The ZAPshield Active Animal Deterrent

Animal-related interruptions in utility infrastructure can lead to outages, significant financial losses, and potential harm to the animals themselves, which is why animal mitigation is crucial to maintain an uninterrupted flow of electricity. At Rauckman Utility Products, we understand these challenges and have developed an innovative solution to address them: the ZAPshield. This blog explores how the unique Rauck-Shock technology not only deters animals but also conditions them to avoid electrical equipment in the future.

What is the ZAPshield?

The ZAPshield is a UV-stable animal shield in Rauckman’s animal mitigation line, specifically designed for transformer bushing protection. Using the patent-pending Rauck-Shock technology, the ZAPshield delivers a non-lethal electrostatic discharge when animals come into contact with it. This gentle jolt is sufficient to deter them without causing harm, ensuring both the safety of the animals and the smooth operation of electrical equipment.

How Rauck-Shock Technology Works

Rauck-Shock technology is based on the principles of Faraday’s law of induction, ensuring a safe and effective, non-lethal animal deterrent. When an animal touches the ZAPshield, it experiences a mild, non-lethal shock. This shock is designed to be memorable but not painful, which creates a negative association with the electrical equipment. Over time, animals learn to avoid these areas altogether, effectively reducing the risk of future interruptions.

Faraday’s law of induction vector illustration.

The Training Effect

One of the standout features of the ZAPshield is its ability to train animals to stay away from electrical equipment. Unlike other deterrent methods that might require repeated applications or can be harmful, the ZAPshield’s gentle shocks condition animals in as little as one unforgettable experience. This conditioning process is critical because it reduces the likelihood of animals returning and causing disruptions. The ZAPshield doesn’t just deter, it educates.

Benefits Beyond Deterrence

Bushings on electrical distribution equipment are notoriously prone to interference from animals such as squirrels, snakes, and birds. This interference can cause outages, costing power utilities millions of dollars in system repairs and significantly diminishing customer goodwill due to reduced system reliability. The ZAPshield is an effective snake and bird deterrent, as well as a great squirrel deterrent system by using Rauck-Shock polymer panels that pick up a charge from the bushing and deliver a non-lethal electrostatic discharge when contacted by an animal. This approach not only protects the equipment but also ensures that animals are safely deterred without harm.

Utility Pole Protection for Safety and Performance

Rauckman Utility Products offers several passive options to better protect exposed bushings on electrical distribution equipment, including transformers and substation apparatus, from inadvertent electrical contact with animals. All Rauckman wildlife mitigation products possess enhanced UV stability, including hindered amine light stabilization. They are track-resistant and flame-retardant per the V0 criteria of the UL94 standard. This means that the Rauckman wildlife mitigations products will self-extinguish a flame in 10 seconds or less and will not drip flaming particles, which could cause a fire.

ZAPshield Installation

A significant advantage of the ZAPshield is its hassle-free installation process. Designed to minimize downtime, the ZAPshield can be installed ‘hot’. By eliminating the need to power down or disrupt service, live line installation is much more efficient for utilities.

Reach Out for Your Customized Animal Protection Plan

For electrical infrastructure safety and wildlife protection for utilities, the patent-pending animal barrier, ZAPshield and Rauck-Shock technology represent the pinnacle of animal mitigation solutions. By training animals to stay away from electrical equipment, we help utilities prevent costly outages and protect wildlife.

For more information on our products and how they can help you ensure utility equipment reliability while protecting wildlife, contact us today.

Animal Mitigation, General Information, Product Articles|

Conduit Riser Cover for Wildlife Protection

Proper wildlife protection in electric utilities has historically been a challenge. The need for robust wildlife protection devices has never been more critical. The CRC-100L by Rauckman is the best in conduit riser safety solutions. It improves the reliability and safety of electrical equipment and is a comprehensive solution to mitigate risks and ensure uninterrupted service delivery.

Conduit Riser Cover Features

The Conduit Riser Cover is specifically designed for wildlife protection. Its unique features, including Flexible Fingers for a proper fit and track-resistant silicone construction, make it an ideal choice for safeguarding conduit risers from animal interference and debris accumulation.

