Bugs that live in or around electircal equipment - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: MathWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 06:44:52 am
content: I've seen video's of people repairing computers and TV's, or car's too, that had bug infestations, like ants and cockroaches. One time I was cleaning a doorbell button, and it looked like the two halves should be sealed tight. But it had probably 20 Earwigs living in it, soaking up heat from a little light.Anyone have any horror stories ?

author: Muttley Snickers
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 07:44:38 am
content: QuoteInfestation of moth larvae in multiple ionisation smoke detectors at a girls boarding house.Many years ago when I first started out working as a security contractor I was sent out to check an existing system for numerous false alarms. The connected smoke detectors were mounted up high on 14' ceilings so I was using 12' steps and as I removed the first sensor I got completely covered in what initially appeared to be maggots.

author: Kleinstein
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 09:37:42 am
content: I had some thrips kind insects in the LCD monitor between the backlight and active layer. I was wondering about the extra "," for quite some time. It got pretty anoying and was not easy to remove. I have no idea why these insects go there - really nothing to eat there. They are common in picture frames too - so not just electronics.

author: iMo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 09:51:40 am
content: Long time back on the "material technology" class I learned they (we had some large cable producers here) put special chemicals into the isolation material on cables dedicated for markets outside Europe (they said Africa, but I do not want to discriminate other continents here..).. Otherwise the animals/insects there will eat the isolation stuff as they like it much..

author: Sredni
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 09:51:57 am
content: Hundreds and hundreds of ants dead inside the doorbell, to the point that it was no longer possible to push it.I wonder if the used it as a cemetery, of if they wandered in through the conduit and then... "Hey, what is this wir----" ZOT!

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 10:23:34 am
content: "Not exactly" a bug but I once found the mummified remains of a small mouse inside an industrial VFD. It was beyond economical repair - the poor bugger had managed to bridge some phases at the hybrid module and if I recall correctly the gate and drain on the module had been connected too.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 10:47:58 am
content: In rural areas, hive builders, including mud nests, get inside anything that is protected from weather/predators and open. They will get inside an electrical box that has just one knockout that is not sealed.As for non-insects, animals seem to get a buzz out of mains voltages and are attracted to them. On one occasion, we found a snake across the HV inputs to our home service transformer. The person from the power company was surprised it didn't blow one of the massive protective fuses.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 10:48:13 am
content: Back in the eighties I had a clock radio that became the home for a bunch of cockroaches. At the time I was living in the basement of a very old Victorian era house and I guess they liked the warmth. I probably ended up tossing it when I moved.

author: richnormand
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 03:41:41 pm
content: Had a YAG high power Q-switched pulsed laser that suddenly refused to start.Overnight a spider built a nest right in the cavity lasing path near the output mirror.I was lucky the nest was precisely positioned such that the laser did not start, as the power would have killed the mirror and rod coatings from the fried debris.Removed the nest with a qtip and brought it back to the window sill and spent the next hour cleaning the optics.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 04:03:12 pm
content: I had two good 5.5-digit Fluke bench voltmeters (built in ABS housings) in my basement workspace that were infested by ants.They both failed: I assume the ants were attracted by the plastic vapors.I had to dispose of both of them in plastic bags, and used a boric acid commercial ant product (from Terro) to end the plague.

author: jonpaul
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 04:22:38 pm
content: VERY FIRST computer/electronic bug: September 9, 1947, the Mark II computer Harvard University “First actual case of bug found.”https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/technology/innovation/when-computer-bugs-where-real-insects/Bravo to Grace Hopper!Jon

