Best way to mouse proof conduit openings?

moonpie

I’m planning to revamp my home network in the near future and I want to run a conduit pipe from my wiring closet to my server room for my new ethernet cables and fiber cables. I want to make the conduit openings mouse proof and bug proof if I can.

Any ideas/suggestions on how to do it?

I was thinking of using 1-½″ or 2″ schedule 40 conduit. I was also thinking of using smurf tubing or flexible non-metallic conduit, which would be easier to handle. The conduit will be routed in the crawlspace from room A to room B and come up through the floor and I still want to make the openings mouse/bug proof as much as possible.

What about mice chewing on the conduit in the crawlspace. Seems to me that a mouse would have a harder time chewing on Schedule 40 conduit than smurf tubing and flexible conduit. I’m not sure which I will use but the flexible tubing would be much easier to work with.

I have lots of other homelab/networking projects to work on when I get around to it.

MacLeech

moonpie Metal conduit to receptacle boxes with keystone plates and jacks of the appropriate type. Jumpers from there to the end devices. Minimize all the hole sizes and fill all gaps.

The softer/thinner the conduit, the more susceptible to rodents and other pests.

sempergoofy

moonpie
If the ends where the conduit is guaranteed to be dry and has only low voltage Ethernet or fiber (as you wrote), maybe pack with steel wool around the wires at the conduit opening?

I stumbled over this article via google searching the topic. I am not at all familiar with it.:
https://www.polywater.com/en/knowledge-hub/keeping-rodents-out-of-critical-infrastructure/

Thane_Bitter

moonpie Steel wool, stainless steel wool for wet damp areas, mice will not chew through it, it is perfect for plugging a hole that might need to be accessed again for more cables. Adding a shielding plate around a conduit as it passes through a wall, floor or ceiling can also block them, they cannot chew steel.

OT but the best thing would be to make sure they can’t get into the crawl space, aside from ensuring that if they do they can’t escape into the home.

Dks01

moonpie You could seal the cable ends with a dab of acrylic caulking. Don’t use the peanut butter flavoured stuff. 😉

HooRU

sempergoofy I was just about to say the same thing

moonpie

sempergoofy That Polywater stuff looks interesting. I will have to investigate and learn more. Thanks for letting me know.

kenward1

There are a couple products that pest control professionals use, one is called Stuf-Fit and the other is called Xcluder. Both can be found on the internet and the plus is they will not rust like steelwool does.

moonpie

kenward1 Thanks for the info. I will check it out.

Splitpair

moonpie That Polywater stuff looks interesting. I will have to investigate and learn more.

That stuff is tough to get out of a conduit or pipe should need to rearrange any wiring.

For something small like a conduit you can use a scrap of styrofoam packing, using a scrap of conduit to punch out plugs close to the size you need, stuff them into the pipe leaving enough. like a cork. so they can be removed if needed.

Splitpair

Splitpair That stuff is tough to get out of a conduit or pipe should need to rearrange any wiring.

By the way don’t forget to ream the cut ends of any conduit you install, failing to do that is asking for a short to the tube, a standard pair of diagonal cutters will do that job just fine.

iahawkeye83

Best way to mouse proof anything

moonpie

iahawkeye83 Great solution but unfortunately I do not have a cat.

InternetJeff

This works for rodents.

iahawkeye83

InternetJeff just don’t use that if you have a cat, you don’t want your cat to eat a poisoned mouse. Not a good way for a cat to cross the rainbow bridge.

moonpie

InternetJeff I use the Tomcat brand that has the bait on the inside of the trap and I keep the bait stations around all year long and replace when needed.

antdude

Some cats don’t even do anything with rodents. 🙁

Somewhat-Reticent

antdude Mammals learn from example.

iahawkeye83

antdude Like this cat

That was my late grandmother’s cat. That cat was a Siamese mix and it was the dullest cat I had ever encountered. She didn’t yowl like a Siamese, she just sat on the bed, eat, and use the cat box. My cat would use her cat box (she preferred her own) while my cat did not mind sharing a box when we visited grandma. A mouse could walk right over Ginger’s head and she would not flinch.

Somewhat-Reticent

iahawkeye83 Salute.🫡