A friend gave me some lengths of Phosphor Bronze draught excluder he found in
his garage - apparently very popular in the 60s.

It is something like 95% copper.

I thought that it would be perfect for nailing around my raised beds as a slug
deterrent: so I tried a little experiment.

I cut four strips of the material and nailed them to a flat piece of wood in a
square. I then put a slug in the middle of the square. It slowly made its way
across the square - and then straight over the "copper" strip.

Does anyone use copper as a slug deterrent and do you think it makes any
difference?

On Mon, 20 May 2013 16:27:36 +0100, Judith in England
wrote:



A friend gave me some lengths of Phosphor Bronze draught excluder he found in
his garage - apparently very popular in the 60s.

It is something like 95% copper.

I thought that it would be perfect for nailing around my raised beds as a slug
deterrent: so I tried a little experiment.

I cut four strips of the material and nailed them to a flat piece of wood in a
square. I then put a slug in the middle of the square. It slowly made its way
across the square - and then straight over the "copper" strip.

Does anyone use copper as a slug deterrent and do you think it makes any
difference?

Phosphor bronze is about 95% copper but it does not behave like copper
at all. It won't deter slugs and neither will pure copper unless it's
going green. Alternate strips of copper tape and steel tape will deter
slugs because of the electricity produced!

Steve

--
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. http://www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. http://www.justnn.com

"Stephen Wolstenholme" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 20 May 2013 16:27:36 +0100, Judith in England
wrote:
.. It won't deter slugs and neither will pure copper unless it's
going green.

I beg to differ Stephen. I've tried copper strips and it seemed to work
until it went green when slugs happily crawled over it.
--
Pete C

Judith in England wrote in
:



A friend gave me some lengths of Phosphor Bronze draught excluder he
found in his garage - apparently very popular in the 60s.

It is something like 95% copper.

I thought that it would be perfect for nailing around my raised beds
as a slug deterrent: so I tried a little experiment.

I cut four strips of the material and nailed them to a flat piece of
wood in a square. I then put a slug in the middle of the square. It
slowly made its way across the square - and then straight over the
"copper" strip.

Does anyone use copper as a slug deterrent and do you think it makes
any difference?


I read ages ago that dissimilar metals can cause an electric current.
(basics for a small charge). Elecrolite static charge? We can get corrosion
from this and during this process a polaric field can be obtained. It is
arguable that this is how life was formed with the aid of liquid water.

Baz

"Baz" wrote
I read ages ago that dissimilar metals can cause an electric current.
(basics for a small charge). Elecrolite static charge? We can get corrosion
from this and during this process a polaric field can be obtained. It is
arguable that this is how life was formed with the aid of liquid water.



That's why you don't use Stainless Steel screws/bolts in Aluminium. The Ally
will just corrode away.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 21/05/2013 13:32, Bob Hobden wrote:
"Baz" wrote
I read ages ago that dissimilar metals can cause an electric current.
(basics for a small charge). Elecrolite static charge? We can get corrosion
from this and during this process a polaric field can be obtained. It is
arguable that this is how life was formed with the aid of liquid water.



That's why you don't use Stainless Steel screws/bolts in Aluminium. The Ally
will just corrode away.

It depends. Large area of aluminium fastened by stainless steel is
usually considered safe. The other way round and you are asking for
trouble. Up the ante by introducing sea air and it is best to insulate
the joint.
--
Phil Cook

On 21/05/2013 13:32, Bob Hobden wrote:
"Baz" wrote
I read ages ago that dissimilar metals can cause an electric current.
(basics for a small charge). Elecrolite static charge? We can get
corrosion
from this and during this process a polaric field can be obtained. It is
arguable that this is how life was formed with the aid of liquid water.



That's why you don't use Stainless Steel screws/bolts in Aluminium. The
Ally will just corrode away.

So what combination of metals would stand the best chance of success do
you think?

On Mon, 20 May 2013 16:27:36 +0100, Judith in England
wrote:



A friend gave me some lengths of Phosphor Bronze draught excluder he found in
his garage - apparently very popular in the 60s.

It is something like 95% copper.

I thought that it would be perfect for nailing around my raised beds as a slug
deterrent: so I tried a little experiment.

I cut four strips of the material and nailed them to a flat piece of wood in a
square. I then put a slug in the middle of the square. It slowly made its way
across the square - and then straight over the "copper" strip.


I have a small railway around part of the garden. Most of the track is
nickel silver but some is phosphor bronze.
Slugs still crawl over it, even if the power is on. Thats only about
15 Volts but as that does not seem to stop them I don't think the
miniscule amount created by copper strips is going to worry them.
Connected to the mains or an agricultural electric fence it might but
in my case that would upset next doors cat.
G Harman

G Harman

On 22/05/2013 07:10, wrote:
On Mon, 20 May 2013 16:27:36 +0100, Judith in England
wrote:



A friend gave me some lengths of Phosphor Bronze draught excluder he found in
his garage - apparently very popular in the 60s.

It is something like 95% copper.

I thought that it would be perfect for nailing around my raised beds as a slug
deterrent: so I tried a little experiment.

I cut four strips of the material and nailed them to a flat piece of wood in a
square. I then put a slug in the middle of the square. It slowly made its way
across the square - and then straight over the "copper" strip.