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 06:23:13 pm
content: A local ham brought over a transceiver for me to check out. It was full of live cockroaches which I found after it was on my bench for several hours and I took off the covers. So I bug-bombed it before allowing inside again. It was filthy with nicotine - basically trash as far as I was concerned.But it was being actively used for ham radio in a house. Don't even think about the living conditions.So the point is he didn't think it was dirty why would anyone else?Pic attached of it being bug-bombed.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 06:30:45 pm
content: I saw this thread and was hoping that you would post that image

author: PwrElectronics
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 06:52:45 pm
content: 1992 in a early job I was working at a small company that did VFD and other motor controller repairs.We'd get in these centrifuge controllers that came from a honey processing plant. I never understood how stuff got inside these as they were a diecast enclosure with a gasket and no openings. The wiring was through liquid tight conduit.They often had honey inside and dead bee parts. The techs for sure didn't like working on them!!In my own house, there is a primitive cellar where the electrical circuit panel is. It would have been used as a root cellar and canning jar storage in 1918 when built. I've had occasion to work in the panel and there are always dead centipedes littering the bottom of the box.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 24, 2023, 12:18:41 am
content: Late 1980s my parents bought me an electronic organ (brand new). The thing was in storage for what was probably a very long time, since it was infested with nests or roaches and bugs. Mind you, this is about the size of a large desk, thus it had plenty of room for several colonies.My dad sprayed its insides, intensely bug bombed the entire house and locked the door behind him - we were leaving for a three week vacation.Upon return, the carnage was not pleasant but at least they were all dead.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 24, 2023, 01:09:15 am
content: Quote from: bd139 on October 23, 2023, 06:30:45 pmI'm glad I took that pic, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of it.

author: Calambres
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 24, 2023, 06:59:19 am
content: Quite recently I had a big ants infestation inside my automatic door bell. It was very labour intensive to remove the little suckers, make it to work again and fill the cavity with solid bug killer product.I'm sure they're there again!

author: Neomys Sapiens
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2023, 06:40:08 am
content: I once found a small, dead bird in a fuse panel mounted under the bar of a local cellar disco. The cable duct leading to/from it was so stuffed that nothing could have passed this way. But the double sheetmetal door in front of it was only nearly closed most of the time because it had suffered some distortion and was very hard to close correctly, to say nothing of locking it. Behind that door, the covers over the rows of circuit breakers were missing. So it must have come in by the door or backdoor, hopped in through the incompletely closed doors...and got electrocuted. It was already mummyfied beyond any possibility of identification.I bagged it and filed it along with my revision report.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 26, 2023, 07:24:38 am
content: I have an open reel tape deck that was buried in the garage for a while. When I pulled it out one day, I had a look inside to see a full-on colony.I felt like spraying a fire house at the blighters, but thought better of that idea. Instead, I sat it out in the sun with a tarpaulin over it to make things a bit toasty, but not excessively so. The theory was that the ants would vacate to somewhere less "tropical".I came back later that day and, indeed, they had vacated, taking all the eggs with them. What was left was comfortably dealt with using a brush and some isopropyl alcohol. Patience for the win!Needs a little TLC and component replacement - which seems typical for the model as there is a component "kit". I'll get there one day.

author: SmallCog
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2023, 10:43:44 am
content: A lot of the control equipment I have deployed only gets a visit once a year.Lots of issues with critters getting in, bugs like the warmth and security, small lizards like the warmth and steady supply of bugs.Some also suffer from mice (bastards chew the wires) or end up with snakes in them (don’t tend to actually damage much) but only if poorly sealed, and I’m slowly redoing these to make them better.We use moth balls, surface spray insecticide, and mouse poison to try and keep the gear critter free

