Here's a trick that might interest anyone who enjoys repairing things.

Every year the local cheapo store stocks "bug lanterns" which they don't
roll out until half way through summer because they know the blue
fluorescent tube won't last the distance! The ballast is badly designed -
consisting of a pair of parallel capacitors (1u & 0.56u) in series with a
parallel pair of 100 Ohm 2W resistors (for 240V).

When the lamp fails, the zapper voltage multiplier is still in GWO but a
replacement tube is £5 against £8 for a new lantern. Normally not a good
investment, but in view of the very short tube life something else can be
done.

To avoid the cost of a replacement tube it should be tackled before failure,
the units I have it was found that removing the ballast components left
enough space on the PCB to glue on a board salvaged from a 7W CFL, if one of
the ex ballast capacitors is added to the electrolytic on the CFL board it
will have a very long life and the tube should be good for a couple of years
continuous use. An incidental benefit is energy saving, when I opened the 7W
CFL I found it had tiny TO92 transistors, so the board is obviously not
going to draw as much power as the original ballast resistors which had
burnt the PCB black!

On Dec 20, 8:33 am, "ian field" wrote:
Here's a trick that might interest anyone who enjoys repairing things.

Every year the local cheapo store stocks "bug lanterns" which they don't
roll out until half way through summer because they know the blue
fluorescent tube won't last the distance! The ballast is badly designed -
consisting of a pair of parallel capacitors (1u & 0.56u) in series with a
parallel pair of 100 Ohm 2W resistors (for 240V).

With respect:

The much better money-saving idea would be to not purchase a bug-
zapper altogether. I am not sure of the range of species in the
British Isles, but in the US, excepting the housefly, and then only
indoors, there are no "harmful" insects that are attracted by UV
light. Typical annoying insects - mosquitoes, gnats, no-see-ums,
blackflies, green-head flies, wasps, yellow-jackets, horse flies, deer
flies and so forth will not be attracted by the UV light. On the other
hand, beneficial insects such as some pollenating moths (all moths for
that matter) are more often destroyed. In one study, the quantity of
mosquitoes to all insects destroyed was eight (8) to ten-thousand
(10,000).

http://news.ufl.edu/1997/07/23/zap/

And there are many more studies out there on the issue.

So, don't waste your money.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

wrote in message
...
On Dec 20, 8:33 am, "ian field" wrote:
Here's a trick that might interest anyone who enjoys repairing things.

Every year the local cheapo store stocks "bug lanterns" which they don't
roll out until half way through summer because they know the blue
fluorescent tube won't last the distance! The ballast is badly designed -
consisting of a pair of parallel capacitors (1u & 0.56u) in series with a
parallel pair of 100 Ohm 2W resistors (for 240V).

With respect:

The much better money-saving idea would be to not purchase a bug-
zapper altogether. I am not sure of the range of species in the
British Isles, but in the US, excepting the housefly, and then only
indoors, there are no "harmful" insects that are attracted by UV
light. Typical annoying insects - mosquitoes, gnats, no-see-ums,
blackflies, green-head flies, wasps, yellow-jackets, horse flies, deer
flies and so forth will not be attracted by the UV light. On the other
hand, beneficial insects such as some pollenating moths (all moths for
that matter) are more often destroyed. In one study, the quantity of
mosquitoes to all insects destroyed was eight (8) to ten-thousand
(10,000).

http://news.ufl.edu/1997/07/23/zap/

And there are many more studies out there on the issue.

So, don't waste your money.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

Last summer I had a bug lantern in the bedroom - its the first summer ever
that I didn't get bites.

That's all I need to know.

"ian field" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
On Dec 20, 8:33 am, "ian field" wrote:
Here's a trick that might interest anyone who enjoys repairing things.