I have a small railway around part of the garden. Most of the track is
nickel silver but some is phosphor bronze.
Slugs still crawl over it, even if the power is on. Thats only about
15 Volts but as that does not seem to stop them I don't think the
miniscule amount created by copper strips is going to worry them.
Connected to the mains or an agricultural electric fence it might but
in my case that would upset next doors cat.
G Harman

Interesting

I have a small railway around part of the garden. Most of the track is
nickel silver but some is phosphor bronze.
Slugs still crawl over it, even if the power is on. Thats only about
15 Volts but as that does not seem to stop them I don't think the
miniscule amount created by copper strips is going to worry them.
Connected to the mains or an agricultural electric fence it might but
in my case that would upset next doors cat.
G Harman

G Harman



That's because...........

Wait for it .........

Wait for it......

You have then trained

On 22/05/13 07:10, wrote:
On Mon, 20 May 2013 16:27:36 +0100, Judith in England
wrote:



A friend gave me some lengths of Phosphor Bronze draught excluder he found in
his garage - apparently very popular in the 60s.

It is something like 95% copper.

I thought that it would be perfect for nailing around my raised beds as a slug
deterrent: so I tried a little experiment.

I cut four strips of the material and nailed them to a flat piece of wood in a
square. I then put a slug in the middle of the square. It slowly made its way
across the square - and then straight over the "copper" strip.


I have a small railway around part of the garden. Most of the track is
nickel silver but some is phosphor bronze.
Slugs still crawl over it, even if the power is on. Thats only about
15 Volts but as that does not seem to stop them I don't think the
miniscule amount created by copper strips is going to worry them.
Connected to the mains or an agricultural electric fence it might but
in my case that would upset next doors cat.

To be effective you want a zinc strip and a copper one, about a quarter
of an inch apart.

I doubt very much that the draught excluder strip is phosphor bronze,
which is a bearing material.

--
Rusty Hinge

On Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:55:35 +0100, RustyHinge wrote:

I doubt very much that the draught excluder strip is phosphor bronze,
which is a bearing material.

Also known as "Atomic Strip" still available and the ads say it's
pure copper. However the old stuff that I have (somewhere) is very
springy, far more than copper from a bit of tube or hot water
cylinder. I guess it might be cold rolled to harden it but wouldn't
that also make it brittle?

Certainly the stuff I have, which is probably in the order of 50
years or more old hasn't tarnished like copper does in air. It's not
bright but it still has a bit of a shine not the matt dark brown that
copper goes in dry air. I'd say mine at least is a copper alloy of
some sort, Phosphor Bronze is what my Dad called it. Beryllium Copper
is also springy and hard but beryllium is toxic and I suspect more
expensive than tin...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 04/06/13 00:51, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:55:35 +0100, RustyHinge wrote:

I doubt very much that the draught excluder strip is phosphor bronze,
which is a bearing material.

Also known as "Atomic Strip" still available and the ads say it's
pure copper. However the old stuff that I have (somewhere) is very
springy, far more than copper from a bit of tube or hot water
cylinder. I guess it might be cold rolled to harden it but wouldn't
that also make it brittle?

May be beryllium copper - the stuff Beatty uses for tellingbone wires.
Very springy and not distorted easily. (I use it for UHF/Microwave aerials)

Certainly the stuff I have, which is probably in the order of 50
years or more old hasn't tarnished like copper does in air. It's not
bright but it still has a bit of a shine not the matt dark brown that
copper goes in dry air. I'd say mine at least is a copper alloy of
some sort, Phosphor Bronze is what my Dad called it. Beryllium Copper
is also springy and hard but beryllium is toxic and I suspect more
expensive than tin...

Hum. Copper will alloy with a surprising number of metals to make a
range of 'bronzes': aluminium, nickel, zirconium, tin and beryllium are
the most common (I think...) but a little silver counterintuitively
hardens it to something like steel.

--
Rusty Hinge

In article , Judith in
England writes


Does anyone use copper as a slug deterrent and do you think it makes any
difference?

A friend bought some to experiment. He has two pots with box topiary
where slugs and snails like to shelter: he puts slug pellets on top of
the compost and usually finds plenty of dead gastropods.
With one strip of shiny copper tape around each pot he gets no dead
slugs or snails at all so he deduced that the tape keeps them out.

I told him he should've taped one pot and kept the other as a control:
he blew a raspberry at me and put the kettle on.

All the speculation as to how it works is just that: speculation (with
maybe a smidge of quantum fruitloopery). It's interesting that it
doesn't seem to work consistently. If I could get some I'd try
different species of gastropod in different conditions.

Now, where can I get lily beetle tape?
--
Sue ]

On 23/05/13 10:00, Darkside wrote:
In article , Judith in
England writes


Does anyone use copper as a slug deterrent and do you think it makes any
difference?

A friend bought some to experiment. He has two pots with box topiary
where slugs and snails like to shelter: he puts slug pellets on top of
the compost and usually finds plenty of dead gastropods.
With one strip of shiny copper tape around each pot he gets no dead
slugs or snails at all so he deduced that the tape keeps them out.

I told him he should've taped one pot and kept the other as a control:
he blew a raspberry at me and put the kettle on.

All the speculation as to how it works is just that: speculation (with
maybe a smidge of quantum fruitloopery). It's interesting that it
doesn't seem to work consistently. If I could get some I'd try
different species of gastropod in different conditions.

Whelks?

Now, where can I get lily beetle tape?

The stationer. Double-sided sticky tape will catch them all - and
everything else.

--
Rusty Hinge