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So I bought a bug zapper

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Originally posted by: Rubycon
Originally posted by: ADDAvenger

Technically you're not supposed to put one within something like 100' of your porch because of the guts.

As for a tesla coil for mosquitoes there is something like that for mosquitoes, except it uses a laser instead of lightning.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t...nce/article5908535.ece
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LOL you keep them away because they attract the bugs! You want the bugs attracted AWAY from your outdoor "zone of pleasure" for extermination. As far as health concerns zapping a flying pest is far cleaner than say swinging a fly swatter splattering guts everywhere! :laugh:

As for other methods including lasers, see this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSIWpFPkYrk

😛
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LMAO but wait you can destroy the neighbor's cat or undesirable planets
 
Originally posted by: rasczak
Originally posted by: Rubycon
Those latitudinal grid models are not very effective. Vertical grids are the best! Why? Hot air rises. Think of a Jacob's ladder. Once the arc is struck the hot ionized and perfectly conductive channel rises and the arc extinguishes itself. On horizontal wires this will not happen and the arc persists. This means insects crossing the grid in other places survive. So the prevent persistent arcing with this design a transformer with lower secondary voltage is used.

A good buck whacker design will use about 4-5kV at 9mA. A few tens of picofarads of capacitance is also placed across the secondary to give the arc a loud report and this is the zapping noise you hear on these units.

You can also experiment with different fluorescent bulbs such as the actinic or bilirubin blue (used in jaundice treatment boxes). The most powerful combination is black light AND black light blue lamps albeit the most expensive. In many North American locales this also attracts very large moths such as the Luna moth this time of the year and these insects cannot fit through the protective screens. (nor should you be zapping them!) NEVER run the unit without the protective screen in place.
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This post is so sexy.
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Ditto...
An evil genius
 
Near where I live there is some kind of factory which has large industrial bug zappers outside. Guess it's important bugs don't get anywhere near the building because they're about ten feet across and spaced every 100 ft or so. There's probably a dozen of them in front of the building.

Driving by on a summer evening you can hear them all zapping like crazy - mass murder. A real light show when the sun goes down. Must be killing thousands of bugs a second or something. Wonder who gets to clean them.

 
Had one for a few years, it was a riot. Had the double grid, and was very effective. Makes a great drinking game...*ZAP* "drink!"

Oh and the box said "mount at least 25 feet from house". We hung it from a shelf bracket screwed into the siding. Reward > risk.
 
I made my own when I was about 14. I used some wire mesh and a transformer from a microwave oven. Now if I could just figure out how to put the magnetron into such a device that would actually cook the insects from within 🙂
 
Originally posted by: CFster
Near where I live there is some kind of factory which has large industrial bug zappers outside.
Click to expand...

Probably large ones like the Fi-Shock 7000. Wall of plasma when they get swarmed. From the distance they sound like someone using an electric weed eater! :shocked:



Originally posted by: aldamon
I don't think bug zappers will stop mosquitoes unless they emit blood and CO2.
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This is true. Mosquitoes generally ignore the photomagnetic spectra of the attractant lamps. However there are baiters
available that do attact mosquitoes to the grid for elimination. They require frequent changing and their effectiveness
is hampered by rainstorms - when you need it most thereafter! Get a decent way to bring in the bugs and you have a
certain winner there!


Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Fine, tell us what you know of starships. 😛
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They don't exist. 😉

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I made my own when I was about 14. I used some wire mesh and a transformer from a microwave oven. Now if I could just figure out how to put the magnetron into such a device that would actually cook the insects from within 🙂
Click to expand...

MOTs with no current limiting and 2kV@500mA secondaries would not make a very good zapper. The voltage is too low for
effective breakdown with smaller insects and the current is way too high for the arc to be quickly extinguished. Even
if effectively ballasted the voltage is too low. This was one of the reasons why the Weber zapper although very well
constructed - clogged frequently. Its transformer voltage was around 3.6kV (OCV) and thus had screen type electrodes.

Sears brand had the highest voltage for consumer units at 5.6kV. They also had the most complaints for noisy eliminations too!

RE: Magnetron... Microwave radiation would not be very effective for insect extermination. The dwell time is just too high unless you have a small cavity to get irradiation levels up there. Then you have a cleaning issue to deal with as well as high power consumption. Of course the geek factor would be high!

Finally here we have a cockroach walking between two pads connected to a 2kV 500mA 50Hz source. BAM!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2NT4-8tF0g&

:laugh:
 
Originally posted by: Baked
Personally, I would've just built a bone fire.
Click to expand...

True. But it takes so many bones to make a good fire. I can only dig up so many at the graveyard.

 
Originally posted by: funkymatt
Originally posted by: rasczak
Originally posted by: Rubycon
Those latitudinal grid models are not very effective. Vertical grids are the best! Why? Hot air rises. Think of a Jacob's ladder. Once the arc is struck the hot ionized and perfectly conductive channel rises and the arc extinguishes itself. On horizontal wires this will not happen and the arc persists. This means insects crossing the grid in other places survive. So the prevent persistent arcing with this design a transformer with lower secondary voltage is used.

A good buck whacker design will use about 4-5kV at 9mA. A few tens of picofarads of capacitance is also placed across the secondary to give the arc a loud report and this is the zapping noise you hear on these units.

You can also experiment with different fluorescent bulbs such as the actinic or bilirubin blue (used in jaundice treatment boxes). The most powerful combination is black light AND black light blue lamps albeit the most expensive. In many North American locales this also attracts very large moths such as the Luna moth this time of the year and these insects cannot fit through the protective screens. (nor should you be zapping them!) NEVER run the unit without the protective screen in place.
Click to expand...

This post is so sexy.
Click to expand...

that post was actually sexier...
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...and that post was pretty creepy.
 
Wow I remember this thread. 😀

Bug zappers are designed to be used outdoors.
Indoor models exist but are typically based on a different method - trapping.
They will use either a pheromone attractant or lights and employ a replaceable sticky strip or have a water reservoir and fan for trapping and drowning. They make no noise except perhaps a hum from a fan if present. The zapping is quite loud indoors and if a large insect gets caught and burns the smell of arcs ablating flesh is offensive indoors! D:
 
old thread, i know. i had to search for the best damn mosquito killer and i know AT never disappoint
i dont mind the zapping sound (if you consider it "bad"). its actually quite satisfying knowing i've killed these pest! and the glow makes a great night light 🙂
 
as stated before, these things will kill a lot of bugs but none of them will be mosquitoes.

mosquitoes only respond to bright colors(white shirt), human body odor, or CO2. CO2 is the main driver and how they zero in on your body. Fluorescent light will not attract them beyond the stray flier unable to find a CO2 plume.

unless you are going to drop a chunk of dry ice inside the zapper, all you will get is fly and moth victims.
 
If lights don't attract mosquitoes, why does the OPs lamp have about 100 in it?
They all can't be random victims.
 
rudder said:
Well they actually attract more bugs than they kill. The only effective mosquito killer are the co2 units that pump out gas at 98F and trap mosquitoes.
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what is the model number? and where can i get one?
i dont care about bugs, i just want to kill mosquitoes. i hate them with a vengance!!!
 
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