Every year the local cheapo store stocks "bug lanterns" which they
don't
roll out until half way through summer because they know the blue
fluorescent tube won't last the distance! The ballast is badly
designed -
consisting of a pair of parallel capacitors (1u & 0.56u) in series with
a
parallel pair of 100 Ohm 2W resistors (for 240V).

With respect:

The much better money-saving idea would be to not purchase a bug-
zapper altogether. I am not sure of the range of species in the
British Isles, but in the US, excepting the housefly, and then only
indoors, there are no "harmful" insects that are attracted by UV
light. Typical annoying insects - mosquitoes, gnats, no-see-ums,
blackflies, green-head flies, wasps, yellow-jackets, horse flies, deer
flies and so forth will not be attracted by the UV light. On the other
hand, beneficial insects such as some pollenating moths (all moths for
that matter) are more often destroyed. In one study, the quantity of
mosquitoes to all insects destroyed was eight (8) to ten-thousand
(10,000).

http://news.ufl.edu/1997/07/23/zap/

And there are many more studies out there on the issue.

So, don't waste your money.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

Last summer I had a bug lantern in the bedroom - its the first summer ever
that I didn't get bites.

That's all I need to know.


No screens on the window? Or how about mosquitoe netting?

"ian field" wrote in message
...
Here's a trick that might interest anyone who enjoys repairing things.

Every year the local cheapo store stocks "bug lanterns" which they don't
roll out until half way through summer because they know the blue
fluorescent tube won't last the distance! The ballast is badly designed -
consisting of a pair of parallel capacitors (1u & 0.56u) in series with a
parallel pair of 100 Ohm 2W resistors (for 240V).

When the lamp fails, the zapper voltage multiplier is still in GWO but a
replacement tube is £5 against £8 for a new lantern. Normally not a good
investment, but in view of the very short tube life something else can be
done.

To avoid the cost of a replacement tube it should be tackled before
failure, the units I have it was found that removing the ballast
components left enough space on the PCB to glue on a board salvaged from a
7W CFL, if one of the ex ballast capacitors is added to the electrolytic
on the CFL board it will have a very long life and the tube should be good
for a couple of years continuous use. An incidental benefit is energy
saving, when I opened the 7W CFL I found it had tiny TO92 transistors, so
the board is obviously not going to draw as much power as the original
ballast resistors which had burnt the PCB black!


I wonder if these are getting worse? Mine is a few years old and has a
magnetic ballast, it's been run for years on all the original parts.

I always wanted to modify one of these with a capacitor bank to give the
grid a little more kick when a bug flies through, I guess I have a little
bit of Tim the tool man in me.

The much better money-saving idea would be to not purchase a bug-
zapper altogether. I am not sure of the range of species in the
British Isles, but in the US, excepting the housefly, and then only
indoors, there are no "harmful" insects that are attracted by UV
light. Typical annoying insects - mosquitoes, gnats, no-see-ums,
blackflies, green-head flies, wasps, yellow-jackets, horse flies, deer
flies and so forth will not be attracted by the UV light. On the other
hand, beneficial insects such as some pollenating moths (all moths for
that matter) are more often destroyed. In one study, the quantity of
mosquitoes to all insects destroyed was eight (8) to ten-thousand
(10,000).



I've read this as well, however mine gets filled with thousands of
mosquitoes during the summer when I have it up. Maybe it's a different
species out here in the northwest but there's no doubt that bug zappers are
effective here. The moths I wouldn't mind, but they fly all over the porch
light and hit me in the face, I'd much rather they go after the bug zapper,
however relatively few of them get through the grill.

"Meat Plow" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:59:43 +0000, ian field wrote:


wrote in message
...
On Dec 20, 8:33 am, "ian field" wrote:
Here's a trick that might interest anyone who enjoys repairing things.

Every year the local cheapo store stocks "bug lanterns" which they
don't
roll out until half way through summer because they know the blue
fluorescent tube won't last the distance! The ballast is badly
designed -
consisting of a pair of parallel capacitors (1u & 0.56u) in series with
a
parallel pair of 100 Ohm 2W resistors (for 240V).

