off the wall OHMS law question

[ned]

I have always found the Ruger Forum to be full of self reliant clever folks so looking for an opinion; Clamped to my car battery I have a 12V flashing light (Rid A Rat) to scare off pack rats or give them disco lights- seems to work but could be just luck of the draw.
they get into a irrigation control box at the house. I'd like to put one in there but no easy 12V available- although I guess I could tap in to the low voltage side of the irrigation system. I have an old adaptor 12V @1.5 AMP- about the same as 2AA to power the light? appreciate your thoughts. of course I could buy the rid a rat powered by 2 AA batteries but that seems to lack adventure. Ned

 

[GunnyGene]

I have always found the Ruger Forum to be full of self reliant clever folks so looking for an opinion; Clamped to my car battery I have a 12V flashing light (Rid A Rat) to scare off pack rats or give them disco lights- seems to work but could be just luck of the draw.
they get into a irrigation control box at the house. I'd like to put one in there but no easy 12V available- although I guess I could tap in to the low voltage side of the irrigation system. I have an old adaptor 12V @1.5 AMP- about the same as 2AA to power the light? appreciate your thoughts. of course I could buy the rid a rat powered by 2 AA batteries but that seems to lack adventure. Ned

Rats are pretty smart. I doubt the light trick would work for very long. You might walk out there one night and see them dancing to "Stayin' Alive".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa9n7GirhsI

 

[rugerjunkie]

How are they getting into the box? Do they already have access or are they making their own way in? Id think either a new box is in order or you need to close it up so they cant get in. Some small mesh wire fastened around the box will keep them out.

Another trick for rodents...ever wonder why telephone pedestals are filled with pea gravel? They cant burrow through it and it keeps them from getting in and chewing up the phone lines. Might work if your box is buried in the yard.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

A small 12V transformer should run your flashing red light thingy fine. I've also heard that high pitch sound generators work to keep rodents away.

 

[Dan in MI]

12v battery solar charger.

 

[ned]

see? cleverness and humor abounds. thanks

 

[JFB]

I don't see the "Ohm's Law" question. (V=IR)

If the current flashing lamp is being operated off of a 12VDC car battery, the 12VDC old adapter will be the correct voltage, the only question is the current draw for the flashing lamp. if the flashing lamp is the size of am emergency vehicle light bar, then I doubt the 1.5 Amps will do. if the size of a camera flash, it should.

what does the 2 AA bateries have to do with things?

Is this the rid a rat unit you have
http://www.rid-a-rat.com/html/about_us.html

 

[ned]

good point, no need for George Ohm here, but that was the only one I could think of. Yes, that is the rid a rat unit you linked to and since one model of it runs of 2 AA I thought this old power supply would work- splice the wires, put it in the box and forget it. I could buy the 2AA power version- they say it is good for 6 months but I was trying to be clever. By the way one wire is shaded grey- by convention is the + or - ?

 

[JFB]

...by convention is the + or - ?

"To Measure is to Know" - Lord K

 

[mishtub]

If your control box is away from the house, a few moth balls keep rodents away real well. I keep some in my detached garage and it stopped the mouse and pack rat problems.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Well A long time ago I found a way to keep the local cats out of my Mother's flower beds. Make an electric fence that works off of 110Vs White wire to the dirt and the black wire to the fence. Used Coke bottles in the ground for insulators and wrapped the hot wire around them.

 

[ned]

Sorry JFB, on the old power unit (from a Vonage box) one wire is stripped grey- If I had a VOM I guess I could tell but wondered if by convention the stripped one was power or ground

 

[Pat-inCO]

Let's see . . . . 2AA batt's are 3.0 volts. Run six months means a current of
about .005 amps (five thousandths of an amp). Your 12V converter would
not even know you had a load on there.

I think I would try the moth balls first. :wink:

 

[ronto]

Vick's VapoRub will keep rodents away. Reapply every 6 months. I use it in my car engine compartment on areas that do not get hot when I had a mouse problem. There was one area on my barn where tree rats were chewing. I rubbed some Vick's into the wood. One day I saw one climb up there to sharpen his teeth, one sniff and he ran away like a bat out of hell.