Got a credit card? use our Credit Card & Finance Calculators
Thanks to johnstevens77,Bhoddhisatva,scotia,Anonymous,Cornytiv34, for Donating to support the site
Killing Flies
Forum rules
Direct questions and answers, this room is not for general discussion please
Direct questions and answers, this room is not for general discussion please
-
- Lemon Half
- Posts: 6381
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:35 am
- Has thanked: 1880 times
- Been thanked: 2026 times
Re: Killing Flies
That's my kinda science
Presumably a variation on the old 'shocking coil'
Anyway, I want one of these;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BUG-SALT-2-0-F ... 407&sr=8-1
Presumably a variation on the old 'shocking coil'
Anyway, I want one of these;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BUG-SALT-2-0-F ... 407&sr=8-1
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2574
- Joined: November 5th, 2016, 2:22 am
- Has thanked: 552 times
- Been thanked: 1212 times
Re: Killing Flies
As a schoolboy, I got pretty good at hitting flies with rubber bands. A chain of three was optimal, giving the best speed, accuracy and "draw length".
When starting out, we did destroy a fair number of light bulbs, but quickly learnt to wait for the flies to settle on better kill-zones.
It all ended in tears when some idjit attempted a kill on the teacher's desk...
VRD
When starting out, we did destroy a fair number of light bulbs, but quickly learnt to wait for the flies to settle on better kill-zones.
It all ended in tears when some idjit attempted a kill on the teacher's desk...
VRD
-
- Lemon Half
- Posts: 9129
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 1:16 pm
- Has thanked: 4140 times
- Been thanked: 10023 times
Re: Killing Flies
csearle wrote:
Just a quick follow-up. I stuck my oscilloscope on my "Exterminator" fly swat and pushed the button.
I saw a cyclic waveform with an amplitude of just over 10000V with a period of about 150µs.
Each cycle consisted of a voltage spike followed by a rapid decay.
Great stuff Chris.
There's a pretty good video here that shows the process in action -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=467RR_TGNME
He seems to be struggling with it until around the 1-minute mark, so fast-forwarding it to that point gets a lot more interesting in terms of your voltage-spikes above.
Cheers,
Itsallaguess
-
- Lemon Slice
- Posts: 477
- Joined: November 8th, 2016, 8:28 am
- Has thanked: 36 times
- Been thanked: 59 times
Re: Killing Flies
What we have learned from this multi-authored thesis on kllling flies is:
Do not invest in Flyspray mfrs.
Consider investing in electric tennis raquets.
No one has a clue why little flies are immune whilst I am coughing and spluttering from days of spraying the house.
P.S I managed to subdue one little one by locking it in a small room and spraying through a crack in the door over a period of two days.
PPS I now have another one in the living which is giving me grief.
PPPS will trial some mint when when I can grow some.
Do not invest in Flyspray mfrs.
Consider investing in electric tennis raquets.
No one has a clue why little flies are immune whilst I am coughing and spluttering from days of spraying the house.
P.S I managed to subdue one little one by locking it in a small room and spraying through a crack in the door over a period of two days.
PPS I now have another one in the living which is giving me grief.
PPPS will trial some mint when when I can grow some.
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 4350
- Joined: November 8th, 2016, 11:14 pm
- Has thanked: 1590 times
- Been thanked: 1579 times
Re: Killing Flies
feder1 wrote:What we have learned from this multi-authored thesis on kllling flies is:
Do not invest in Flyspray mfrs.
Consider investing in electric tennis raquets.
No one has a clue why little flies are immune whilst I am coughing and spluttering from days of spraying the house.
P.S I managed to subdue one little one by locking it in a small room and spraying through a crack in the door over a period of two days.
PPS I now have another one in the living which is giving me grief.
PPPS will trial some mint when when I can grow some.
Get a kitten. Ours works roughly three hours a day unpaid catching and disposing of the blighters. Seemed to be encouraged in the pursuit when we added a bit of grated cheese to each wriggling victim he was trying to subdue.
GS
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2941
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 3:46 pm
- Has thanked: 640 times
- Been thanked: 496 times
Re: Killing Flies
csearle wrote:Just a quick follow-up. I stuck my oscilloscope on my "Exterminator" fly swat and pushed the button. I saw a cyclic waveform with an amplitude of just over 10000V with a period of about 150µs. Each cycle consisted of a voltage spike followed by a rapid decay.csearle wrote:I have one, might get the scope on it later if I have time. What I don't recommend is sticking your tongue on one!Slarti wrote:Having done the tongue test across the terminals of a PP3, when a young and foolish boy, I know that they don't hurt.
Regards,
Chris
That must by why it whines when you press the button.
But it doesn't hurt with hand to mesh contact.
Slarti
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2539
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 3:36 pm
- Has thanked: 1097 times
- Been thanked: 1146 times
Re: Killing Flies
Slarti wrote:But it doesn't hurt with hand to mesh contact.
Have you managed to get your fingers through the outer wires to the inner mesh? You have to touch both at the same time. You may find it easier to touch the inner mesh with a screwdriver and touch your finger between that and the outer wires.
Julian F. G. W.
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2941
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 3:46 pm
- Has thanked: 640 times
- Been thanked: 496 times
Re: Killing Flies
jfgw wrote:Slarti wrote:But it doesn't hurt with hand to mesh contact.
Have you managed to get your fingers through the outer wires to the inner mesh? You have to touch both at the same time. You may find it easier to touch the inner mesh with a screwdriver and touch your finger between that and the outer wires.
Julian F. G. W.
I hadn't realised that.
All I had done was a flat hand on the wires, a) as I was trying to spot a fly that had gone into hiding and then b) to ensure that it was safe with kids around.
