Is there a reason NOT to use stainless steel braided loom?

[dstefan]

I posted about this in an old resurrected thread and got some good advice on how to managed the frayed ends You can see my issues here:

I’m resurrecting this thread to ask about stainless steel loom. I am running a pair of six AWG cables from my starter battery to the bed of my Tundra along the frame to power a DC DC charger for my lithium battery. We have rodent problems all around my house, and I have to park the Tundra outside. No problems yet (because I spent too much time and effort eradicating everything I could find), but they’ll come back.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B007KA8GOA/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_5?smid=A38Z015AJ7I755&th=1

I’m pretty sure from the reviews this stuff will stop any chewing. My bigger questions are: Is there any problem with potential wear on the wire insulation from a stainless steel mesh? And, are there any electrical interference issues? The one seriously negative review that concerned me on Amazon was a guy claiming that the electrical interference on fried his motorcycle battery. I’d plan to cover the wires most of the way to the starter battery.

There are other non-metallic protective rooms available they claim to be rodent proof, but they have capsacian imbedded in the lines, and I’m not at all confident that’s going to last and not wear out it’s punch overtime. Plus those products are only available in 100’ Spools and cost an arm and a leg. I only need the 25 feet.

My big concern is will the SS braid rub through other wires/looms that it will be nestled with or attached to? Or will the electrical properties create some unforeseen problem when used with a major power cable? For instance the inherent conductivity and grounding? Clearly, it seems to me the best option for the rats, but I dont want to create a bigger problem by using it.

Any other real world experience with the stuff? Or other caveats to using it?

 

[broncobowsher]

The other year I was digging through a hybrid, battery in the back, cable under the car. It was pretty much a big battery cable inside an aluminum tube (looked like EMT conduit from home depot, but much lighter aluminum. Trying to get the wire out it was clear they put the cable in first and bent it to fit second. Made an armored battery cable. Designed to last the life of the car. Saw no wear on the insulation as I pulled it out. Nice, got me about 10' of real nice battery cable from a scrap pile.

As for SS braid over wire, what have you found? All I can think of is the cheap generic kits for doing stuff on show cars. Try and make normal hoses look like fancy braided hoses. More of an appearance item than anything.

 

[pluton]

Could you place standard nylon wire loom over the cable, then add the SS braided stuff outside of that?

 

[dstefan]

Thanks for the feedback.

As for SS braid over wire, what have you found? All I can think of is the cheap generic kits for doing stuff on show cars. Try and make normal hoses look like fancy braided hoses. More of an appearance item than anything.

Yeah, I’ve noticed that too. The braid I was looking at is: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B007KA8GOA/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_8?smid=A38Z015AJ7I755&psc=1
Seemed pretty stout from the reviews. A lot of them mention stopping rat chewing.

Could you place standard nylon wire loom over the cable, then add the SS braided stuff outside of that?

I’ve thought about doing that. I also know that the cables will fit in 1/2“ poly drip line tubing, which is pretty thick and abrasion resistant. May go that route with the SS braid over it.

Interestingly, Toyota has started armoring some of the undercarriage wiring with really stout, non metallic loom. No idea if its due to the issues with rodents or how well it will protect though.

 

[llamalander]

I've used aluminum flex tubing or armored cable to protect some of the larger wires on the underside of my chassis, mostly because it is lying around and I have fittings for it.
I don't mind that it isn't waterproof, the wire inside is, and it seems to have held-up well. The fittings do a fairly good job of bonding it to the chassis, it can move a decent amount and I have never seen a tooth mark on it.
Downside is that it has a finite bending radius and can add a diameter or more to your cable.