Team-BHP - Rat-proof Fencing as a solution for the rodent menace?

Quote:

Originally Posted by vikash49 (Post 5237195)

Just the other day, I was telling my nephew how I have completed 4yrs of trouble free ownership with my Honda BRV Petrol CVT.

And lo and behold, the very next day I see this engine check light glowing on my drive back from work!

Kindly help!!

The rubber hoses unless related to something like power steering hose etc should not be very expensive. Kindly try a local but trusted garage. You could get the parts online from boodmo.com etc but would need to know the part no etc.

Start using try using spray like this. This does not prevent them from entering but does touchwood prevents them from biting. You need to up your rat defenses. Try using a steel wire mesh over hoses, wire brushes etc to prick the rat. If you want to use poison then Roban cake smeared with Roban poison is very effective. You need to wear gloves and a mask while placing the poison.

Dear anti-rodent innovators - Nimalan & Reddy6980, I too have been thinking that the best way to deal with this problem is to not allow the rats into the car at all. At least at home, where the car would spend most of its nights - when these nocturnal mischief makers are active.

I spoke to both steel and alluminium fabricators but our country is too busy and not very excited about a random person walking into a fabricator's shop and whiteboarding abnormal engineering ideas ...

The daily-dismantle-reassemble solution's weight is a key consideration for me. I wanted to try a JSW Colouron Plus based design (to avoid rusting in rains), but the sheet weight is quite a bit even at their lowest 0.4mm thickness. Hence the following questions to you:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimalan (Post 4565794)

+It can be handled by a single person and not heavy.

Very neatly done, including the corner latches for tight fitting. What is the weight of the long unit (frame+sheet assembly) that runs along the length of the car? Can you please give the dimensions too (length, width/height, sheet thickness, along with the weight? It would help me design my own solution.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reddy6980 (Post 4538185)

It takes 2-3 Minute tops to roll / unroll (of course, using safety gloves).

Will share pics after final setup.

This seems like a simplified approach. Do you have the latest pictures / video of the final setup? Since you have used a single rolling sheet, the weight must be considerable. Can you kindly let me know what the sheet thickness is (0.1mm? 0.2mm? thicker?), length, height (3 feet?) and the weight of the full roll?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hagarthenormal (Post 5271631)

Attached 4 piece setup that i made as DIY for convenience. Its 0.2mm, 40feet, 3 feet weighing under 8KG as roll.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 4563386)

Looks like someone implemented the fencing suggestions from the opening post.

Thanks to Siva Shankar for sending these pictures in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing them with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

Thank to this wonderful post, my car is now safe from the trouble of rats. I had something made from my welder and implemented it. I used GI sheet and metal frames, I got a total of 6 steel frames made and then nailed them with GI aluminium sheet. This has a very smooth surface which makes it impossible for rats to climb vertically and the entire car is fenced. The frames are closely locked with the help of a hook, so removing is easy. It has been 6 months now of using this and I have had no rat trouble after having this installed.

Also to note of the 6 frames (2 each side and 1 front & back each), I remove only 2 (Back and right hand side rear frame) to remove the car and park, so 4 frames are never disturbed. The whole process of removing takes me about 1 minute when I have to take the car out and about 3 minutes to park the car and place the frames. While parking just need to ensure the hooks are in place and locked.

This costed me about 10K, including the material and the welder charges. The welder took about 4 hours to get this done. This has given me great peace of mind and kept the car free of rats.

One more thing, I ensure that the engine guard cover never gets fully wiped (though I don't like it) as I want the dust to settle and be there as then I can detect any footprints of rats if at all they do sneak in (So far no such intrusion!).

Some pictures of the setup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar (Post 4601409)

My car is protected by homemade spikes which do a good job of protecting the wires of the car by pricking and piercing the soft under side of the creepy crawlies.

Attachment 1883025

Attachment 1883014

I had a scary incident at home the other day. The Good Knight mosquito liquid dispenser device overheated and caught fire. The liquid container was almost empty, and as usual, I connected the Good Knight machine upside down to use up the remaining liquid. I had been doing this for a long time. However, this time, upon engaging the high dispensing switch (it had two modes: high and low, with high for stronger liquid dispensing) the device started to smoke within a few minutes and eventually caught fire. Fortunately, we managed to quickly extinguish it, preventing a potential catastrophe.

What is the connection of the above incident with rats you may say? I had installed spike thingies in my car. These spikes are made of lightweight plastic, and in case of overheating, they might melt, even though I had wrapped them in heat-resistant insulation wiring tape. I used to worry about them before every drive, checking if they were intact. Following the mosquito machine incident, I became unnerved and removed all the spikes from my car. I was appalled to see how a plastic device could just go up in flames due to overheating :Shockked:.

Initially, I had eight spikes, but I reduced them to six. I observed that rats avoided the wires where Autoguard spray was applied, indicating that the spray was effective, and the additional spike thingies were unnecessary. Additionally, I would remove them for every service and reinstall them afterward, taking about an hour each time. The fear of them coming off and other potential risks made me reconsider having them. Moreover, having spikes might complicate insurance claims in the event of an unfortunate incident related to mishaps, etc.

Rat-proof Fencing as a solution for the rodent menace?-spikes1.jpg

So, now I am on day two without the spikes, relying on just three protective measures for my car: Autoguard spray, diluted Dettol water poured over the engine guard every 2-3 days, and the wire mesh for the reservoir. Wish me luck, guys. Thanks.