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2023, 10:35:15 pm
content: Quote from: rsjsouza on October 24, 2023, 12:18:41 amI was watching some youtube clips on piano tuning and maintenance... As it turn out, mouse living inside (acoustic ) piano is common. I would have thought the noise would have driven them away. They even live under the keyboard and mummified there. It was removed by the tech in the clip.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2023, 01:27:30 am
content: That should be good news once we start eating the bugs.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2023, 07:38:19 am
content: Quote from: SmallCog on October 26, 2023, 10:43:44 amI live on a very small farm and mice are my biggest nuisance. Moth balls are said to work, but in some environments, like where there are children or other small animals that might eat them, they cannot be used. Peppermint oil also seems to deter mice. Mice are said to have relatively poor eyesight and use smell. My "new" shop is in the barn, which has plenty of mice. Peppermint oil seems to help. I now add a little to the floor sweep I use in the shop. That shop is still mouse free after over 4 months. This Winter will be its biggest test.As for wires, it is said that common automotive wire attracts them (peanut oil used in manufacture?). They also went after the ABS system in my truck, which has plastic vacuum lines. My farm implements are unscathed, except for a few mice nests.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2023, 12:22:00 am
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on November 04, 2023, 07:38:19 amThe problem is not peanut oil used in manufacture. The problem is cables usingsoy-based insulationinstead ofpetroleum based insulationjacket like polypropylene or plastic. I would guess your ABS vacuum lines were also coated in soy-based insulation instead petroleum based plastic, which was a problem my in-law had with his truck's brake lines that the squirrels treated as meal on wheels (if memory serves, it was a Dodge RAM and not a Honda).To combat the problem, Honda sells"chili pepper-infused anti-rodent tape" and I suppose Honda is not alone."... ... Honda’s Rodent Tape is designed to wrap around vehicle wiring and is made with a blend of spicy flavorings that Honda claims will deter rodents... ..."References:Interesting article (public records in court) of the issue inChicago Sun Times article: Rats! Warranty won’t cover rodents chewing wires...Search for the word soy, and you will see the "chili pepper anti-rodent tape" is not a joke:https://chicago.suntimes.com/consumer-affairs/2021/6/4/22519251/honda-rats-rodents-wires-soy-insulation-power-steering-jay-caracci-class-action-larry-smith-bardo

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2023, 11:06:28 am
content: I had read "peanut oil based" but had not confirmed it. That's why there is a question mark. Soy-based makes more sense. As for capsaicin (pepper irritants) infused tape, why should a manufacturer leave that up to owners? By their nature, mice are small and secretive. The places I have had them attack wiring in my vehicles are quite difficult to access or in areas where tape is not present, such as right at the connector. Over the years, manufacturers have addressed rusting problems, it seems reasonable that rodent attraction should also be addressed.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2023, 09:56:56 pm
content: Bugs infused with peanut oil, that must be tasty.

author: MathWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 10, 2023, 09:23:22 pm
content: I wonder what they use in common household wire here in Canada? I have a mouse or 2 living between the wooden floor and concrete floor of my basement. They were in the walls a bit too, but lately it seems just under the floor, near the furnace.Believe or not since I started this thread, I had corned a mouse under my stove, then in front of a washing machine, and I had a Sony 5-disc CD player standing upright by the wall next to the washer. It's broken and the case was not screwed on, and the mouse tried to escape running between the case and internal parts. And I closed the case together and trapped the mouse inside.Then I put the whole thing in a garbage bag, and I shook it a few times trying to get the mouse to the bottom of the case, which was barely fitting together. And IDK if the mouse got a bit crushed or hit it's head, or had a heart attack, but it was dead when I opened the case. No blood tho. Or it sure seemed dead, and I flushed it down the toilet, poor little guy.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2023, 12:46:09 am
content: Quote from: MathWizard on November 10, 2023, 09:23:22 pmTry a mouse trap. They are surprisingly effective. I was actually rather amazed by how well this "old technology" works.I live near a wood. Mouse and other wildlife are unavoidable. Every time I left the garage door open open unattended, a visitor may come visit. Even brief opening of the garage to get the garbage container from inside to curb side for pickup, a mouse may get in within that very brief moment. I don't blame them, I too would like to to get out of the winter wind.I use the more modern plastic mouse traps (came in pair and reusable). I put some bird seeds in them. They are more or less permanently deployed. The mice are rather dumb. Even if the one on the right is already triggered with his departed buddy still in it, they would see no danger and go for the one on the left...

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2023, 04:47:12 am
content: The strangest for me was a small dead bat clinging to a furnace control board. Sort of a mouse with wings...