The Conduit Riser Cover’s track-resistant silicone composition is engineered to withstand the rigorous conditions and demands of the industry. This silicone is specially formulated for the electric utility sector, ensuring durability and longevity, even in environmental challenges.

This product is also a high UV stability electrical cover which is reinforced by Hindered Amine Light Stabilization (HALS). This ensures reliability and performance under prolonged exposure to sunlight. The Conduit Riser Cover helps you to maintain system integrity and longevity.

Easy Install Conduit Riser Protection

Installing the Conduit Riser Cover is easy thanks to its user-friendly design and Locking Slide Closure mechanism. Electric utility professionals can quickly and easily secure the covers in place, minimizing downtime and ensuring efficient deployment of wildlife protection measures.

Conduit Riser Cover for Wildlife Protection

When it comes to electric utility wildlife protection devices, the Conduit Riser Cover offers the most versatility and reliability. Whether you are safeguarding conduit risers or larger bushings, this product gives you peace of mind and ensures the safety and reliability of critical infrastructure.

Invest in the Conduit Riser Cover today to safeguard your infrastructure against wildlife and debris. For further information or to request a quote please reach out to us or contact one of our representatives.

Animal Mitigation, General Information, News & Information, Product Articles|

ASTM F712 Standard for Electrical Insulating Plastic Guards: An Overview

The ASTM F712 standard, a critical benchmark in the realm of electrical insulating plastic guards, is a cornerstone for safety and efficiency in electrical installations. Rauckman proudly adheres to this standard, ensuring that our products meet the highest safety and performance criteria. This article provides an overview of the ASTM F712 standard, emphasizing its vital aspects and how Rauckman’s products align with these rigorous specifications.

Key Aspects of the ASTM F712 Standard

Applicable Guards and Covers: The ASTM F712 standard encompasses a variety of guards and covers, including:

Conductor Guards and Connecting Covers: This category includes line guards, line guard connectors, insulator covers, dead-end covers, bus guards, and bus “T” guards.
Structure and Apparatus Covers: This category is comprised of pole guards, ridge pin covers, switch blade covers, arm guards, cutout covers, structural barriers, and cross arm guards.

Method A-Withstand Voltage Proof Test: This test is integral to the ASTM F712 standard, ensuring that electrical insulating guards can endure specified voltage levels without failure. It’s a testament to the reliability and safety of the guards in high-voltage environments.

Test Table

Design and Acceptance Tests: The Difference

Design Tests: These tests qualify a specific product design for field use, ensuring that the guard system component meets the necessary safety and performance standards.
Acceptance Tests: These tests involve inspecting a sample from the production lot to ensure consistent quality and compliance with the ASTM F712 standard. While the industry standard is to test a certain number of products from a lot, Rauckman tests every single plastic insulating cover to ensure every guard will protect line workers when used in the field.

Materials Requirements:

ASTM F712 Construction Requirements: The insulating body shells are crafted to meet stringent requirements, including impact strength, water absorption, dielectric strength, and flame retardancy.
Types of Guards: Specifications for different types of guards (Type I, Type II, Type III Guards) include detailed criteria for notched izod impact strength, water absorption, dielectric strength, and flame retardancy.

Testing Methods: Material ratings adhere to specific testing methods, including Test Methods D256, D570, D149, and UL Standard 94.

D149 Test Method: This test evaluates the dielectric breakdown voltage and strength of solid electrical insulating materials at commercial power frequencies, an essential factor in ensuring the safety and integrity of electrical guards.
Test method applications

Application	Test Method
Material ratings for notched Izod Impact Strength	Test Methods D256 – Methos A
Material ratings for water absorption	D570
Material ratings for dielectric strength	D149
Material ratings for flame retardancy	UL-94
Handles of Grade 1 Guards	ASTM F711

Rauckman’s Commitment to the ASTM F712 Standard

At Rauckman, our plastic insulating guards are designed and manufactured with the ASTM F712 standard as a guiding standard. We understand the critical role that electrical insulating guards play in ensuring the safety of electrical installations.

