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| themadhippy:
--- Quote ---probobly try to put cable glands on it and silicone --- End quote --- or one of the sealing gels from the likes of wiska |
| PlainName:
--- Quote from: coppercone2 on July 02, 2023, 05:15:23 pm ---probobly try to put cable glands on it and silicone because I have a feeling these other methods wont work very well --- End quote --- Ideally. But in practice it's not as easy as it sounds. Got an electric gate with cable termination in a box on each post (for the motors). They are identical and have cable glands that seal, lids that seal, etc. One side is perfect, as clean as the day it was put in, whereas the other side is infested with this black stuff. I have boxes around which aren't sealed, and the are black stuff-free for no apparent reason. |
| gnuarm:
--- Quote from: helius on July 01, 2023, 07:17:35 pm ---Borates are pretty harmless by skin contact but I also wouldn't apply them in a way likely to absorb into the skin. If you think the arsenic cosmetics are wild (and they are) there was a fad for using mercuric chloride in skin creams in the early 20th century. In some places it is still used in skin-lightening creams. The effect of boric acid is that the ants identify it as food and carry it back to the nest, where it can destroy the colony by poisoning the queen. If this is what you intend to do it can work. Sometimes it works better if it is mixed with a food the ants really like, such as grape jelly. But there are other ways to exclude ants including using water (they cannot swim), or sticky coatings that they cannot cross. One brand is "Tanglefoot Insect Barrier". --- End quote --- I've used the water trick to keep ants out of pet dishes. I set their bowl or plate on a larger plate with water in it. It acts as an ant moat. |
| coppercone2:
--- Quote from: PlainName on July 02, 2023, 05:46:37 pm --- --- Quote from: coppercone2 on July 02, 2023, 05:15:23 pm ---probobly try to put cable glands on it and silicone because I have a feeling these other methods wont work very well --- End quote --- Ideally. But in practice it's not as easy as it sounds. Got an electric gate with cable termination in a box on each post (for the motors). They are identical and have cable glands that seal, lids that seal, etc. One side is perfect, as clean as the day it was put in, whereas the other side is infested with this black stuff. I have boxes around which aren't sealed, and the are black stuff-free for no apparent reason. --- End quote --- I guess there is a shaft hole or something? I had great success sealing stuff with silicone, copper/stainless wool and glands. Perhaps the boxes emit some kind of plasticizer or plastics related material that is aromatic for ants and they converge there because it is a odor trap and the other one is vented so they don't see anything special about it. Usually ant's wont converge to a odd location unless there is food or to build a hive but if their gonna build a hive I feel you would find serious activity in there and it probobly gets too hot for a hive where you are in the open sunlight so idk |
| coppercone2:
and are you sure there is no stupidity preventing the seal from working like someone installing cable glands over a gnarly burr or flash left in the mold? missing gasket? Say someone did a number like used a hot poker to melt a hole in the box and put a cable gland on it without deburring the thing (the tool for deburring nicely is kind of expensive and they don't want workers using utility knives and stuff). Plastic workers are getting really creative on tik tok, they like using heat fitup and stuff instead of glue. .. loads of problems can occur from those processes. or just a crack some where. or if its a cable, there might be a wire pulled from the cable so it provides a pipe right into the thing. Cuz like those boxes are pretty good unless its installed improperly or damaged it should keep insects out. I would be worried about boric acid corroding somethign if it gets humid and reacts with some atmospheric vapors slowly (trace gasses) and makes some kind of corrosive gas inside the box and trashes it. If there is conduit running into it I suspect there is a underground breach of the conduit that is letting subterranean ants in. |
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