How do you fix a bug zapper?

[Pepper]

I got one of those fancy black-light bug zapper thingies at Lowes a couple months ago. It killed thousands of skeeters for a while. Well it accidentally sat out during a heavy rainstorm (during the day, it has a sensor so it's only on at "night") and now it won't light up. The power indicator is lit but I don't think it's producing arc voltage anymore though I haven't yet stuck something conductive in there to find out for sure.

Is it "fried" and I should just attempt a return at Lowes or is there something simple I can do to get it going again?

 

[riffjim4069]

I say don't waste anymore of your time...exchange it at Lowes.

 

[hdtvtechno]

I brought a replacement light bulb somehow the old bulb broke into pieces properbly dropped on the floor when it was in the garage
now the new bulb keeps buzzing constantly and wont stop

i looked at the manual says to try cleaning out the zapping grid..but i looked and its clean

 

[Van]

If the bulbs buzzing then its most likely not seated properly and its contact points have a slight gap.

 

[melgarga]

Should be careful servicing one of those things. They are a bit hotter than a spark plug if it gets a hold of you.
I dont know if you know this but there are 2 schools of thought on bug zappers. One is that killing any bug that flies into it is a good thing, period. The other is that they kill very few mosquitos compared to number of bugs they kill of those that eat mosquitos and that are generally benificial to the grand scheme of things. I'm no "treehugger" but I did quit using mine based on the FACT that skeeters are attracted to CO2 emmisions[ breath exhalilation] and heat [mammal body heat] which a uv + high voltage grid zapper does neither of. Something to think about.

 

[bhelms]

Agreed with the above! After running one for several years I questioned the efficacy of the whole concept. Since the thing is illuminated after dark, it draws everything from within it's effective radius bringing even more bugs into the area. Haven't used mine in about 15 years at this point. When thinking back on it, I didn't seem to have any more or less bugs with or without that thing running. And the zapping sound became very obnoxious. For small area control, like sitting on the unscreened porch in the evening, I'm better off with citronella candles...

 

[thecristman]

I used to use one of those and quit. I now use a bug eleiminator that runs on propane and I bought at my hardware store, it works better than the zapper lite ever did.

 

[melgarga]

I used to use one of those and quit. I now use a bug eleiminator that runs on propane and I bought at my hardware store, it works better than the zapper lite ever did.

There is one I saw advertised that used a heat source and some type of time release CO2 system. I think it was made by one of the repellant or insecticide marketers. Never got one to try, we use the yard guard type sprays when we plan to entertain or be out after dark. Ditto on the Citronella as well!