Bug Zapper Design

[D from BC]

Somebody I know has this thing
http://www.asiachi.com/flyswatter.html
and I tried it out.

Yup..I was running around the back yard chasing after flying bugs like
an idiot.
It makes a small high pitched noise. Probably magnetostriction.
Runs off 2 double A batteries.

It go me thinking about other zapper designs..

How about a bug zapper that can cover wasp nests?
Anybody seen anything like this?


D from BC

 

[[email protected]]

Somebody I know has this thinghttp://www.asiachi.com/flyswatter.html
and I tried it out.

Yup..I was running around the back yard chasing after flying bugs like
an idiot.
It makes a small high pitched noise. Probably magnetostriction.
Runs off 2 double A batteries.

It go me thinking about other zapper designs..

How about a bug zapper that can cover wasp nests?
Anybody seen anything like this?

D from BC

I assumed it has a cheesy flyback circuit to create the high voltage.
I never opened mine up, though they are cheap enough to learn by
destruction. Harbor Freight has them on sale for a few dollars every
so often.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40122
OT, but while Harbor Freight items are generally crap, I have found
these stepped drill bits to work great:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91616
I made a power distribution box using XLR connectors, and these drill
bits were better than using a chassis punch.

 

[D from BC]

I assumed it has a cheesy flyback circuit to create the high voltage.
I never opened mine up, though they are cheap enough to learn by
destruction. Harbor Freight has them on sale for a few dollars every
so often.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40122
OT, but while Harbor Freight items are generally crap, I have found
these stepped drill bits to work great:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91616
I made a power distribution box using XLR connectors, and these drill
bits were better than using a chassis punch.

Wow! $3.99 for a racket zapper.
If I did the CAD design and electronics design, I would charge about
$4000.00CAD
That translates to lots of swatters to be sold just to pay me.

D from BC

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Wow! $3.99 for a racket zapper.
If I did the CAD design and electronics design, I would charge about
$4000.00CAD
That translates to lots of swatters to be sold just to pay me.

D from BC

There's not much to one.. I just took one apart yesterday to fix the
switch (mechanical problem-- the thin rod of plastic backing it up had
broken off). They use a little maybe 2cm x 2cm core transformer
(ordinary, not with the spaced-out HV windings), (I think) a single
transistor oscillator and a fat film capacitor on the DC output.
The board could be layed out in about 20 minutes if you are really,
really, REALLY slow.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[neon]

Now you got the tools but still chasing wasps and fly . Those buggers refuse to run into things. Now comaes a bug repelentthat make them desire to take a mexican vacation. that i think is more desireable. no chasing bugs.

 

[Jamie]

Somebody I know has this thing
http://www.asiachi.com/flyswatter.html
and I tried it out.

Yup..I was running around the back yard chasing after flying bugs like
an idiot.
It makes a small high pitched noise. Probably magnetostriction.
Runs off 2 double A batteries.

It go me thinking about other zapper designs..

How about a bug zapper that can cover wasp nests?
Anybody seen anything like this?


D from BC

Yup, home made attachment to a 5 hp shop vac with
electrocuting passive tube in it.
side attachment for a long pole to get the hose
up near a nest if you want to do that or simply place it
over the exit hole in the ground if you know where it is.
Just turn it on and let it suck for a while.

It was something I saw used made by an animal rescue/control
professional. He got tired of getting hit by bee's while
trying to rescue animals from trees and such. his truck
has an on board generator to operate it.

 

[D from BC]

Yup, home made attachment to a 5 hp shop vac with
electrocuting passive tube in it.
side attachment for a long pole to get the hose
up near a nest if you want to do that or simply place it
over the exit hole in the ground if you know where it is.
Just turn it on and let it suck for a while.

It was something I saw used made by an animal rescue/control
professional. He got tired of getting hit by bee's while
trying to rescue animals from trees and such. his truck
has an on board generator to operate it.

Cool... a 5hp wasp nest sucker..

D from BC

 

[Tom Bruhns]

There's not much to one.. I just took one apart yesterday to fix the
switch (mechanical problem-- the thin rod of plastic backing it up had
broken off). They use a little maybe 2cm x 2cm core transformer
(ordinary, not with the spaced-out HV windings), (I think) a single
transistor oscillator and a fat film capacitor on the DC output.

....

Yes, a single transistor blocking oscillator with a voltage multiplier
on the output--doubler or tripler as I recall. Perhaps the most
surprising thing to me was the output cap, something like 0.01uF at
630V. It charges to 4kV. I suppose they test each briefly and if the
cap holds, they ship it. Or maybe they don't even bother with the
testing.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

...

Yes, a single transistor blocking oscillator with a voltage multiplier
on the output--doubler or tripler as I recall. Perhaps the most
surprising thing to me was the output cap, something like 0.01uF at
630V. It charges to 4kV. I suppose they test each briefly and if the
cap holds, they ship it. Or maybe they don't even bother with the
testing.

Cheers,
Tom

LOL. I visually estimated the voltage to be 4kV, but the cap was rated
at only 400V. Must have been an even cheaper one than you saw.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Rich Grise]

Cool... a 5hp wasp nest sucker..

Once, in Minnesota, I was at a friend's house, whose backyard
sort of segued into woods. Out on the back porch at night, you
could literally see clouds of mosquitos. Luckily, the guy had
some 15% DEET that he'd picked up at the military surplus store -
OD tube and everything, presumably for the jungle. It was terribly
greasy, tenacious, and thick, sticky, gooey, so sticky gooey that
it was hard to rub on, but it sure did the trick!

