Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Light bug zapper

Anyone tried the light thing that zaps bugs and drops them in the water?

I have a bug-o-matic that I got from Memphis Net and Twine. It works great. I think a zapper cooks the bugs. I too like my steaks rare. Must be the same with fish!

Martin - I think what you have is what I was thinking of. Do you see fish congregating under it at night?

I have been wanting to get one of those for years. This should be an interesting thread.

Has anyone built a battery/solar bug fan? I dont have power at my pond.

Frank

Frank, I am looking into it. Trying to find 12VDC timer. Alternatively use a small inverter and lamp timer. With a 15watt solar panel and small(30 amp-hour) deep cycle battery, you should easily get 2 or 3 hrs. of bug feeding, if a flourescent bulb is used. Try to find a system that uses 50 or less watts total.

I have a small bug-zapper hung over the pond on a tripod sort of arrangement with a 110/120 dusk-dawn timer. Works good if I remember to knock out all the stuck bugs once in a while. The BG and minnows hang out under it even during the day waiting for the wind to knock 'bits' out onto the water. The ones for sale that knock the bugs down onto the surface rather then fry them look like the way to go to get the most bang for your buck.

Hey NEDoc I think Blue Valley has a few of the bug sluggers. I thought Jeff said that they use them inside in the summer and the trout go crazy, but LMB and BG would have to like them as well. (Along with all the other "stuff" you have in your mixed bag of a pond.)

burgermeister

I found a 12V solar charge controller that also functions as a timer on Ebay for about $25. It prevents overcharging of the battery and turns on the light at dark or at a set number of hours after dark. Timer then turns light off after your specified number of hours OR if battery gets too low.

I am thinking of using a 12V LED bulb with 18 super bright white LED's. Use 2 watts of energy. Approx. 60,000-hour life. Output 40 lumens. I found it on sundancesolar.com

What 12V fan do you recommend?

Frank

Thanks for that NEfish. I may have to go see if I can get one from them. When you get back here, take some time to come out in the evening and watch the fish feed. Wow!!!! The wipers are getting NASTY!! The smallies are pretty aggressive as well.

Frank, that is good info. I haven't found a particular fan, it would depend on the lighting arrangement and housing. I was thinking of getting one that I could remove the blades and put some trimmer line in it's place, or find a 12vdc motor. Some sort of personal fan for a vehicle, whichever spins the fastest per current draw. I will look at your items and get back.
What is the Ebay controller type and manufacturer? I would try a white LED and see how it attracts bugs first. I dont know.

tnx

Battery operated would be great as I was going to have power trenched to my pond just for this purpose.

burgermeister

The controller is Polar Power SLC92. it "is designed specifically for photovoltaic (PV) powered lighting systems. The SLC92 combines the functions of a charge controller, a nighttime sensor, daytime sensor, an on/off timer, and a low voltage load disconnect, into a single solid state circuit. " (from mfg site)
http://www.polarpowerinc.com/products/solar_ele/slc92.htm

What color LED would you suggest?

Frank

Frank, I will definitely buy that charge controller. Thanks for the tip. As for the white LED drawing bugs or what color, I just dont know. Some or most bug whackers/zappers use flourescent, I was thinking of a DC flourescent. Some lanterns have them. I know that LEDs are very pure in the one color they give off. You may do some testing at your pond, I have many projects going at mine and it is a long way off. Please update this thread with progress and I will do the same, hope others will join in.

Just dont outbid me on Ebay LOL.

I may go with the 11W Compact flourescent 12V in warm white.

Frank

The shorter the wavelength of light you can get, the better it should attract bugs. UV would be optimum.

After reading this intrigueing topic i couldnt help but do a google search and this is what i came up with, i think this is what NEDOC was referring to: http://www.cajunshoppe.com/slugger.htm


- Jighead

Question guys: Do you think this Bugslugger could just be hooked up to a trolling motor battery and than have a solar charger hooked to it? I am pretty serious about buying one of these but want to work out the details first.

