[TowerTalk] Chipmunks

[Bob K6UJ]

I have the same problem only with mice.  They chew away insulation on the wires.  
They can squeeze thru a very small opening.  I'm thinking of trying either the duct seal 
or the expandable foam for these critters.   Anyone had success with either of these for mice ?  

Bob
K6UJ



On Jan 15, 2012, at 11:25 PM, K8RI wrote:

> On 1/16/2012 12:53 AM, Eugene Jensen wrote:
>> Buy Duct Seal at your Home Depot in the Elect. Dept. It like clay and you
>> can dig it out of your conduct when you need add wire ect.  It comes in 1LBS
>> bricks. 73 Gene K2QWD
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
>> [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of K8RI
>> Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 11:25 PM
>> To: towertalk at contesting.com
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Chipmunks
>> 
>> On 1/13/2012 3:54 PM, Art Trampler wrote:
>>> ALVIN!!!!
>>> 
>>> --- On Fri, 1/13/12, Bill Ogden<ogden at us.ibm.com>   wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> From: Bill Ogden<ogden at us.ibm.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Chipmunks
>>> To: towertalk at contesting.com
>>> Date: Friday, January 13, 2012, 9:52 AM
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Chipmunks got into my conduit (3" PVC) between my shack and my tower
>>> and did a job on cable insulation. They shorted several wires in the
>>> SteppIR control cable (blowing driver chips in the controller) and
>>> even ate bits of the SHIELD from several places in several coax
>>> cables.  (There were different types of coax, and the chipmunks worked
>>> on all of them. No one type, such as the direct burial cables, was
>>> immune.)
>>> 
>>> I am replacing the controller cable and the main coax to my beam. I
>>> cut out the bad parts of other coax and spliced them (using proper
>>> plugs and the short barrel connectors) -- these are for 80/40 antennas
>>> and now check OK when measured going to a dummy load.
>> Here the conduit ends in a large NEMA enclosure.  Photo 7 from the top and
>> the bottom 4 on the page
>> http://www.rogerhalstead.com/ham_files/cablebox.htm.  There are no "open"
>> openings in the enclosure. They are either conduit, compression fittings, or
>> coax bulkhead connectors.  The old NEMA enclosure had a conduit stub, but
>> critters were getting in that and particularly in the winter when the snow
>> would reach or cover the opening of the stub. Of course in summer it was a
>> prime target for paper wasps.
>> 
>>> I'll do a better job of blocking the ends of the conduit.
>>> 
>>> QUESTION: Will moth balls in the conduit help? Will they harm the coax
>>> outer cover?  (Unfortunately, the neighborhood cats are too well fed
>>> --- they usually just watch the chipmunks.)
>> My big ol' "used to be Tomcat" is way over fed on chipmunk steaks.  If they
>> move he's on 'em, but he ignores the results of mechanical disposal.  Those
>> critters are really destructive.  I had to start leaving the cat out longer
>> than I like, to get rid of them.  They actually dug down in front of the
>> egress window and into the weep tile.
>> They must have built an apartment complex down there.  It took over 1
>> 1/2 of those large cans of expandable foam (the stuff that gets rigid) to
>> fill the burrow.  We've had no problems with them since then. At least if
>> they made it to the sump in the basement they couldn't climb out of it.
>> Unfortunately they'll probably be back next spring.
> 
> I prefer the rigid expandable foam. I think one brand is called "stuff". 
> Never use this "stuff" around doors and windows. When it expands it has 
> force behind it and can spring door and window frames causing them to 
> stick shut or preventing them from closing.
> 
> It works great for plugging off the ends of conduit, just don't over do 
> it as you have to dig the stuff out to install or work on cables.
> 
> 73
> 
> Roger (K8RI)
> 
> 
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