With respect:

The much better money-saving idea would be to not purchase a bug-
zapper altogether. I am not sure of the range of species in the
British Isles, but in the US, excepting the housefly, and then only
indoors, there are no "harmful" insects that are attracted by UV
light. Typical annoying insects - mosquitoes, gnats, no-see-ums,
blackflies, green-head flies, wasps, yellow-jackets, horse flies, deer
flies and so forth will not be attracted by the UV light. On the other
hand, beneficial insects such as some pollenating moths (all moths for
that matter) are more often destroyed. In one study, the quantity of
mosquitoes to all insects destroyed was eight (8) to ten-thousand
(10,000).

http://news.ufl.edu/1997/07/23/zap/

And there are many more studies out there on the issue.

So, don't waste your money.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

Last summer I had a bug lantern in the bedroom - its the first summer
ever
that I didn't get bites.

That's all I need to know.

I had one in the back yard away from where we are active. I can attest
that the zapper does attract mosquitoes just by watching them fly into it.


But the greenie weenies will still swear blind they don't!

"Deke" no wrote in message
...

"ian field" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
On Dec 20, 8:33 am, "ian field" wrote:
Here's a trick that might interest anyone who enjoys repairing things.

Every year the local cheapo store stocks "bug lanterns" which they
don't
roll out until half way through summer because they know the blue
fluorescent tube won't last the distance! The ballast is badly
designed -
consisting of a pair of parallel capacitors (1u & 0.56u) in series
with
a
parallel pair of 100 Ohm 2W resistors (for 240V).

With respect:

The much better money-saving idea would be to not purchase a bug-
zapper altogether. I am not sure of the range of species in the
British Isles, but in the US, excepting the housefly, and then only
indoors, there are no "harmful" insects that are attracted by UV
light. Typical annoying insects - mosquitoes, gnats, no-see-ums,
blackflies, green-head flies, wasps, yellow-jackets, horse flies, deer
flies and so forth will not be attracted by the UV light. On the other
hand, beneficial insects such as some pollenating moths (all moths for
that matter) are more often destroyed. In one study, the quantity of
mosquitoes to all insects destroyed was eight (8) to ten-thousand
(10,000).

http://news.ufl.edu/1997/07/23/zap/

And there are many more studies out there on the issue.

So, don't waste your money.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

Last summer I had a bug lantern in the bedroom - its the first summer
ever
that I didn't get bites.

That's all I need to know.


No screens on the window? Or how about mosquitoe netting?



Screens on the windows until the weather gets too hot, then I shut all the
windows and rely on the ACU - I've no idea how the biting insects get in.

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:HwIaj.5960$Xh1.4249@trndny03...


The much better money-saving idea would be to not purchase a bug-
zapper altogether. I am not sure of the range of species in the
British Isles, but in the US, excepting the housefly, and then only
indoors, there are no "harmful" insects that are attracted by UV
light. Typical annoying insects - mosquitoes, gnats, no-see-ums,
blackflies, green-head flies, wasps, yellow-jackets, horse flies, deer
flies and so forth will not be attracted by the UV light. On the other
hand, beneficial insects such as some pollenating moths (all moths for
that matter) are more often destroyed. In one study, the quantity of
mosquitoes to all insects destroyed was eight (8) to ten-thousand
(10,000).



I've read this as well, however mine gets filled with thousands of
mosquitoes during the summer when I have it up. Maybe it's a different
species out here in the northwest but there's no doubt that bug zappers
are effective here. The moths I wouldn't mind, but they fly all over the
porch light and hit me in the face, I'd much rather they go after the bug
zapper, however relatively few of them get through the grill.


Its also preferable they go in the bug zapper than munch their way through
my linen closet.

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:csIaj.6702$Vg1.5641@trndny04...

"ian field" wrote in message
...
Here's a trick that might interest anyone who enjoys repairing things.