The ASTM F712 standard is more than a set of guidelines; it’s a blueprint for safety, efficiency, and reliability in electrical installations. Rauckman’s adherence to these standards reflects our dedication to providing the best in electrical safety and performance.

One-Piece Tangent Cover

Animal Mitigation, General Information, News & Information|

One-Piece Tangent Covers – Powerline Protection from Wildlife

In utility systems, ensuring safety and mitigating avian-wildlife incidents are critical priorities. At Rauckman Utility Products, we recognize these concerns, and have developed an innovative solution: The One-Piece Tangent Cover, a multi-functional solution designed for power line protection and crossarm extension protection. The objective of a Tangent Cover is to provide animal protection and aid in minimizing animal-related outages, making it an indispensable tool in the lineworker’s toolkit.

Components of a Tangent Cover

Tangent covers serve the purpose of reducing wildlife incidents that involve perching birds and other animals on crossarms of electric utility poles. The Rauckman Tangent Covers are crafted using an engineered polypropylene flame-retardant resin matrix formula. Its self-extinguishing UL94 V-0 flammability rating ensures a high level of safety, which contributes to the goal of minimizing animal-related outages. They feature a one-piece construction, no separating or “drifting” components, and do not require assembly in the field. Tangent covers can easily be installed and removed using rubber gloves or a shotgun-style hotstick and have versatility in its application, accommodating voltages up to 38 kV system voltage, which extends beyond traditional power line protection.

Additives such as flame retardants, UV inhibitors, impact modifiers, and ozone inhibitors enhance the base polymer resins, which result in a robust solution that withstands the mechanical challenges of outdoor environments.

Easy Hotstick Installation

A notable feature of the Tangent Cover is the simplicity of its design. The straightforward installation eliminates the need for springs, and latches, which not only streamlines the hotstick installation process but also enhances the cover’s reliability during field operations. Lineworker tools, such as a shotgun-style hotstick, make installation and removal a breeze, reducing downtime and ensuring efficiency in maintaining the electrical infrastructure.

Mechanical characteristic ratings, as per ASTM standards, underscore the Tangent Cover’s durability, with impressive impact strength, tensile strength, and flexural strength. These qualities not only contribute to its longevity but also ensure consistent performance in safeguarding powerlines against avian-wildlife incidents.

Increased Safety

A Tangent Cover significantly improves safety in electric utility systems by acting as a protective barrier against wildlife incidents related to powerline contact near crossarms.

ULV-0Flame-RetardantMaterial:

Crafted from an engineered polypropylene flame-retardant resin matrix formula, these covers possess a self-extinguishingUL 94 V-0 flammability rating, ensuring they don’t contribute to fire propagation; Flame-retardant Tangent Covers minimize the risk of animal-related outages, contributing to improved SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) and SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index). You can ensure uninterrupted power flow and mitigate unplanned outages by utilizing tangent covers on your powerlines.

UV-Tested:

The Rauckman Tangent Cover undergoes stringentUV testing according to ASTM standards, which ensures its resilience even after prolonged exposure. This commitment to durability is crucial for maintaining the cover’s efficacy in animal protection and powerline safeguarding over the long term.

By reducing the likelihood of animal-related outages and providing durability against UV exposure, tangent covers enhance the overall reliability of the electrical system.

Learn More

To find more detailed specifications of the Rauckman Tangent Cover, click here to read the Tangent Cover brochure. To get in touch with our team, please fill out our contact form and one of our experts will reach out to you swiftly.

One-Piece Tangent Cover

Animal Mitigation, General Information, Product Articles|

How to Enhance Power System Reliability with Rauckman’s Bushing and Conductor Covers

In the electric utility sector, ensuring a seamless power supply is a critical concern. Rauckman innovatively addresses this through our bushing and conductor covers, which play an essential role in averting one of the subtler yet frequent reasons for power disruptions: the interaction with wildlife.