NEfish, I think once I get a little dock built, we will have a cool little weekend project to work on.

That is what I was going to build. Didn't know anyone already marketed a DC version. I dont particularly care for the auto light bulbs, though. They draw too much current and get too hot. I will use flourescent, ultraviolet as Theo suggested,if can get in 12vdc. NEDOC, yes you could use a battery and solar charger, but need a timer to keep from running the battery down too low.

Another link to a 12v for $40.

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/10388/cid/2430

I don't know if you guys are already tappin' into the boating end of 12V supplies, but when I was determined to lose my shirt with foot-itus, I used to hit these guys for all kinds of cool low voltage stuff:
West Marine
also, West Marine's "Advisor Articles" are v helpful.
Overton\'s
Boat US

Has anyone ever bought and used the one from aquaticeco's website? Thoughts?

Any suggestions on timers? I think I am ordering one today and will post progress.

I am too, in the same boat (pun intended) with 8-foot-itus. Just have to save up for the bigger one now.

Oh, and I am known by name at my old native west marine store. So is my father. Sad, I tell ya.

I was repairing one of my sons rc cars and got to thinking about this thread, those motors really spin and are real torgue monsters for their size. Not sure what the wattage draw would be or if they would be designed to run cool enough for a few hours of whacking bugs.

NEDOC

Let me know how you like aquatico bug zapper. What size is it? Wat watt light does it use?
Thanks

Frank

I need to build a dock first, so this may be a month out, but I will let you know.

Check that, I just went and ordered it. I will mount it on a post until I get the dock built. Now I need a charger and a timer.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have a BO-JO Fishlight and they work GREAT

http://www.bo-jofishlight.com/

AMC,

I contacted those folks about a solar version. Seems like a solar panel recharging a 12v battery which would power the unit would be a popular item. Still puzzels me as to why someone doesn't market one.

BurgerM...this is right up your alley.

I plan on a prototype when I get some water for the bugs to fall in. Pond still getting more or less missed. Working on getting well water to supplement now.
Did you see Franks post re: a 12vdc charge controller with timer? Look near the beginning of this thread.

BTW...assume we will get a TGG update next week? Also a pic of a giant CNBG?

BM,

No, I hadn't read the entire thread. It's just a matter of time before someone puts one of these on the market...and I will be an early customer.


Yes, TGG update next week. Finally caught the first F2 in a trap this past weekend and transported it to the micro-pond for observation.

...as to the Giant CNBG, yes it is in Nova pond and one day I will catch it again and post it's picture( and ask Cecil for a mount). Now have a digital camera always with me in sling pack...caught 11.25 inch CNBG last week and didn't even bother to get picture. The Giant CNBG makes that one small by comparison.

Don't wait on the rain to build your prototype...build it and they will come.

i have been looking into building a solar powered unit. i have been looking at the 10 watt solar panels and they put out .65 amps 12 volt i am gonna run it through a controller. my question is at .65 amps is that enough to charge the marine battery to full capacity? the controller i am looking at has a timer feature where i can turn it off and on during the night if the charger cant fully charge the battery i might just have to runs it a few hours a night. i just ordered the bug slugger and will order my controller and panel this coming week i just wanted some input on the solar panel first. the price of 10 watt panels are not as cheap as i thought they would be. since my feeder and gate opener are solar powered i thought this would be a fun(expensive) project.

Hi wickidinhere,

If the solar panel is 10w, for say 10 hours of usable daylight, you could store ~100 watt-hours of usable power. So, the bug zapper wattage would have to be quite a pretty low to run several hours a night. I'm betting the zapper probably pulls at least 5A*12V=60W. So that would probably get you at most 2 hours a night.

