Outdoor Venue Animal-Proof Cable Shed

My company has an outdoor venue we open in the summer that includes a 8'x12' "tech shed" that has a lot of cable going into and out of it (think 30 soca, an unknown amount of DMX, NL4, etc etc), and this year we're building a new shed because the old one is falling apart. The only problem is that the venue is in the middle of a forested park so it needs to be secure against the animals that live there. Any ideas for how to get enough and big enough mouseholes for all these cables with the chance of expansion without risking animals making a home in the shed?

spray foam. wrap the cables in plastic wrap, and fill in the void with the spray foam. At the end of the season remove the spray foam and then cable.

My friend from our theatre who does alarm installation has some horror stories about outdoor cabling. Yes, foam blocking, but also include metal mesh. Plenty of it. Cables need to be SWR otherwise they  will get chewed. Actually, even SWR will get chewed. They just last slightly longer.

@cdub260 Works in an outdoor venue. Got any other ideas?

I have worked in an outdoor summer venue since 2008. There is no way to fully shield anything from animals, all you can do is reduce. Using cinder blocks for the lower building blocks helps. Cable pass throughs at knee or better height. Bury rated cable or conduit. We use wireless DMX in some places since the critters seem to like DMX cable. You are going to find things you have to clean up and it's part of outdoor theater. Some day I'll tell the story of the snakeskin in the lighting console.

I found a gecko and her eggs dried up inside a data enabler that came back from texas....

They WILL get in. If you find a spray that works on cables, let me know.

Mud wasps like to fill in screw holes on outdoor speakers. I have a flattened drill bit I use for drilling sand out of the holes.

As for mice, I have been having good luck with a garlic/mint based spray (that does not smell after just a few mins.) in my kitchen. Haven't tried in with outdoor equipment yet.

grinchwrapsupreme said:

My company has an outdoor venue we open in the summer that includes a 8'x12' "tech shed" that has a lot of cable going into and out of it (think 30 soca, an unknown amount of DMX, NL4, etc etc), and this year we're building a new shed because the old one is falling apart. The only problem is that the venue is in the middle of a forested park so it needs to be secure against the animals that live there. Any ideas for how to get enough and big enough mouseholes for all these cables with the chance of expansion without risking animals making a home in the shed?

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Roxtec entries are the absolute best on the planet. They have an infinite number of sizes and combinations of openings and glands. Here's one sample of a complex entry from Amazon: ROXTEC CF 32/32 Compression Unit for 32 Cables, Includes CF 32 BG Frame, Cable Entry Seal KIT, Includes RM 20W40, Aluminium Frame, Quantity 16-2 Boxes of 8 https://a.co/d/3eKk2Ap

A less expensive alternative: SEAVIEW Grey ABS Plastic Cable Gland - UV Stable - Multi Cable(up to 2-17mm Each) https://a.co/d/fTz9yP2

Now for real people, simply use round home entries and simply replace the rubber grommets for different size cables. You can make extra holes and get solid grommet glands to fill the empty holes so you have openings ready to go with no tools if you have to add cables down the road. One example from Amazon: Waterproof Multi-Hole Nylon Cable Glands for Electrical Enclosure, 4 Holes, Pack with 3pcs(1", Black) https://a.co/d/bNJQn71

If you're building a new enclosure for technical gear, you might want to look up the Motorola R56 manual, assuming you're not too far into the project already for it to help.