Ask Me Help Desk - Teethmarks on electrical wires-can I wrap duct tape?

Teethmarks on electrical wires-can I wrap duct tape?

I have a mischievous,:p but very cute orange cat, who has attempted to chew electrical wires. Thank goodness - all is OK, and he never bit through, :rolleyes: but I did notice some attempts :mad: and some "teethmarks" on the computer and vacum cleaner, and lamp electrical wires. But, phew, as the wires are still safe, and not "yet" damaged, I was wondering: can I wrap some duct tape around those places where he tired to bite through?
Until I find a solution, :confused: I have taken some lemon essential oil and using absorbant cotton, rubbed it all along the wires... so as to deter him with the strong scent. I would appreciate your opinions and any suggestions. AND PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME ANY "JOKES", i.e. get rid of your cat, :eek: etc. etc.!!!!!! Thanks.

Do you mean that there are teeth marks on the sheathing (the outer covering) but the sheathing is intact?

Had a rabbit that did that once. She even got down to bare copper with no harmful effects. Use fusion tape to repair if the damage is not too serious. If you can see any copper, you will have to open the cord up and wrap each one SEPARATELY then wrap the whole bundle. Also liquid electrical tape will work really nicely on the individual strands before the fusion tape. Just don't bond the individual conductors together with the liquid electrical tape. Google it if you aren't familiar with that product and FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS. If you don't, it won't work properly.

Duct tape will work for a while, then it gets gunky and sticky. Same with cheap electrical tape.

EPM

Don't use duck tape. It's conductive and gooey messy.

If you want a tape that looks an ugly grey, use self-fusing electrical tape. It's about $25 a roll. No adhesive. Sticks to itself. Will stand up to 200 deg. Centegrade.

I like the liquid tape idea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hkstroud

Do you mean that there are teeth marks on the sheathing (the outer covering) but the sheathing is intact?

YES! :o

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeepItSimpleStupid

Don't use duck tape. It's conductive and gooey messy.

If you want a tape that looks an ugly grey, use self-fusing electrical tape. It's about $25 a roll. No adhesive. Sticks to itself. Will stand up to 200 deg. Centegrade.

I like the liquid tape idea.

When you wrote: "It's conductive"... is this dangerous?
I am unable to purchase any other products:o...
But they sound great though...

So, that is why I am asking if duct tape is all right and not dangerous? :confused:
Thanks!

Yep, duct tape is dangerous to use because it conducts electricity.

Quote:

Originally Posted by violet0019

when you wrote: "It's conductive" ..... is this dangerous?
I am unable to purchase any other products:o....
but they sound great though....

so, that is why I am asking if duct tape is alright and not dangerous??:confused:
Thanks!

If you can afford to feed this cat, you can afford to do what it takes to take care of it. Any good hardware store has the products that I mentioned in my first post. A roll of fusion tape is less than $10 and the (optional) liquid electrical tape is a bit less yet. DON'T use duct tape. Electrical tape would be better, but you will be replacing it regularly and you will hate how sticky your cords will get unless you get really expensive stuff. And duct tape will be worse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EPMiller

If you can afford to feed this cat, you can afford to do what it takes to take care of it. Any good hardware store has the products that I mentioned in my first post. A roll of fusion tape is less than $10 and the (optional) liquid electrical tape is a bit less yet. DON'T use duct tape. Electrical tape would be better, but you will be replacing it regularly and you will hate how sticky your cords will get unless you get really expensive stuff. And duct tape will be worse.

:mad::eek: "If you can afford to feed this cat, you can afford to do what it takes to take care of it." :mad::eek: TSK TSK TSK! It is absolutely unacceptable to express your nasty and uncalled for personal comments, as you have written, in your thoughts towards me, in your reply to a question I posted - with regards to electrical wires! In my question posted, I am NOT asking if I can or cannot afford to feed cats, nor am I asking members if they can tell me if I can or cannot take care of my cat(s) (dogs etc.). Your tone and your insinuations towards me are very impolite. On this site members need to be respectful to each other, and we need to be in control of these type of negative remarks/comments.

This is a place to answer questions - not to express your uncalled for, critical, sarcastic and cynical :eek: views about me, nor about anyone else who is a member on this site. You do not know me. You do not know who I am nor what I do. You do not know anything about my life, nor about my personal finances. i.e. You are totally unaware of the award winning work that I do in rescuing animals... I hope that you will reread your harsh words and in the future, be careful with your words - think about what you are submitting as a reply to a question that is posted.

Your personal opinions, and your inner thoughts about the members, in this case - me, are absolutely NOT acceptable. You must be in control and "edit" your thoughts - and hurtful remarks before answering questions on this site.

I do appreciate replies to questions which I post and I am very grateful to and appreciate information relating to the questions I post, but NOT to uncalled for and unasked for personal opinions.

If you feel the need I am sure you can find and join forums, where people will express these type of thoughts to and about each other:rolleyes: and everyone likes it and it is acceptable.
But on www.askmehelpdesk.com - we are nice to each other - we do not behave like this.

I hope that you will refrain from ever doing this to anyone else- it is not nice. Thank you[/B].

Violet,

Please do not read insults into comments that are meant to be humorous. No one is being disrespectful of your financial condition. Depending on the size and type of the roll of tape (measured in linear feet) the cost of cat food could be higher than the cost for a roll of tape. I know that because I have a cat that owns the house and sometimes I think she gets better food than we can afford. That's all that was being compared.

For example, I was going to mention that yes, you can use duct tape to secure the teeth of the cat. But you must use "Listed" electrical tape to re-insulate the wires.

The type of tape you need is very dependent on the type of damage that the wire has had done to it.

If the bites go completely through the plastic insulation, then you should absolutely consider using the fusion tape. However, if the bites did not completely penetrate the wire (down to the conductor) you may be able to use regular plastic electrical tape (about $3.00 a roll) to make the repairs.

We really need to understand the extent of the damage.

On the "trades" side of the forums we just play a little rougher that other forums. It is not meant to be mean.

Quote:

Originally Posted by violet0019

<snip>I am unable to purchase any other products:o....
but they sound great though....<snip>

The above quote from your earlier post was the reason I posted what I did. I intended to help you do what was best and show that it was not financially out of the question. It had absolutely nothing to do with any intentions of insulting you. If you want to take it as an insult you can rest completely assured that hereafter I will never intrude upon a question that you post.