I really enjoy dabbling in solar. I have a 45W panel, 55W controller, 1500W inverter, and 2 golf car batteries. This setup easily runs my tractor shed out in the sticks. I have a 2hp air compressor, a big shop vac, disk grinder, drill, light, etc. and I am never short on power. My system would probably run a 60W bug zapper ~7 hours a night. It cost ~$325 for the setup, less inverter.

i just bought a 15 watt panel for 75.00 i think i will try it and see how many hours i get. the bug slugger says it draws 6.5 amps so i might end up using 2-15 watt panels.6.5A*12v=78W so with 2-15 watt panels i would see at least 2-2.5 hours that would probably be enough for me.

Have you guys looked at 12 Volt Compact Florescent bulbs? Then require from 7-18 W and should extend your run time.

Frank

the bug slugger uses 2 automotive tail light bulbs
i could probably retrofit one in there somehow. i will have to see when i get in it should be here next week.

i found the florescent bulbs online i wonder who would sell them locally? the 11 watt bulb says it put off as much light as an 60 watt light bulb and that would be perfect and run much cooler i would imagine i could probably use a 7 watt bulb.

I was running a small compressor that was drawing 6 amps and could get 6 hours off of it with a deep cycle battery, It would be down to 10vdc when I shut it off. have you checked into the LED type lights? very low usage and very bright with long life. I was looking at one of my camp lights that holds 6 D size batteries that has a small florescent bulb and a fan than runs about 3 hours longer if you run the fan on low

i was looking at the led lights but the ones i have seen shine only in one direction. on the bugslugger they will need to shine down and all around and i dont think they would put off the amount of light
needed to attract the bugs.i am just guessing because i dont have the bug slugger in hand so i could be wrong. the battery will give good run time when its fully charged but getting a full charge on the battery with solar charging with out spending an arm and a leg is the problem. i have a 6volt florescent lantern and it puts off pretty good light so i think the 12 volt bulbs are gonna be the ticket to keep amp draw down.

i just got an email saying that they could no longer get the bugslugger where i ordered it from so i ordered it from a different place and they had one in stock so hopefully next week i will get it.

Finally, as a newbie, I think I can contribute to a thread, with something no one has mentioned, yet.

There is a 12 volt automotive bulb, with multiple LED and it's brighter, than a normal 1156 or 1157 bulb. About 3 months ago, I bought 2 of them at AutoZone, because I was tired of the vibration from this car and the gravel roads making me replace tail light bulbs, every 6 months.

Hope This Helps...

reading through this thread again, Some suggested 12v motor solutions, some LED solutions but there was concern about the proper wavelength of light. I see some who tried solar power, can anyone give an update on their prototypes?

I have power at the pond and to keep things simple, was considering adding a traditional bug zapper. Theo G suggests ultraviolet is the best wavelength and that comes standard on the electric bug zappers. Newer models have a more open grate so that the insects don't collect in a holding chamber but can fall through the grate more easily by gravity. This 'self clean' feature is to my advantage if the bug zapper is suspended over water. I am proposing to mount it on a PVC pipe or galvanized pipe that I can rotate on a vertical mounting post out over the water or back over the bank to allow for cleaning of the unit. They are already UL tested for 'weather proof' and my circuit by the pond is GFI protected if there were any unforseen wiring concerns. My thought was to run the extension cord on the inside of the horizontal pipe that suspends it out over the water and sealing the exit hole at the end with silicone or the like.

The only difference in how this would work compared to a $250 bug light is that the bug lights designed for this application usually have a rotating line to knock live insects down into the water. That may add more effectiveness over the bug zapper that requires them to crawl inside to get zapped on contact.

Has anyone tried this off the shelf solution? They make a small, med and large version for .5 up to 1.5 acres.

It looks like the bulb is 40w and throws off enough light that it may serve as a fish attractant even if only a few insects end up there. I'd have to see the base of the unit in person but if I add holes in the base without detracting from structural integrity perhaps more of those falling insects would end up in the water by gravity.

Getting a little late in the season to give it a real test here in MI though...

bug zapper

I have a client that bought 2 of these, and I can tell you they really, really work.

