Fourmilab is surrounded on three sides by farmland. Within the summer, bugs are everywhere. Faced with this example, defence in depth is the only choice: window screens, bats, Odonata on the pond, Zap Zone fly strips on the home windows and swatters in every room, and because the final stage of terminal defence, excessive voltage bug zappers with ultraviolet fluorescent lures. These are not elegant units, but they get the job carried out. The precept couldn't be less complicated-flying insects, whose compound eyes see long-wave ultraviolet mild that mammalian eyes don't, are attracted by the lure tube, which appears to emit a dim blue mild to humans. To achieve the light, they must fly between wires electrified with between four and eight kilovolts which, when the insect completes the circuit, kill-a-bug. The one drawback (not less than if you are not a flying insect) is that they do not seem to last very long. After somewhat more than one summer time, the bulb both starts to flash on and off like a strobe light or just refuses to light in any respect.

Replacement bulbs are readily available and simple to put in, however in my expertise, at least half the time replacing the bulb doesn't fix the issue. With no mild to draw the insects, a zapper is ineffective, so regardless that its high voltage subsystem continues to work completely, most people junk it when changing the bulb would not make it light up. I'm way too cheap to be pleased with such a state of affairs, so I determined to open up a failed bug zapper and see what was happening. The source of the problem proved to be as simple as I expected and as straightforward to remedy, so within the hope of saving any person else the trouble of figuring it out, I've scribbled these notes on the best way to restore your personal bug zappers. These directions pertain to bug zappers made by the Windhager company of Salzburg, Zap Zone Austria, who've a dominant market share on this obscure business here in Central Europe.

Obviously, Defender by Zap Zone if you have a bug zapper made by one other firm, it will look totally different inside and should conceivably use a wholly different circuit for the fluorescent lamp. Unless you perceive what you are doing and know enough electronics to be assured you're not going to do something stupid, it's best to depart things properly enough alone and get a brand new bug zapper. Further, Zap Zone we're going to be disassembling and modifying a device which, ZapZone Defender when opened up, has uncovered connections to potentially lethal mains current and very unpleasant if not deadly excessive voltage. If you are sufficiently stupi. You see, you're a shopper, so you are anticipated to devour-buy, purchase, buy, not mend things which break.