Rodents are a major cause of technical failure due to their habit of chewing through cable protection and damaging electrical wires. This can cause millions of pounds in damage to power and communications cables each year through electrical outages, service interruptions, lost sales, repairs and fees. A chewed cable can even generate electrical short circuits that ignite dangerous sparks, potentially causing a fire. However, traps, poisons, and sonic deterrents are often ineffective at discouraging pests.
Anti-rodent nylon conduits
Traditional soft cable insulations, like polypropylene or PVC tubing, and other materials with rough surfaces retain the marking smells of rodents for longer. Other rodents then come and bite away the scent to defend their territories.
Protecting cables with a nylon conduit, on the other hand, reduces rodent risk as urine and other marking substances don’t adhere to its surface, reducing the danger of other rodents continuing to bite away all traces of scent.
Nylons also retain their shape after biting or chewing. Thus, they are more effective than alternatives at protecting exposed runs of thermoplastic-insulated (PP or PVC) and sheathed cables.
These solutions are suitable for applications in a range of industries, including rail, construction, hazardous areas, and heavy-duty and particularly farm vehicles, and offer additional protection from fire and corrosion.
No nesting in nylon
Many pests, like mice and rats, are capable of biting through metal, as well as polymers to source material for their nests. However, rodents don’t like using polyamide as a building material because of its taste and the effort required to bite into it. In fact, many pests simply cannot bite into it at all due to its elasticity causing their teeth to slip.
ABB offers a broad range of flexible conduit brands and polyamide (PA6) nylon conduit solutions that safeguard critical wiring in a range of industries from rodents and other wildlife.
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