Every year the local cheapo store stocks "bug lanterns" which they don't
roll out until half way through summer because they know the blue
fluorescent tube won't last the distance! The ballast is badly designed -
consisting of a pair of parallel capacitors (1u & 0.56u) in series with a
parallel pair of 100 Ohm 2W resistors (for 240V).

When the lamp fails, the zapper voltage multiplier is still in GWO but a
replacement tube is £5 against £8 for a new lantern. Normally not a good
investment, but in view of the very short tube life something else can be
done.

To avoid the cost of a replacement tube it should be tackled before
failure, the units I have it was found that removing the ballast
components left enough space on the PCB to glue on a board salvaged from
a 7W CFL, if one of the ex ballast capacitors is added to the
electrolytic on the CFL board it will have a very long life and the tube
should be good for a couple of years continuous use. An incidental
benefit is energy saving, when I opened the 7W CFL I found it had tiny
TO92 transistors, so the board is obviously not going to draw as much
power as the original ballast resistors which had burnt the PCB black!


I wonder if these are getting worse? Mine is a few years old and has a
magnetic ballast, it's been run for years on all the original parts.

If your bug zapper has a magnetic ballast it doesn't fall into the same
category as the ****-poor design cheap units I bought, they probably have
acceptable tube life left as they are.

I always wanted to modify one of these with a capacitor bank to give the
grid a little more kick when a bug flies through, I guess I have a little
bit of Tim the tool man in me.


These units usually use a Cockroft-Walton voltage multiplier or some
variation of, don't be tempted to use a HV transformer, its ability to
supply full current continuously would present a fire risk!

There's plenty on the web about Cockroft-Walton multipliers that can help
with adding more stages or beefing up the existing caps.

On Dec 21, 9:40 am, Meat Plow wrote:

I used mine when we were outside. I wasn't trying to save the neighborhood
from the wrath of mosquitoes but rather distract the majority of them away
from our outdoor activity area. My lot ends into a heavily wooded park so
there are hoards of mosquitoes looking for a meal around dusk. The bug
zapper definitely makes a difference when it was placed in the right area
away from us. And as far as moths go, I think they are a very minor player
in pollination. What concerns me much more is the problem we are having
with honey bees which are responsible for much of the pollination.

The honey bees are in crisis - there are several thoughts as to causes
but nothing certain and certainly no cure yet.

But, as it happens, many of the mosquitoes that wind up in bug-zappers
just happen to be male - they are neither hunters nor biters, and so
are not diverted by their next meal. And as mosquitoes are happily
promiscuous, there is no need for many males.

From the University of Florida Study:

"While the UV light in these bug zappers draws a wide range of
insects, mosquitoes and other biting insects are more attracted to the
carbon dioxide exhaled by people and pets. They're also attracted to
carbon dioxide that is passed through human skin.

"The main reason bug zappers don't work is that mosquitoes are
extremely sensitive to carbon dioxide," Day said. "They see the UV
light in your yard, but once they pick up even the slightest trace of
carbon dioxide from people, they change direction and zero in on the
source of that odor. They are expert at detecting carbon dioxide at
levels as low as 50 parts per million." "

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

On Dec 21, 1:15*pm, Meat Plow wrote:

It goes without saying that this is so since it is how they survive.
However, I see the female fly into zappers by the hundreds and each one of
those is one less that is likely to bite me or my pets. So I stand upon my
personal experience with zappers regardless of what quotes you can cut and
paste.

Hey, it's your yard, your money and your mosquitoes... and how you
manage them is up to you. My wife will tell you that I *HATE* biting
insects, but it hasn't stopped me. We prefer repellants placed
remotely to confuse the little buggers. It works. Also and blessedly,
we have breezes where we tend to sit the most - and that keeps the
bulk of them away anyway.

Now, if we were in Alaska...

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

"Meat Plow" wrote in message
...

