Upside down packaging tape, no more chewing on electrical cords

reilloc wrote:
On 9/9/2013 1:16 AM, Bill Graham wrote:
John Doe wrote:
My first critical application of upside down packaging tape was to
keep my cat off of the windowsill in a cat-hostile apartment
complex. Now that I'm temporarily fostering three kittens... They
start chewing on a group of electrical cords in a very small area
on the floor. Put two pieces of 4 inch long packaging tape among the
electrical cords. Reapplied as necessary. I just love it when they
start whining about having the tape stuck to them, and I get to come
to their rescue It's like cat correction heaven. One half hour to
one hour later, no more chewing on the electrical cords. BOOM.

If you've ever seen what household current can do to tool-steel in
an instant (like when you accidentally cut through it), you will
freak out at the thought of your cats accidentally chewing through
an electrical cord. It just can't happen.

It helps to put ground fault protectors on all your circuits. that
way, as soon as some groung current is drawn, the breaker trips and
the cat probably won't feel a thing. This is especially true if your
electricasl wires are swhielded by grounded woven steel cables, The
cats will have to chew through those first, and then as soon as it
bites into the hot wire, the ground current will trip the breaker
off and it won't come back on until/unless you reset it. Most new
houses have these in the bathrooms and kitchens, but there is no
reason why you couldn't put them throughout your house. They are
great for young pets and children who are likely to mess with the
wiring.

I don't like to get involved in a private fight but when the stakes
are life and death, I'll say something. Bill, first you need the
short for the GFI to trip and when the short's through the mouth, the
damage has already been done.

LNC

Not entirely correct. We are talking about power here. Thqt is the time
integrl of current. It takes time for the current to build up to the point
where it damages your cats mouth, and thewe GFI's will open the breaker in
such a short time that there iw no time for the current to put enough power
into your cat's mouth. They will trip on less than 10 milliamps of ground
current. Also, there will be (ideally) no large current build up unless the
cat contacts both sides of the line at the same time as he creates the
ground current. This will, in all probability, not happen, as soon as he
touches just one side of the line, the ground current will open the breaker
and without contacting both sides of the line, there will be no power draw.
So, the chances of the cat feeling anything at all is very slim. Remember
that these devices don't work on power drawn from one side of the line to
the other. They work on the slightest bit of power being drawn to the
ground shield on the cord. This means that the other end of the ground
shield on the cord has to be connected to the third, "U shaped" connection
on the wall socket. (There has to be some current drawn from one side of the
line to ground in order for the device to work)