Pest/Vermin control in Electrical Enclosures

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carville2016

Joined Nov 4, 2016
1
Can anyone tell me if there is anything written in any of the Regulations about vermin control for Electrical enclosures? I have read through the Prevention of damage by pests act 1949 and cant find anything relevant (correct me if I'm wrong). We were recently asked by a customer to find a solution for a vermin control issue and we would like to incorporate something into our design rules. I did find a brief paragraph in the BS6423 1983 Maintenance of Electrical Switchgear upto 1kV but still nothing that truly helped!
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,621
I have never come across it in NFPA79.
What is the nature of the enclosure and types of vermin?
How are they accessing the enclosures at present?
Max.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
I am in a rural electric cooperative. Over the years, I have had a few visits. Rodents are hard to cure. Snakes often short themselves out. No one had ever mentioned anything other than a tight enclosure.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,179
I am in a rural electric cooperative. Over the years, I have had a few visits. Rodents are hard to cure. Snakes often short themselves out. No one had ever mentioned anything other than a tight enclosure.
Not only do you need a tight enclosure, you also need proper fittings at every opening.
But I am thinking that the enclosure is probably Nema 1, which will keep hands out fairly well.. And those nasty mice and rats will chew the insulation off of a 480 volt service cable to get in, no matter how many of them become burned crispy crawling past the bare wire. So the solution is a tight closed enclosure, and probably a wrapping with a lot of soft steel wire, the one thing they find hard to chew through. And if there are no good animals in the area leave a box of toxic rat medicine where the rodents will get to it. But make certain that pets and kids can not get to it.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Here's a manual from the National Parks Service (https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1103/uploa...echanical-Rodent-Proofing-Techniques_2019.pdf ) on excluding rodents from general construction. There is a electrical section, but I didn't see anything specific to electrical enclosures..

1/4" hardware cloth (wire mesh screen) and copper screen seem to be recommended often. That size wire mesh is available in a various stainless and galvanized steels (https://www.twpinc.com/wire-mesh-by-project/pest-control/mouse-control-meshes ).
 
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