2

They do a few stainless options.

UK rats don't normally carry hacksaws. Gyppo's - a close relative of rats, but able to walk upright - usually do.


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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[berkshire]

Scotty,
I do believe that is an ethnic slur, be careful, you will offend the rats.

Some years ago, we would wrap data cables with one pound sheet lead strips, the rats would chew on this for a while, then lose interest.
B.E.

 

[ScottyUK]

Now that would be risky today: either the rodents would sue you for heavy metal poisoning, or someone would pinch the lead for scrap value!

No offence intended to any rodents reading this.


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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!