Tennis racket bug zapper - Aldi. Any good

[Simon C.]

Never seen these before. Do they work OK? Only a fiver at Aldi tomo but it will be tricky for me to get to Aldi so don't want to make the effort if they're rubbish.

TIA

[Huge]

and kills mozzies. Sometimes you have to zap bluebottles & wasps a couple of times. Much, much better than a standard swatter.

[Mike Barnes]

Simon C. :

of quid. Effective, fun, clean, satisfying . Go for it. Smell the burn! Die! Die! Die!

[Bill]

In message , Simon C. writes

Aldi and labelled as "half price", if I remember right. The other 2 were from Poundland. Bought one, they had sold out the next day when I went back, then last week they were there again. I bought the next to last one.

I have them at relevant places around the house, and they do work although battery consumption is quite high so you have to be quick and accurate.

They are no match for the masses of midges that seem to swirl around outside our front door, but great fun against small fly squadrons.

[ericp]

in UV light.

[The Natural Philosopher]

[NT]

Swatters are novelties, not realistic ongoing pest control.

Flies do like halogen lamps.

NT

[Adam Aglionby]

Should have looked at link its a bat not a UV insectocutor.Midge traps use CO2 generators apparemtly ;-)

Poundland have them periodically in the outdoor section, main problem is collateral damage with overenthusiastic batting... ; Cheers Adam

[Thomas Prufer]

Worth it. Swipe wildly at a whining bloodsucking mozzie in a dark bedroom at night, be rewarded with a crack, flash and spark, and you'll agree.

Ther's two kinds: one with three grids, and anything between an outer grid and the inner one gets zapped in a spark and cloud of smoke (ok, small spark, tiny puff). Hard to get a wasp in far enough, good enopugh for mozzies and flies. T'other kind has just a single flat layer of wires: anything touching two adjacent wires gets fried. Makes it easy to zap larger insects, but hurts like the devil if you touch it -- can't happen accidentally on the three-layered one. Takes ten seconds or so for the bleed resistor to take the charge down to painless levels after it's off, too.

Thomas Prufer

[NT]

can copy this into the wiki?

NT

[David WE Roberts]

Trying to swat a sitting fly was entertaining as the rim prevented the mesh from touching the fly. It was eventually zapped after it had been bludgeoned to the floor and the bat pressed down on it hard. A plastic swatter would have been far more effective.

Zapping mozzies sounds good, though.

[Dave Starling]

Yes its very informative. From the pics it seems like the Aldi zapper is the single layer variety.

Someone else mentioned the mains powered zappers that you see in food preparation areas etc. I was under the impression they aren't particularly healthy as when a fly is zapped, bits of wing/body get exploded all over the nice clean surfaces or food below.

Dave.

[Man at B&Q]

Did you bother following the link given?

MBQ

[Lobster]

Is that definitely the case? Just that Aldi also have a UV jobbie on sale today as well, and I had intended to nip down and get one to take out the current plague of houseflies in the kitchen... :-(

[Mike Barnes]

David WE Roberts :

My technique is to place the racquet flat over the critter and swish it around a bit. Critter takes off, briefly. Snap, crackle, satisfying sparks and aroma. No mess on the window either.

[David WE Roberts]

I bought a UV jobbie last year (not a glowing turd, but a fly killer) but it could just as well have been a glowing turd.

However the commercial versions (as used in an Italian campsite near Venice) seemed to keep the mozzies at bay - constant zap and crackle.

The ones in food establishments seem to work as well (apart from allegedly spraying hot toasted fly everywhere).

Cheers

Dave R

[Lobster]

Yes I've seen the commercial zappers in operation - ie the ones which glow blueish in shops and restaurants - are they "UV" in operation too? I'd assumed the Aldi Jobbie was an el-cheapo domestic version of these; is that not the case - does it have a different MO?

If they are the same what's the issue - are domestic zappers not powerful enough to attract flies? or not powerful enough to kill them?

David

[ericp]

/me goes off to find a nice cool stone to slide under. :)

[Mike Barnes]

Lobster :

Yes. There's no light or any other device to lure the insects in. You wield it like a swatter (except that no force is required). That's why it's constructed like a tennis racquet.

[Lobster]

But bats are protected by law in the UK, even if they do like UV....