How to not damage a vacuum (Stink bug problem) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 10:08:05 am
content: For some reason we've been inundated with stink bugs this year.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bugRather than killing them by squashing them (which really does stink, and your hand will stink as well) I've bought a dirt devil portable vacuum. Works great, but these things seem to live for weeks in the vacuum, so you can't empty the thing till they're all dead. Of course, there's always new ones to suck up, so you never reach the point where they're all dead. I don't want to spray bug killer into the thing as it might damage the motor. I thought of putting it into an oven at 170F / 76c (the lowest my oven will go) but then I'm concerned about damaging the Lithium battery.Any ideas?

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 10:16:39 am
content: Dang, those little vacuum cleaners combine the catch area and the nozzle into one. That makes it harder than 'just adding a bag'Do these things use a normal fan or a centrifugal fan? I think the latter, which destroys my idea of adding a reversing switch + blowing them out into a woven bag.Perhaps fight vacuum cleaner with vacuum cleaner, ie use a bigger vacuum cleaner to empty the front out of this oneGet a cheap-n-smelly second hand one off eBay and keep it outside under cover.EDIT: The solution I use is a lot lower tech: two long & skinny pieces of pine. Slap them together either side of the bugged citrus leaf.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 10:34:40 am
content: Submerge the nozzle in diluted isopropyl alcohol (30-50%). The IPA will kill the bugs and sanitise it at the same time, and it will evaporate causing no harm to the electronics (remove the battery first.) Only risk I can see is it may damage inks and adhesives, so avoid saturating too much of the motor bay.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 11:09:17 am
content: How about emptying it into a paper bag, which can then be burned, or immersed in bleach solution and binned?

author: jogri
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 11:14:49 am
content: Drill a small hole in the collection container that can be plugged with a small screw or duct tape and get yourself a bug killer with a tube as a spray nossel and spray it directly into the collection container (while the thing is off).

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 01:11:12 pm
content: Put it in a bag and fill with CO2 or nitrogen.Also, if you can find something that attracts them without attracting beneficial bugs, bait a bug zapper with it and set it up outside.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 02:15:21 pm
content: I wonder if you could design a bug zapping contraption to add on to the end of the vacuum. The insects could be sucked past a high voltage arc, which destroys them, before they go into the vacuum.Another thought: how about putting the vacuum in the freezer. Would that kill them, without damaging it? Obviously you'd have to let it that and any condensation evaporate, before using it again.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 02:33:46 pm
content: Don't kill them, go release them in the nature, or better yet, at your neighbor's home.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 02:46:41 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on October 11, 2020, 02:33:46 pmNo, the bugs must die. They're an invasive species, introduced from China in 1998 which are damaging the agricultural and ecosystems of North America!

author: sandalcandal
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 03:50:35 pm
content: Quote from: Zero999 on October 11, 2020, 02:15:21 pmOh god imagine the smell.Quote from: Zero999 on October 11, 2020, 02:15:21 pmThey'll probably go into torpor and wake back up once they warm up again and condensation is going to be a big issue.I'm for killing them with IPA vapours. Probably the safest, easiest and most effective.

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 04:56:14 pm
content: Quote from: Zero999 on October 11, 2020, 11:09:17 amOK, this gave me a perfect solution! A combo of two ideas in the thread. I'll put it in the freezer for an hour, then dump them into a paper bag and burn them. I have a fire pit in the back yard, so who cares what it smells like...Thanks everyone for your ideas!

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 06:06:50 pm
content: Worked pretty good.One paper bag with some crumpled up newspaper inside, sprinkle in stink bugs to suit. Roast on high for 3 minutes.Yep, it did smell pretty bad.

author: Jwalling
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 06:10:10 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on October 11, 2020, 02:33:46 pmYou didn't read the Wiki article I linked, did you?

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 11:39:57 pm
content: The Chinese stink bugs showed up here near St. Louis a couple years ago. I have been spraying them with Windex, picking them up with a napkin, and bagging them.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2020, 11:48:54 pm
content: Hah, Wikipedia editors must be drunk - this is not new. Since I was a kid in the 1980s that I deal with these little stinkers in Brazil: both this and the green variants and were commonly called "maria fedorenta" or "maria fedida". Their smell is quite terrible, but if I recall correctly they don't spray unless they feel threatened (or when squashed).

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2020, 01:35:30 am
content: I have the Dirt Devil 24V Reach with removable canister. Undesirables end up in the freezer overnight. Problem solved.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2020, 06:32:58 am
content: if you seal up your house with window screens and mind the front door when you come in, you should not have too many of them in your house.Things that help huge:-check all the seals on the window screens, make sure its not bowed, they don't seem to age the best-get an outward opening screen door infront of your normal door, of good quality, that way you don't have the possibility of bringing a bug sitting on the corner of your door into the house easily when you walk in-perimeter around house that is clean-check expansion foam on windows and moldings-verify door seals properlyanyway, this bug is much preferred to roaches

author: Stuart Coyle
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2020, 08:38:33 pm
content: In my experience, stink bugs like citrus trees. In controlling them I have found that dropping them in very hot water works wonders, it absorbs the stink and kills them quickly. Maybe you can try that.

author: Kleinstein
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2020, 09:02:32 pm
content: At least the stink bugs are mainly smelly, when you squeeze them. The nasty ones are the stink beetles found in the western US. Using a vacuum on these is not supposed to be not a good idea.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2020, 11:10:07 pm
content: The problem is, they go inside for the winter, you find them anywhere they can get out of the cold, and then they hibernate until it warms up a bit and then you find them. I have nothing like the problems Ive heard others have. Literally millions of them in some places. Here they are just a mild annoyance. But the smell is nasty and very persistant.Quote from: NiHaoMike on October 11, 2020, 01:11:12 pm

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2020, 11:28:05 pm
content: Hard-bodied insects can survive freezer temperatures for up to 3 weeks, although stink bugs don't seem that robust to me. I thought they were eaten by passerine birds?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 14, 2020, 12:52:47 am
content: thats why you need a good clearing around your house, so they don't go there or face being eaten by birds (i believe they watch out for clearings, its like a tank being out in the middle of a desert with no camouflage, think Desert Storm 1). I recommend gravel and not grass. At least limit it where possible, then individual bushes pose less of a threat and can be sprayed, this way I believe also the perimeter defense spray that has a semi bad reputation works better. Keep bushes neat too (not brushing up inches from the windows, get yourself a long hedge saw, prevent them from touching the house by as much as possible while keeping the look decent (like 6 inches at least). I also think you can leave evergreens more alone, I think its leafy stuff that poses a bug hazard).