I've recently lost two airconditioners to the cute house gecko (not scientific name).
The one shorted the outdoor unit circuitry and another crawled into an indoor unit and shorted the PCB (while it was on!).
The spaces they crawl into are small but I don't think you can properly close them all off.
Any ideas?
Can you use some kind of fine netting?
Pictures of where they are getting in would help people to provide advice.
That is what I was thinking. A mesh over the unit to stop the little beggars getting into the unit.
Found this online.
https://www.smarterair.com.au/blog/gecko-proof-air-condition…
AMAZING!
The magical combination of common sense, search function and self help.
If only we could arrange a pandemic of it.
Could be done for the right price. I don't think it will be as profitable as the last arranged one.
I just lost a nearly-new washing machine to mice.
The little bastards climbed up from underneath, and nested in it. Where the gap wasn't big enough they simply chewed their way through the plastic that got in their way.
What killed the washing machine was that they chewed on an electrical cable. When it stopped working because of what seemed like a minor fault, that the lid wasn't detected as closed, the repair guy quoted me more than the cost of a replacement identical washing machine for just that cable, which would have had a manufacturing cost in the five to ten bucks range. Plus a couple of hundred bucks more for the callout to fit it. In other words, we're not interested in fixing it, buy a new washing machine. That gives you an idea of how Haier prices its spare parts.
I can stop them doing it again, but I had failed to anticipate that I'd need to. That they would want to nest inside it, and it wasn't designed to keep little bastards out.
Buy a brand that has "resin dipped" their PCBs (it protects from shorts by critters simply running across it) …
Some of the more popular japanese brands come with resin dipped PCBs (MHI, Fujitsu, Panasonic) ;)
Supposedly oldschool moth balls help to keep them away.
cute house gecko
The Asian house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) is an invasive species of lizard that's common in Australia
They eat a ton of native animals and compete with other native lizards for the same food.
I think its this one, the marbled gecko:
https://rewildperth.com.au/resource/marbled-gecko/
Although the species doesn't make a difference to the $500+ repair job
Ah OP is from WA, didn't see that…
I just assume the world revolves around where I live.
These guys look very cute.
Can you Velcro or silastic suitable sized bits of fly-screen or shade-cloth to the openings accessible to the geckos? A balance is a good thing. They eat termites.
Sad to hear, poor geckos too!
We have similar issue in a new place we bought. For the indoor unit I suspect the installers didnt seal up the hole they drilled through the wall. I am going to fill it in with silicone or expanding foam after taking off the cover.
For the outdoor unit that is harder to say. The circuitry isnt inside an enclosure? I am surprised geckos can get into it.