Fixing a dead bug zapper

[@eastside0434]

I picked up the coolest vintage bug zapper I've ever seen called "the D bugger made by Bram manufacturing it works great and looks like a bird cage with a metal roof,very durable and well made.

[@sethloh6060]

Great fix! I've never seen the inside of a ballast before so this was definitely an eye-opener

[@joseph78e4n6]

my zapper is newer and doesn't light ..the mfg. supposed to install a plug in starter ...

[@scarutube]

Hi..just 1 question please - i have 2 generic brand mosquito zappers which needed the ballast replaced. I removed the ballast from the inside of its cylindrical container and soldered it into place. It worked...but alas - as soon as i switch the unit off, and then back on again, the ballast fails again. So i tried the same proceedure a second time - with the same result. First time on after ballast replacement - it works. Second time - no. Do you have an idea why? Thanks.

[@MrCobra762]

I've been trying to get my old vintage Flintrol 25 watt, 3/4 acre zapper light working again. Bought a new replacement CFM for it. Had to modify the bottom screen to let the new bulb hang out a little since I couldn't find a 25w bulb 7" like my original. Plugged in and the new bulb looks like it wants to light, (it keeps flashing and flickers brighter) but only slightly glows, and isn't a black light like I ordered. It's only a slight orange glow. Tried replacing starter just in case, but the new one, the same FL-25 still doesn't fully light the bulb? Can you make any suggestions on what else might be wrong? Wanna kill some skeeters some kind of bad! Stumped... Any ideas?

[@bigal1419]

Having similar issue with mine. Partially illuminated bulb, not sure if there’s a fix.

[@ShannonMarie-ex9id]

If your bulb is out, how do you test the grid to make sure all you need is a new bulb if you don't have electrical testing equipment? Will the grid still work with a dead bulb? I wish I could afford to risk it and just buy bulbs to see. Better yet, buy a new unit but unfortunately I don't.

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

It's a bit complicated. In that unit, if current is flowing through the ballast, there won't be voltage on the grid. However, just because the bulb isn't lit, you can't be sure there's no current flowing, the starter circuit could be stuck on or some other short circuit somewhere. In other units that just use an ordinary off-the-shelf fluorescent ballast, the grid would be powered whether or not the bulb is lit. Unfortunately, I can't think of a safe way to check if the grid has voltage.

[@boblevey]

Great video

[@marcdomanski]

How do you change the starter bulb if its wired into the bulb plug, and not a circuit board?

[@eduardoveytia244]

Yo se lo cambie a unas abriendo unas pestañitas en los que tienen la base de aluminio y en los que tienen la base completamente de plástico van a presión con una navaja o un desarmador plano y delgado o con una pequeña espátula puedes abrirlos

[@MrDavew402]

my stinger starts up normal but after 30 seconds to one minute it turns off then comes back on for 2 or 3 seconds, the cage gives off a spark when starting up, then it goes off and repeats. tried 2 new bulbs today. the old bulb was alternating brightness from one side of the bulb to the other. that's why i bought new bulbs but apparently its something else. starts up fine but only stays on a few seconds.

[@stevecummins7834]

should the starter "glow" if the bulb is not good or if the bulb is out of the circuit? my starter is wired across two pins in the socket my four pin u shaped bulb plugs into. I get no glow at all light installed or out of the system. I have 120 V on one wire to the starter bulb but not across the bulb itself. This is a normally closed switch bulb right? No continuity across starter bulb leads is a problem right? My system uses a two independent coil x- former setup configured on one continuous laminate core. I have not seen one like this before. Each coil on it's own iron laminate core but the two are connected the bottom of one is the top to the other. Apparently the core of the smaller x-former induces a current to flow into the center and surrounding laminate of the high voltage x-former with output leads to each concentric HV grid. This thing must be like the old fashion coil used in an automotive application? My powers of description leave a lot to be desired. my x-former theory of operation is just good enough to make me dangerous. I am kinda afraid to place my DVM leads across these two HV grids because my DVM is only rated to 750 V AC. Can I go from one grid to ground instead or will that be just as bad? Aren't these zappers configured to have about 5 KV across them to get a good bug fry sound? I assumed I would be able to hear a x-former "humming" sound at least from the high voltage coil, but I hear nothing from either one? This does not seem normal to me, all "wall warts" hum a little when plugged in. If the starter bi-metallic switch is bad (open), this cuts power to everything else by default? Also, the line voltage 120 V "in" goes into the smaller of the two x-formers, with leads from it going to the starter and the bulb socket. The other HV x-former has no hard-wire "inputs". Did I say anything useful to you?

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

The starter should only glow if the bulb is in circuit and intact. The current flow through the ballast, through the filament at one end of the bulb, through the starter, through the filament at the other end of the bulb, and back. If the bulb is not installed or either filament is broken, or there's a bad connection, the starter will not glow. You don't want to hook an ordinary multimeter to the high voltage grids, although there are 40kV probes available for making such measurements. You can unplug everything and measure continuity in the coils: there should be some resistance on both the input (primary) side and output (secondary) side. If you measure infinite resistance, you have a failed transformer or a bad connection.

