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Killing Flies

Straight answers to factual questions
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AleisterCrowley
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Re: Killing Flies

#154554

Postby AleisterCrowley » July 23rd, 2018, 10:57 pm

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

vrdiver
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Re: Killing Flies

#154566

Postby vrdiver » July 24th, 2018, 1:12 am

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

Itsallaguess
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Re: Killing Flies

#154569

Postby Itsallaguess » July 24th, 2018, 5:04 am

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

feder1
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Re: Killing Flies

#154572

Postby feder1 » July 24th, 2018, 6:19 am

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.

GoSeigen
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Re: Killing Flies

#154574

Postby GoSeigen » July 24th, 2018, 6:47 am

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

Slarti
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Re: Killing Flies

#154610

Postby Slarti » July 24th, 2018, 10:00 am

csearle wrote:
csearle wrote:
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.
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! :D
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.

Regards,
Chris


That must by why it whines when you press the button.

But it doesn't hurt with hand to mesh contact.

Slarti

jfgw
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Re: Killing Flies

#154615

Postby jfgw » July 24th, 2018, 10:20 am

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.

Slarti
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Re: Killing Flies

#154624

Postby Slarti » July 24th, 2018, 10:41 am

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

AleisterCrowley
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Re: Killing Flies

#154627

Postby AleisterCrowley » July 24th, 2018, 10:44 am

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

Slarti
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Re: Killing Flies

#154632

Postby Slarti » July 24th, 2018, 10:48 am

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

csearle
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Re: Killing Flies

#154715

Postby csearle » July 24th, 2018, 2:39 pm

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 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.

Chess,
Chris

jfgw
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Re: Killing Flies

#154769

Postby jfgw » July 24th, 2018, 6:02 pm

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.

csearle
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Re: Killing Flies

#154774

Postby csearle » July 24th, 2018, 6:14 pm

jfgw wrote:Is it any good for killing flies?
It is. One collision, zap they head southwards. C.

PinkDalek
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Re: Killing Flies

#154775

Postby PinkDalek » July 24th, 2018, 6:17 pm

csearle wrote:It is. One collision, zap they head southwards. C.


Would they fall in a Northerly direction in Australia?

stewamax
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Re: Killing Flies

#154777

Postby stewamax » July 24th, 2018, 6:27 pm

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.

jfgw
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Re: Killing Flies

#154778

Postby jfgw » July 24th, 2018, 6:29 pm

csearle wrote:One collision, zap they head southwards. C.


It seems that those things are the undoing of flies!

Breelander
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Re: Killing Flies

#154843

Postby Breelander » July 25th, 2018, 1:01 am

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.


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

melonfool
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Re: Killing Flies

#154898

Postby melonfool » July 25th, 2018, 10:27 am

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!?)

Howard
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Re: Killing Flies

#157127

Postby Howard » August 4th, 2018, 1:45 pm

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. :lol:

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 :twisted: 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

melonfool
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Re: Killing Flies

#157160

Postby melonfool » August 4th, 2018, 5:27 pm

Whereas i just bought fly, wasp and mosquito spray for £2 in Lidl.

Mel


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