Bushing Covers: A Cover-Up Solution for Wildlife-Induced Outages

Rauckman’s Bushing Covers are an essential product in our animal mitigation product line. These covers serve a vital role in preventing animals, such as squirrels and birds, from creating fatal and costly phase-to-phase or phase-to-ground connections on pole-mounted distribution transformers. The significance of this innovation lies in its ability to minimize power outages caused by wildlife, thereby enhancing the overall reliability of power systems, and reducing unplanned service interruption

Engineered for Durability and Safety

The Bushing Cover is not just a cover but a sophisticated piece of engineering. It is crafted from a high performance polymer, specially formulated to meet the stringent demands of the electric utility industry. This material is track-resistant, ensuring that it remains effective over time without degradation in performance.

Flexible polymer material. Photo source: Electronics Weekly

Furthermore, the cover boasts high Ultra-Violet (UV) stability, incorporating Hindered Amine Light Stabilization (HALS) technology. This feature is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the cover under various environmental conditions, particularly under constant exposure to sunlight.

In addition to its resilience against environmental factors, Rauckman’s Bushing Cover is designed with safety as a priority. It possesses Flame Retardant properties, meeting the V-0 criteria of the Underwriters’ Laboratory Standard of UL-94. This certification is a testament to the product’s ability to withstand and inhibit the spread of fire, ensuring a safer power distribution network.

Conductor Covers: Enhancing Safety and Reliability

Complementing the Bushing Covers, Rauckman’s Conductor Covers are another innovative solution designed to improve the reliability and safety of power distribution systems.

Unique Design for Optimal Performance

These covers are made from an engineered formula, chosen for its track resistance and suitability for the electric utility industry’s rigorous requirements. The conductor covers feature a unique pre-slit design with a generous material overlap. This design is the result of a unique manufacturing process that not only ensures the cover’s flexibility but also its ability to retain its shape and characteristics over time.

The conductor features a pre-made slit to ensure stability.

Tested for Endurance

Rauckman’s commitment to quality and durability is evident in the rigorous testing these conductor covers undergo. They maintain all their characteristics even after 2500 hours in ASTM G-154 UV and Humidity test conditions. This level of endurance testing ensures that the covers can withstand harsh environmental conditions while continuing to provide reliable protection.

All Rauckman Utility Products meet ASTM standards.

A Step Towards More Reliable Power Distribution

Rauckman’s Bushing and Conductor Covers represent a significant advancement in the effort to mitigate power outages caused by wildlife. With our specialized design, high-quality materials, and rigorous testing, these products are essential components in ensuring a more reliable and safer power distribution network.

Bushing Cover

Animal Mitigation, Product Articles|

How Smart is a Squirrel? Why Squirrel Intelligence Necessitates Superior Protection

Utility infrastructure forms the backbone of our modern world, powering homes, businesses, and essential services. The continuous and reliable flow of this power is critical. While we often attribute disruptions to weather events or technical issues, a surprisingly agile and intelligent adversary is sometimes at play: the squirrel. Their behavior, as benign as it may appear, can pose significant risks to the utility network, emphasizing the need for superior protection.

How smart is a squirrel?

At a glance, squirrels may seem harmless, but their natural behavior and intelligence can lead to unintentional disruptions. These creatures are adaptors, problem solvers, and possess an uncanny ability to navigate challenges. It’s this very capability that sometimes sees them navigate and interfere with utility infrastructure, leading to unexpected outages or damage.

The Real Cost to Utility Networks

The Need for Superior Protection

Given the costs involved, it is beneficial for utilities to employ advanced protection mechanisms:

Improve Service with Superior Protection

While squirrels are a fascinating testament to nature’s adaptability, their interaction with utility infrastructure underscores a pressing challenge. We understand the profound importance of safeguarding our essential networks from all threats, no matter how small they might seem. Investing in superior protection is not just a financial decision; it’s a commitment to uninterrupted service, safety, and the conservation of natural species.

Stinger Cover

Animal Mitigation, News & Information|