I see the females fly into zappers by the hundreds...

How do you know the gender?

Meat Plow wrote:
On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:32:08 -0800, William Sommerwerck wrote:

"Meat Plow" wrote in message
...

I see the females fly into zappers by the hundreds...
How do you know the gender?

They carry little pink purses.

....not to mention a long snout for biting.

jak

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
"Meat Plow" wrote in message
...

I see the females fly into zappers by the hundreds...

How do you know the gender?



The girlie one's scream as they hit the zapper.

These units usually use a Cockroft-Walton voltage multiplier or some
variation of, don't be tempted to use a HV transformer, its ability to
supply full current continuously would present a fire risk!

There's plenty on the web about Cockroft-Walton multipliers that can help
with adding more stages or beefing up the existing caps.



Must be a different sort of bug zapper we're talking about. The American
units I've dealt with all use a 60Hz HV transformer to feed the screens with
raw HV AC, IIRC they're around 2KV and similar in design to small neon sign
transformers. The OCV is not high enough to sustain an arc between screens,
but in the event a moth does get in there, it will sit and sizzle for a
while, it smells awful.

The zappers I'm familiar with look like this
http://www.westnilemosquitokiller.co...tingeruv80.jpg

Mine is at least 10 years old though and I haven't shopped recently so
perhaps things are different now.

" wrote:

On Dec 21, 1:15 pm, Meat Plow wrote:

It goes without saying that this is so since it is how they survive.
However, I see the female fly into zappers by the hundreds and each one of
those is one less that is likely to bite me or my pets. So I stand upon my
personal experience with zappers regardless of what quotes you can cut and
paste.

Hey, it's your yard, your money and your mosquitoes... and how you
manage them is up to you. My wife will tell you that I *HATE* biting
insects, but it hasn't stopped me. We prefer repellants placed
remotely to confuse the little buggers. It works. Also and blessedly,
we have breezes where we tend to sit the most - and that keeps the
bulk of them away anyway.

Now, if we were in Alaska...


Two, or more mosquitoes would carry you away, to drain all the blood
from your body where no one would find it. The biggest mosquitoes I've
ever seen were at Ft. Greely, Ak. in the early '70s. You could hear
their wings flapping as they flew by. They used to joke about
installing anti-aircraft guns at the landing field to kill the damn
things, to stop them from mating with the Huey copters.

The guy that fueled the copters claimed that he pumped 200 gallons of
fuel into a 'skeeter' one night, after mistaking it for a Huey on the
flight line. ;-)


--
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

"ian field" wrote in message
...
Here's a trick that might interest anyone who enjoys repairing things.

Every year the local cheapo store stocks "bug lanterns" which they don't
roll out until half way through summer because they know the blue
fluorescent tube won't last the distance! The ballast is badly designed -
consisting of a pair of parallel capacitors (1u & 0.56u) in series with a
parallel pair of 100 Ohm 2W resistors (for 240V).

When the lamp fails, the zapper voltage multiplier is still in GWO but a
replacement tube is $B!W(B5 against $B!W(B8 for a new lantern. Normally not a good
investment, but in view of the very short tube life something else can be
done.

To avoid the cost of a replacement tube it should be tackled before
failure, the units I have it was found that removing the ballast
components left enough space on the PCB to glue on a board salvaged from a
7W CFL, if one of the ex ballast capacitors is added to the electrolytic
on the CFL board it will have a very long life and the tube should be good
for a couple of years continuous use. An incidental benefit is energy
saving, when I opened the 7W CFL I found it had tiny TO92 transistors, so
the board is obviously not going to draw as much power as the original
ballast resistors which had burnt the PCB black!


Interesting mod for a bug zapper. It makes it self cleaning.

http://www.geocities.com/tjacodesign/bugzap/zapper.html


Mike

"Michael Kennedy" wrote in message
. ..

"ian field" wrote in message
...
Here's a trick that might interest anyone who enjoys repairing things.