[@stevecummins7834]

@@johnrehwinkel7241 Thank you for the diagnostics. I will do some continuity measurements to see if the bulb is bad. When I plugged it in first time this year, the bulb flickered on momentarily and went off and that was that, no more activity. Should I be able to hear some 60 cycle hum from the primary coil and the secondary coil independently? I have a stethoscope with a tube on the end I use for finding the source of individual noises inside an engine compartment. The way my zapper is wired it looks like if there is no continuity across the bulb (UV) then 120 volts AC does not reach the primary X-former. The starter is configured to be normally closed I assume, and when energized the bi-metallic switch inside opens up and breaks the circuit is this right? Then the process repeats opening and closing at 60 Hz? Neutral wire is connected to one side of the primary coil. The second wire on the primary connects to one of the two sets of pins on the bottom of the bulb. The Line In wire connects to one of the two pins on the opposite end of the bulb. The bimetallic contactor connects across the other two pins. When the bimetallic switch opens cutting the power to the primary X-former, the field collapses and sends a counter EMF pulse into the iron laminates which then induces a large current spike into the secondary X-former which in turn (pun intended) generates a 5 KV surge out of the secondary coil is this an accurate description of what is happening? I thought the "starter" was only necessary to be used to generate enough voltage to ionize the gas into a glowing plasma and once the plasma was energized the operating voltage to keep the bulb ionized was greatly reduced and the high voltage was no longer necessary to keep the bulb glowing? Is this incorrect? Does the HV always have to be present in order to keep the plasma glowing? This would then require the bimetallic switch to be constantly opening and closing and never "sidelined" until a "cold-start" condition was at hand (like when the bulb is cold and first started)? I guess I do not really understand how a fluorescent light actually works. I know they don't like to start when the temperature of the air gets below about 45 degreed F. This is when I will often hear the "pinging" sound as one attempts to start up from cold conditions. That pinging sound what is it? Most of my 48 inch "shop lights" do not have a "starter" (the small aluminum can thing that you show in your video). These lights will tend to flicker a lot until they get warmed up. This flickering is associated with the pinging sound when the bulb is first energized. Since these shop lights do not have a screw in "starter", what is causing the pinging sound that goes away once the bulb gets up to temperature and a steady plasma glow is produced? Is this not the right place for me to ask you such a question? I apologize if I have wandered too far off topic. Thank you for your help, Steve C. P.S. does the starter bulb glow when operating normally, like a small neon light? My starter bulb appears to be coated on the inside with a silvery coating, making it difficult to see the switch inside of it. Is this coating from the deposition of contact materials (sorta like vapor deposited stuff)?

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

The starter isn't closed to start with, so the current flows through the ballast and both filaments and makes a glow discharge in the starter. The heat from the glow discharge heats the bimetallic strip, which eventually closes the circuit, and the filaments heat. Since the glow discharge is now off, it cools, and shortly after the bimetallic strip opens the circuit again, at which point, the magnetic field in the ballast collapses and makes a voltage spike to start the tube. If it doesn't start, the cycle repeats at a low frequency. Sometimes it doesn't start because it happens to open at a moment where the AC waveform is zero. The pinging sound is normally thermal switch in the starter opening and closing, but it could be your shop lights have a "rapid start", "programmed start", or "instant start" ballast, all of which work slightly differently.

[@johnwright9547]

What would cause a stinger to run for up to half an hr then have the bulb start acting like a strobe light. .new bulbs even changed.

[@rajeshtrivedi4515]

If possible please provide circuit diagram with value of all components used in it. I am also assembling the mosquito killer but just to improve and update knowledge for better improvement.

[@thomasbarnes5703]

I'm wondering why you did install a jumper wire to the starter prongs solder it all together then electrical tape...won't that work?

[@keeganfoster1792]

I have one light works good but it doesn’t zap the damn bugs

[@russellhuston6481]

can you just bypass the starter with shorting the leads constantly?

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

No, that would just keep it in "start" mode continuously, with the filaments heated but no light-producing discharge.

[@johnnybrown1036]

In another repair video someone commented that they replaced their starter with a momentary switch. Would that work? ​@@johnrehwinkel7241

[@JuanSanchez-ik7wx]

no apparent reason? You mean apart from the burned up starter

[@Gleamoz]

Mine turns on , but I think the electrical grid is not zapping , idk

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

The zapping part is normally fairly straightforward, just a transformer with a high voltage winding and sometimes a capacitor. I had another one that stopped zapping, the problem turned out to be a loose wire connection to the high voltage transformer. I crimped on a fresh one and that fixed it.

[@tvojslauf]

@@johnrehwinkel7241 do you happen to know where I can get a transformer? Does it have to be exactly the same one? I have a stinger model uv40 that turns on but doesn’t zap either.

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

Alas, I have no idea where to get the transformers separately. In my opinion, that's kind of the heart of the unit, so when that goes, it's time to replace it.

[@tvojslauf]

@@johnrehwinkel7241 thanks!

[@rayfreeman1059]

Why are bug zappers black ?

[@user-fh9so7ub9u]

It could be because black never goes out of style, or it’s easier to clean, or it matches with the owner’s other appliances . There’s also white. So it’s just personal preference.

[@anorakus8272]

Out of respect for the zapped insects

[@mr.breadNwater]

Nice, you obviously know what you're talking about. I have a Stinger zapper in which the fluorescent light turns on but not getting any zapping action with bugs flying around it. Any suggestions?

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

The high voltage supply is generally pretty simple, a step-up transformer and capacitor. Generally there's a bad connection somewhere (tricky to debug with the high voltage, but an ohmmeter is a big help), or the transformer itself can fail (it's rare, but possible).

[@thomastrzepacz9614]

5:46 noisy capacitors....

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

Hee-hee, I think that was my head hitting the overhead lamp!