Affordable Heavy Equipment Maintenance

Installing and maintaining a pole-mounted transformer is difficult enough without having to worry about birds, snakes, mice, and other creatures damaging the structures. The animals may merely be curious, or they could be trying to nest on or near the transformer. But their nests, waste, and tendency to chew on wiring can damage the transformer and cut off power. Plus, there is the problem of animals being electrocuted as they touch the wrong wires. Aim to protect the animals, and you'll protect the transformers.

Rotating Animal Guards

Add rotating animal guards to wires so that squirrels, mice, and other small, crawly critters can't really move around on the wires or poles. Make it so their only option is to move back where they came from, be it a tree, a fence, or another structure. These guards sit on the wire and spin easily if an animal tries to grip the guard. The animal can't get past the guard because it's too big.

Covers and Shields

To prevent birds from trying to settle and build nests on transformers and poles, you need to add covers and sheaths over the wires, connections, and anything else that sticks up. A particular problem for birds is that they'll alight on one wire and be fine, and then they'll stretch out their wings and touch other wires -- thus electrocuting themselves. These sheaths protect the birds from the current, and the sheaths also protect the wires from the droppings of the birds that survive.

Remember After Dark

Unless you've got streetlights ringing all of the wires, birds still have a chance of crashing into the posts and wires at night. Hang glow-in-the-dark markers off the wires. These have a bracket that attaches to the wire, and a target-like design hangs down from the bracket. The design has a section that glows after the sun sets. It doesn't divert the birds, but it does create a visible obstacle that lets the birds know they have to fly around something. These targets are often colored so that they work as warning signals during the day, too.

You may have to try a few solutions before finding the ones that work for you. Animals adapt and learn, so what you think is a clever repellent may be something the birds or animals learned to ignore a long time ago. But eventually you will find something that works and that helps preserve the transformer box.

For more on this topic, contact a company like Solomon Corporation.