Every year the local cheapo store stocks "bug lanterns" which they don't
roll out until half way through summer because they know the blue
fluorescent tube won't last the distance! The ballast is badly designed -
consisting of a pair of parallel capacitors (1u & 0.56u) in series with a
parallel pair of 100 Ohm 2W resistors (for 240V).

When the lamp fails, the zapper voltage multiplier is still in GWO but a
replacement tube is $B!W(B5 against $B!W(B8 for a new lantern.
Normally not a good investment, but in view of the very short tube life
something else can be done.

To avoid the cost of a replacement tube it should be tackled before
failure, the units I have it was found that removing the ballast
components left enough space on the PCB to glue on a board salvaged from
a 7W CFL, if one of the ex ballast capacitors is added to the
electrolytic on the CFL board it will have a very long life and the tube
should be good for a couple of years continuous use. An incidental
benefit is energy saving, when I opened the 7W CFL I found it had tiny
TO92 transistors, so the board is obviously not going to draw as much
power as the original ballast resistors which had burnt the PCB black!


Interesting mod for a bug zapper. It makes it self cleaning.

http://www.geocities.com/tjacodesign/bugzap/zapper.html


Mike



If you visit the local tip and salvage the 470uF reservoir caps and bridge
rectifiers from half a dozen or so TVs/monitors to make your multiplier you
can make a *REAL* zapper.

On Dec 20, 1:29*pm, " wrote:

The much better money-saving idea would be to not purchase a bug-
zapper altogether. I am not sure of the range of species in the


Well, then how do you get rid of those pesky fairies that infest the
garden, flitting all about in the moonlight?

"z" wrote in message
...
On Dec 20, 1:29 pm, " wrote:

The much better money-saving idea would be to not purchase a bug-
zapper altogether. I am not sure of the range of species in the


Well, then how do you get rid of those pesky fairies that infest the
garden, flitting all about in the moonlight?

Easy - limit yourself to one bottle of Jack Daniel's per night.

www.mosquito-zapper.com The Flotron Mosquito Power Trap.I have seen
them for sale before at Home Depot stores.When I was in Vietnam in 1964,
there was a mosquito net mounted on some round iron bars on my bunk,
everybody over there had those mosquito nets.Sometimes, whomever was
maintaining the generators (for electricity) they would be switiching
over from one generator to another generator, sometimes, no electricity
for about ten or fifteen minutes.The heat and humidity over there was
something else, all day and night long.Between generators, I couldn't
sleep.First chance I got, I went to a store and I bought an electric
fan, I tied the fan to the head of my bunk. (behind the mosquito net)
After I did my year over there and I was packing my duffle bag getting
ready to come home,,,, Who wants my electric fan, for free?

I remember when I was a kid and the mosquito spraying truck was rolling
around our neighborhood, us kids always ran behind (or rode our
bicycles) right up close behind that truck spraying the whole
neighborhood with big clouds of DDT.I can still smell that DDT now.
cuhulin

wrote in message
...
www.mosquito-zapper.com The Flotron Mosquito Power Trap.I have seen
them for sale before at Home Depot stores.When I was in Vietnam in 1964,
there was a mosquito net mounted on some round iron bars on my bunk,
everybody over there had those mosquito nets.Sometimes, whomever was
maintaining the generators (for electricity) they would be switiching
over from one generator to another generator, sometimes, no electricity
for about ten or fifteen minutes.The heat and humidity over there was
something else, all day and night long.Between generators, I couldn't
sleep.First chance I got, I went to a store and I bought an electric
fan, I tied the fan to the head of my bunk. (behind the mosquito net)
After I did my year over there and I was packing my duffle bag getting
ready to come home,,,, Who wants my electric fan, for free?

An old PC fan is useful for killing larger insects like moths and straggler
wasps that come indoors after dark - just mount the fan close to a light and
the fly into the blades.