Are rodents considered a form of physical damage ?

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big john

Senior Member
Location
Portland, ME
The wiring in this house was "subject to physical damage" too....
The point is not to attempt to protect against any possible damage, only to reasonably guard against likely damage.

It's not likely a car will drive through a building, so that isn't a consideration of the installation. In some environments experience has shown it extremely likely there will be rodent damage, so it is reasonable to expect the installer to account for that.

As an anecdote we have one industrial customer who has found that the only effective solution against a severe rodent problem is smearing all the wires with Tabasco sauce; they buy it by the gallon.
 

romex jockey

Senior Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
electrician
As an anecdote we have one industrial customer who has found that the only effective solution against a severe rodent problem is smearing all the wires with Tabasco sauce; they buy it by the gallon.

Too Good John...:lol:

I'm inspired to break a bottle in front of my ahj , and go slather some of my work

~RJ~
 

ritelec

Senior Member
Location
Jersey
Was wondering a few days ago why they couldn't put some type of "hot" additive into the sheath mixture. Would seam simple enough.
 

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
...
As an anecdote we have one industrial customer who has found that the only effective solution against a severe rodent problem is smearing all the wires with Tabasco sauce; they buy it by the gallon.
I'd like to see the listing for that:D
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
It's not likely a car will drive through a building, so that isn't a consideration of the installation.

You haven't seen enough or have forgotten about the "Dukes of Hazzard", not many barns in Hazard County ever made it without a car crashing through them:happyyes:
 
Good discussion. I don't think it's possible or feasible to have the code spell out all forms of physical damage to be protected from. Some of it has to be based on experience and local knowledge.

I have nothing against direct bury cable in other applications, but in our agricultural areas it's a no go. Voles will wreck it in short order. And the person who paid for it won't care that it met code, they'll care that it's not working :huh:
 
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
As a side note, I did have a customer whose insurance helped pay for the damage to DB service wires. An agent called me and wanted to know how I had determined it was caused by rodents or gophers. His tone went from confrontational to laughter with an "OK" when I said "Teeth marks."
 

Carultch

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
Where have I seen this exact post before?.......... hmmmmmmmm....

It was your post on the Electrician Talk forum. I laugh because someone was asking for clarification on the term "physical damage", and your immediate response was an example of the most ridiculous physical damage ever.

I guess the topic of physical damage comes up quite a bit.
 
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