Just had a look and even small fingers won't go through. Also, I could press the outer against the inner, but I don't thing that I'll do it when turned on in case I break it.
Slarti
-
- Lemon Half
- Posts: 6381
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:35 am
- Has thanked: 1880 times
- Been thanked: 2026 times
Re: Killing Flies
Anyone recommend the best elcectric swatter? They seem to vary in price from £3 to at least five times as much on Amazon
I hate flies
I hate flies
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2941
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 3:46 pm
- Has thanked: 640 times
- Been thanked: 496 times
Re: Killing Flies
AleisterCrowley wrote:Anyone recommend the best elcectric swatter? They seem to vary in price from £3 to at least five times as much on Amazon
I hate flies
Mine is a Gecko and I think Mrs S bought it in Poundstretcher, or somewhere like that, as a joke Christmas present some years ago. So I would suspect nearer £3 than a higher price.
Slarti
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 4764
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 2:24 pm
- Has thanked: 4814 times
- Been thanked: 2083 times
Re: Killing Flies
Mine is the aforementioned Exterminator. It has a flat set of parallel wires so it is quite capable of shocking the user. It is very effective. No idea how much it costs.AleisterCrowley wrote:Anyone recommend the best elcectric swatter? They seem to vary in price from £3 to at least five times as much on Amazon
I hate flies
Chess,
Chris
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2539
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 3:36 pm
- Has thanked: 1097 times
- Been thanked: 1146 times
Re: Killing Flies
csearle wrote:It has a flat set of parallel wires so it is quite capable of shocking the user. It is very effective.
Is it any good for killing flies?
Julian F. G. W.
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 4764
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 2:24 pm
- Has thanked: 4814 times
- Been thanked: 2083 times
Re: Killing Flies
It is. One collision, zap they head southwards. C.jfgw wrote:Is it any good for killing flies?
-
- Lemon Half
- Posts: 6139
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 1:12 pm
- Has thanked: 1589 times
- Been thanked: 1801 times
Re: Killing Flies
csearle wrote:It is. One collision, zap they head southwards. C.
Would they fall in a Northerly direction in Australia?
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2417
- Joined: November 7th, 2016, 2:40 pm
- Has thanked: 83 times
- Been thanked: 782 times
Re: Killing Flies
I had the impression that both the Vapona and Raid sprays at the time were very effective on any size fly or mozzie but didn’t bother clothes moths. The moths would spiral down most pleasingly, only to fly off seconds later if not jumped up and down on immediately. Some sort of defence mechanism to get out of trouble fast, I suppose.
But Fly sprays of old were not much cop, but the later ones were much better. I wonder if the more effective active ingredients turned out to be harmful enough to the environment to have since been banned?
The original Vapona - along with a load of other useful moth deterrents - was banned sixteen years ago.
I still keep an emergency supply of a wasp killer that contains 0.2% bendiocarb - also banned as mildly carcinogenic at around the same time. It seem now that is isn't carcinogenic at all, but is (like donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine that are prescribed for Alzheimers patients) an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor that allows an excess of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine to build up. The dreaded Novichok also has the same effect but is less reversible.
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2539
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 3:36 pm
- Has thanked: 1097 times
- Been thanked: 1146 times
Re: Killing Flies
csearle wrote:One collision, zap they head southwards. C.
It seems that those things are the undoing of flies!
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 4179
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:42 pm
- Has thanked: 1000 times
- Been thanked: 1855 times
Re: Killing Flies
vrdiver wrote:When starting out, we did destroy a fair number of light bulbs, but quickly learnt to wait for the flies to settle on better kill-zones.
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2939
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:18 am
- Has thanked: 1365 times
- Been thanked: 793 times
Re: Killing Flies
The OP seems to have been answered but I would just add that I have a plug-in for mossies and that does seem to work, one died in spasms on the pillow next to my head last night.
Mel
(my question would be why the heck don't we have fly screens on windows in the UK!?)
Mel
(my question would be why the heck don't we have fly screens on windows in the UK!?)
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2178
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 8:26 pm
- Has thanked: 885 times
- Been thanked: 1017 times
Re: Killing Flies
bungeejumper wrote:Conventional cheapo fly swatters, with very long handles and enough air gaps in the business end of the thing. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingfisher-Pac ... B006UD22KM. Newspapers will never be as good, because the airflow simply swooshes the fly to one side as it approaches - which isn't the ideal thing at all.
We once bought my brother in law one of these fly swatter guns (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mayhem-Fly-Gun ... B07C98KP3D), where you fire the swatter at the fly. A captive nylon thread stops it (theoretically) from demolishing the house. It was intended as a joke, but it quickly proved devastatingly effective.
BJ
After reading your post and others, I couldn't resist buying a couple of Fly Guns from Amazon, together with The Executioner™ Fly Swat Wasp Bug Mosquito Swatter Zapper which cost £14.
Here is my consumer review:
The guns are excellent toys for grandchildren. To date, after scores of attempts, none of us have actually killed a fly with one. We have had some encouraging near misses.
(I have scored a few hits on the grandchildren.)
The Executioner is designed for alpha males. Once you have trapped a housefly with the racquet you wait for it to connect to the grid and ZAP it stuns the fly with a flash and a bang. Only problem is that within a minute or two the fly shakes its head and buzzes up from the window ledge or floor and within another minute it is happily zooming round the room.
There is a major problem with both my solutions, if Mrs H is in the room she uses a plastic fly swat she bought from Tesco for around £2 a few years ago and irritatingly flicks flies and wasps out of the window or whacks them dead on the floor before I can charge up the "Executioner" and have fun.
Hope this is helpful to any prospective purchasers.
regards
Howard
-
- Lemon Quarter
- Posts: 2939
- Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:18 am
- Has thanked: 1365 times
- Been thanked: 793 times
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests