ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Gophers eating UF cable

Curious if anybody out there has had an issue with gophers chewing on UF cable. We ran power to a clients tool shed in UF but they seemed to think that we should have used GRC because of their gopher situation. I told them I had never heard of such a thing but I have evidence of hungry rats.

GRC = Gopher-Rat Cable?

GRC = Gnawing-Rodent Cable?

Seems like they should have told you beforehand of their rodent problem, I've never seen this either, UF is tough stuff.

There is a large gopher population in my area. I have never come across or heard of a situation where there has been an issue with gophers chewing on UF cable.

This is extremely common in my area.

We do a lot of repair work on underground wiring. Most damage can be attributed to either lightning or rodents.

Most of the critter damage happens in agricultural fields where the wire is used for irrigation systems.

GRC seems to be overkill, rigid pvc will work fine, is cheaper and actually better for underground since it won't corrode.

I have encountered this problem also. There is also an insect here they call a "Piss Ant" that eats this cabel too. They also like old (direct burial alum)trailer park wireing.

Rob