Re: Rodents UNDER MY HOOD! I would try Rataway Fragrance it stops rats, mice, squirrels from nesting.
What is a good way to tap into permanently on 12V DC under the hood, to power an ultrasonic rodent repeller?
NOT a good idea. Even if it worked, it probably would run down your battery fairly quickly. I didn't know they even made one to run on 12 V.
Thanks for the warning, I have considered that. I have a more resilient 12V battery installed and I will connect a trickle charger for longer inactive periods that might discharge the battery. I also use a motor controller and a 'battery guard' to power the cabin fans for an hour or so to keep the car a bit cooler when parked in full sun when it has my surfboard in it. Maybe I should connect the power for the ultrasonic repeller to the same battery guard, just to make sure nothing goes wrong with a dead battery. However, mutiple 12V rodent repellers are available, some claim they turn off when the battery voltage drops too far. I'm after instructions on how to best acces permanently-on 12V under the hood of an NHW20.
Another option could be to use 12V to power LED lights permanently installed in the motor compartment. MAYBE that's as annoying to rodents, or worse than, the openhood method. It will not even be dark at night that way.
A "pest repeller" should not be needed for short periods of inactivity. If you have access to "shore power" to run a trickle charger, then you don't NEED the 12 V model.
Glad you know my place and it's wildlife so well. It would be even better to get some advice on where best to tap into permanently-on 12v under the hood of a NHW20 Prius.
You could tap into the dedicated jumpstart positive terminal in the main relay/fuse box, next to the inverter.
There's a fellow comes on CBC radio every so often, answering automotive questions. Yesterday in answer to a rats under the hood question, he suggests to tie a couple of mothballs in an old sock, securely fasten it somewhere under the hood, away from fans and belts, and not near the passenger compartment air intake. We had a rat under the hood for a while, he (or she?) had dragged all manner of stuff in there: a little stuffed bunny, a terry towel robe belt, various plastic scraps. It was grazing on bags birdseed, fruit and what have you in the garage. Came to an abrupt end when we took in our daughter's Shiba Inu: first time we got home with him he sensed a disturbance in the force in the garage: the rat zipped out, never to return.
The ultrasonic basically don't work. Or, if they do, they do not work very well. First, search the forum and find out how to screen off everything you can screen off. That's not going to stop them from having parties under much of the hood, however. Various smelly things such as peppermint work, supposedly. I would never use mothballs. Too dangerous to people, also. My solution is too place traps on the ground at all four wheels. It may not get them the first night, but it does eventually. Caught one white-footed mouse and one deer mouse last night. Rats are very smart. If you have rats under the hood, better hope the trap catches them the first time.....they won't be fooled again.
I went through the same problem with my Prius and my wife's RAV4. Regarding moth balls: we had mice getting into my propane grill, so I put a ton of mothballs in the enclosure. It stank up the whole patio. But it didn't bother the mice at all. So much for that idea. Our garage is full of unpacked junk from our move, so we park in the gravel drive (we live outside of Santa Fe in New Mexico). Before we had any mouse problems in either car, we bought a couple of Rid-A-Rat strobing LEDs that I put under the cars. That seemed to work for several weeks, until the mice began using them as flight path landing lights. I put mouse traps in the cars and for several months caught one or two mice every single day. There are a lot of mice out there! Finally, two months ago I placed three solar-powered 100-lumen LED spotlights around the perimeter of the drive—a house-mounted wall sconce light illuminates the fourth side. They're pointed down, onto the gravel around the cars. Since that day, not a single mouse has shown up in the traps, or in the cars. I should note I also leave my Prius hood wide open, with a motion-sensitive LED light hanging from the hood latch hook, and another mouse trap on the engine. So far, at least, that has been the most effective deterrent. It's been two months and ten days and counting....
You want a shortcut? Here's what I did. YouTube's SaneAuto, where the mechanic keeps his 2010 Prius going strong over 400K miles. An overview of his rodent problem, as well as my own remedy pix, mostly following his advice. Here's my DIY solution in a post I just made here: Rodent Entry | PriusChat