But sucking up those clouds of skeeters into an electric zapper
vac sounds even more humane than sucking them up into a wet-vac,
where they'd drown. At least the zapper is quick.

I've heard, though, that the standalone zappers with the purple/
UV lamp kill all of the wrong bugs. For skeeters you need warm
beer, not UV.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[D from BC]

Once, in Minnesota, I was at a friend's house, whose backyard
sort of segued into woods. Out on the back porch at night, you
could literally see clouds of mosquitos. Luckily, the guy had
some 15% DEET that he'd picked up at the military surplus store -
OD tube and everything, presumably for the jungle. It was terribly
greasy, tenacious, and thick, sticky, gooey, so sticky gooey that
it was hard to rub on, but it sure did the trick!

But sucking up those clouds of skeeters into an electric zapper
vac sounds even more humane than sucking them up into a wet-vac,
where they'd drown. At least the zapper is quick.

I've heard, though, that the standalone zappers with the purple/
UV lamp kill all of the wrong bugs. For skeeters you need warm
beer, not UV.

Cheers!
Rich

Yup..I think I caught a bit on some webpage about UV not attracting
mosquitoes.
IIRC it's CO2, heat and smell.

For clouds of mosquitoes, how about a giant rotating electric grid
that sweeps the air..
Maybe a 6ft x 6ft zapping grid/fence that rotates like a radar
antenna.


D from BC

 

[Benj]

For clouds of mosquitoes, how about a giant rotating electric grid
that sweeps the air..
Maybe a 6ft x 6ft zapping grid/fence that rotates like a radar
antenna.

Yeah that's it. Check out the car protector!

http://tesladownunder.com/index.html

 

[D from BC]

Yeah that's it. Check out the car protector!

http://tesladownunder.com/index.html

If the plasma misses the mosquitoes perhaps the heat and ozone might.

I think it would be cheaper to use a flamethrower than use a Tesla
coil to kill mosquitoes
D from BC

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

If the plasma misses the mosquitoes perhaps the heat and ozone might.

I think it would be cheaper to use a flamethrower than use a Tesla
coil to kill mosquitoes
D from BC

You can kill the Tesla coil with the flamethrower too.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

You can kill the Tesla coil with the flamethrower too.

The neighbors will thank you, too.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[D from BC]

The neighbors will thank you, too.

US Military flamethrower M9A1-7

Die mosquitoes! Die!
D from BC

 

[Rich Grise]

For clouds of mosquitoes, how about a giant rotating electric grid
that sweeps the air..
Maybe a 6ft x 6ft zapping grid/fence that rotates like a radar
antenna.

I think a 6-foot grid swinging around at face level would kind of
disrupt the lawn party. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

 

[Rich Grise]

You can kill the Tesla coil with the flamethrower too.

Yabut, can you kill a flamethrower with a Tesla coil? ;-)

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Tom Bruhns]

Yup..I think I caught a bit on some webpage about UV not attracting
mosquitoes.
IIRC it's CO2, heat and smell.

For clouds of mosquitoes, how about a giant rotating electric grid
that sweeps the air..
Maybe a 6ft x 6ft zapping grid/fence that rotates like a radar
antenna.

D from BC

I think your recollection is correct. I suppose the ideas tossed out
here are all in good fun, if not actually practical, but you can get
mosquito killing systems that are apparently pretty effective. I
remember first hearing about these things about five years ago. At
that time, they ran on propane, typically, using it to attract the
'skeeters with the CO2 exhaust, providing that heat, adding some
"smell," and incinerating the buggers with the close-in version of the
heat. I see that "modern" ones use a tank of CO2, a heat signature
that looks like a small mammal's body, generally some sort of "smell,"
and commonly an electric zapper that wipes the bug out when it nears
the pseudo-mammal. They attract biting insects, so they tend to leave
the non-biting ones alone--some of which are beneficial.

Heard recently: "Thank you, God, for all the beasts. Except maybe
for mosquitos. I don't know what you were thinking of when you put
those here. But thank you at least for DEET."

 

[neon]

On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 05:48:15 +0000, D from BC wrote:
> On Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:08:50 -0400, Jamie
>>D from BC wrote:
....
>>> How about a bug zapper that can cover wasp nests?
>>> Anybody seen anything like this?
>>>
>>Yup, home made attachment to a 5 hp shop vac with
>>electrocuting passive tube in it.
>> side attachment for a long pole to get the hose
>>up near a nest if you want to do that or simply place it
>>over the exit hole in the ground if you know where it is.
>> Just turn it on and let it suck for a while.
>>
>> It was something I saw used made by an animal rescue/control
>>professional. He got tired of getting hit by bee's while
>>trying to rescue animals from trees and such. his truck
>>has an on board generator to operate it.
>
> Cool... a 5hp wasp nest sucker..

Once, in Minnesota, I was at a friend's house, whose backyard
sort of segued into woods. Out on the back porch at night, you
could literally see clouds of mosquitos. Luckily, the guy had
some 15% DEET that he'd picked up at the military surplus store -
OD tube and everything, presumably for the jungle. It was terribly
greasy, tenacious, and thick, sticky, gooey, so sticky gooey that
it was hard to rub on, but it sure did the trick!

But sucking up those clouds of skeeters into an electric zapper
vac sounds even more humane than sucking them up into a wet-vac,
where they'd drown. At least the zapper is quick.

I've heard, though, that the standalone zappers with the purple/
UV lamp kill all of the wrong bugs. For skeeters you need warm
beer, not UV.

Cheers!
Rich

for mosquitos there is nothing like GARLIC and a fan they cannot stand the smell. actualy garlic is good for your heart so eat some and be merry. they will not bother with you.