Rodents are ubiquitous creatures notorious for the menace they create. Perhaps one of the most affected and largely ignored victims of rodent menace is the automobile industry. Under the hood components of cars are largely susceptible to rodent damage and when it is not serving as a safe haven for rodents from the cold weather it serves as a nutritious supply of electrical wiring, cabling, tubings, and injection molded parts. Rodent species are likely to enter into cars and other vehicles through openings beneath the bonnet and damaging wires and other parts of the engine.
There have been numerous cases where rodents have managed to destroy car wiring and wires under the hood, behind the dash panel, etc. Ever tried to rev up your engine in the morning and it simply won’t start? That is when you know that a rodent has been there, done that!!! The whole backside of the dash panel is a mouse paradise. Headliners, seats, carpeting, are all good rat material.
An interesting report cited the damage done to a brand new sports car by rodents. Clearly rodents are not class-conscious! The car was being transported by an FCL container from India to the UK. Upon arrival, when the logistics company opened the container door, they found two dead decomposed rats on the container floor and the wires in the car engines, etc are all damaged. Rodents biting threw wires and cables are also responsible for car fires. The damages range from hundreds to thousands of dollars not to mention that sometimes these damages are not covered by insurance.
Lockdown effect: Rodents nibble away at wiring of parked vehicles
Automobile service stations across city are coming across dozens of cases where rodents – rats, mice – have chewed wires and caused damaged
PUNE Updated: Nov 06, 2020, 15:48 IST
The Covid-19 lockdown had everyone house-bound, that means parked cars were left for a long period of time in the company of rodents causing massive damage to cables of vehicles.
Automobile service stations across city are coming across dozens of cases where rodents – rats, mice – have chewed wires and caused damaged worth lakhs of rupees to the owners.
Neeraj Bhide, a resident of Prabhat road, had to spend Rs 1,40,000 to replace wiring and radiator fan of his luxury four-wheeler.
“My car was parked at Prabhat road for the three months. In May, when the restrictions were eased while driving, I came to know that the engine temperature of my vehicle is very high as the radiator fan was not working,” said Bhide, a working professional. It was the first time Bhide has come across to such damage to his cars.
“If your car is standing for a long period then such damage happens,” explained Bhide.
Ashwin Apte, who runs Apte Shri Auto Service, near MIT College Kothrud, said, “Such a problem arises only when the car is standing at one place for many days. Generally, rats are found in parking areas and after lockdown, many of our clients are facing similar problems.”
The rats have either eaten wires in the engine compartment or have chewed cable of air condition and seat covers were also damaged.
“Out of seven cars which we get to repair in a day, four-five cars have a problem of wire damages. Price of every wire varies, but on an average minimum one has to spend Rs10,000 to fix the wire connection,” added Apte.
Rat caused fire in car showroom, CCTV footage revealed
By NewsTrack
Aug 21, 2020
People lay traps to catch mice so that they do not get harmed. But 1 rat has done such a thing that it has become part of the headlines. This matter is of February. A sudden fire in a car showroom in Musheerabad, Hyderabad caused a loss of Rs 1 crore. However, now during the investigation, it is found that a mouse was responsible for this accident.
According to media reports, on February 8, the Maruti Nexa car showroom and service center in Musheerabad had caught fire. In this, goods worth about 1 crore including 3 cars were burnt. The police closed the case, assuming the fire was caused by the shot circuit. However, later on, a private company investigating CCTV of that night, it has been found that the fire was caused by rats.
According to reports, there was a pooja in the showroom at around ten in the morning on the day of the accident. Earthern Lamps were also burnt for this. It kept burning till night. At about 11:51 pm, a rat appears on the table of the customer service room. After this, in the footage of 11:55 pm, the rat is seen dragging the burning lamp. After this, it leaves the light under the chair. Then there was a fire under the chair. However, even during that, the rat remains on the table. After this, at around 12:06 pm, the chair is surrounded by flames.
Against this background, there is a need to address rodent damage in vehicles in an effective and sustainable manner. Conventional methods involve the use of traditional remedies like moth balls or natural repellent baits. But these are ineffective in their scope to address the problems as the rodents can easily make their way around these contraptions and gnaw away to glory. What is required is an intrinsic solution that can be used to address the problems by direct incorporation in the electrical wiring and injection molded parts.
Rodrepel™ is an innovative product designed and developed for the automobile industry and individual car users. The products are available in the form of a masterbatch which can be incorporated within wires and cables and polymeric materials right at the outset via extrusion thus making them inherently rodent proof.
Ancillary precautions can be taken by also using topical coating based formulations of Rodrepel™ for existing cars with wires and cables. These have a lifespan of as high as up to a year depending on the adhesive lifespan used however it renders the same level of protection that the masterbatch approach gives for a reduced lifespan. The plastic seats can also be extruded with Rodrepel™ or laminated with thin films comprising of Rodrepel™.
It is also available in lacquer and liquid form and can be easily coated onto an application to repel the rodents. The best part about this product is that it works on the mechanism of repellence and does not kill the target species. i.e. rodents, thus being in accordance with the need of the century, Sustainability, and green chemistry.
The RodrepelTM rodent repellent spray is an easy to use product and can be used on engine components.
Contact us at technical.marketing@ctechcorporation.com if you’re facing problems with rodents and get the best remedies to combat the pest menace.
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