There are 1"-2" of dead bugs in the collector at the bottom (which you can remove) every few weeks. Amazing.

http://www.flowtron.com/mm5/merchant.mvc...ronicFlyControl

esshup, thanks for giving that first hand experience. I can't tell much difference between the specs of the $300 model from the $75 model listed for 1.5 acres. I can see that the $300 model has 3 bulbs and the $75 has 2 bulbs. I see replacement bulbs for the $300 are about $30 each x 3 (14" long bulb 40w) and the $75 are about $14 x 2 bulbs (12" long looks identical, 40w).

Since they hang outside, a good warranty and easy way to get replaced under warranty, even locally would be important.

Did your clients use them over a pond to feed fish or just to clear bugs from their yards?

I'd like to try one and see if I can find a way for the bugs to not be in the collector but be falling freely into the pond.

Flowtron $75

The zappers were placed next to two buildings. The bottom is a plastic "tray" that snaps over two "studs" that stick out about 1/4". The unit can be operated without the tray on it. The client (or me, whoever thinks about it first) throws the contents of the tray into the pond and the fish come up and hit the bugs really, really fast. Even RES get in on the action.

He also placed a couple of Executive Mosquito Magnets out and I am amazed at how well they work. In a months time there will be approximately 2+ cups of mosquitoes that are dead and dried out in the Mosquito Magnets. They only attract female mosquitoes, so that is a LOT of them that end up in the Magnets.

http://www.mosquitomagnet.com/advice/all-about/compare-traps-executive

He wanted to control the mosquitoes around his place this year and we used a 4 pronged approach. The Mosquito Magnets, the bug zappers, I also sprayed BTi as recommended into any standing water on the property (in the woods or in the grassy areas) and I also sprayed a chemical mixture on the non-flowering shrubs and long grass that was around the edges of the woods. He is approximately 12 miles from me, and the mosquitoes were almost absent all year. My place? You couldn't be outside within an hour of sunset and there were days that even at high noon the skeeters would drive you nuts.

We also had bad mosquito problem this year all over our place and around the house (worse in 25 years). We only did one thing that you did -sprayed non-flowering resting sites around our house. Control around the house was excellent also.

Esshup what is BTi?

Thought it might be BT , I use it for worms on tomatoes
Good stuff

The proteins in GM crops are from Bt too. After 100 years, we are still finding more uses.

How long does it last before you have to re spray?

Instructions say to spray BTi once a week, I bumped it to every two weeks.

Puddles in the woods are seasonal, just depends on how much rain there is.

These cut down on labor:

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/bti-mosquito-dunks-p-323.html

I was thinking about this for the mountain. Some years we get mosquitoes up there so bad you would think you're in Alaska. I'm not sure trying to control them is even feasible.

I have not used these but they appear to work for some applications like hunting.

https://www.thermacell.com/products/mosquito-repellents/mosquito-repellers

RAH, we have and use them but like citronella candles, they don't work well in a breeze.

They do work well in an enclosed deer blind.

Our mosquitoes don't know that they are supposed to be repelled by citronella, even with no breeze:)

When you are talking about puddles that total up to over an acre of standing water, it's more economical to spray BTi.......

I don't think the BTi would work well in Co., if you can't treat individual puddles or the different areas of standing water. A mixture of Perm-Up and Malathion sprayed on the mosquito resting places (do NOT spray anywhere near flowering plants - it will kill bees), sprayed every week or after every rain will keep them at bay pretty effectively.

You are most likely correct on spraying vs. donuts. Just thought that I'd share another option. I do not attempt to control mosquitoes away from the house. I'm just glad that the weather has cooled off!

As far as my project, it is on hold since I am getting slammed at work. The problem with experience: it is always in demand. Triple-booked right now. Ugh. Today I had a few hours with the family.

I've read a article about how to avoid mosquito bites:https://sunnests.com/blogs/blog-text1/3-methods-to-avoid-mosquito-bites.
It has some ideas about the bug zapper.