Bugs in the system, like actual bugs

[Flunkyboi]

Years ago, I used to do AC service calls. I live in the South and an odd phenomenon I encountered several times on repair calls were opening the electrical enclosures and finding Fire Ants. For some odd reason, they love compressor motor starter contacts.

I can recall four times when I looked and the main contactor literally had a cluster of them so thick, they looked like a red beard. Hundreds....most all of them electrocuted.

I ask about this because the systems I'm planning will be in an unsealed pole barn. I note my nice, new EG4 3kw AIO has great intake filters, but the lower exhaust porting on the base has holes in it big enough for some bugs to crawl in, like wasps.

Have any of you had bugs get in your expensive solar equipment?

 

[robby]

Not in expensive equipment but I have seen Fire Ants get killed by the hundreds trying to swarm onto relays/contactors and other switches that create an arc when opening or closing. They typically cause them to fail and sometimes cleaning them is not enough, they have to be replaced.
I was once told that they are attracted to the scent of Ozone from electrical Sparks and from what I understand they are a huge problem on the electrical grid in certain South American countries. All I know for sure is that they seem to love areas where an electrical spark is happening.

 

[pollenface]

It's extreme but I've considered submerging things in electrical grade mineral oil to keep bugs and moisture out, also to stabilise temperature.

Anyone who has seen an oil cooled PC will know what i mean.

 

[rodrick]

We get what we call sage bugs in control boxes constantly you find them crushed in contacts

 

[Norwasian]

Here in Thailand, and of course fire ants are a thing here, multiple species of ants seem to love electronics. I do not fully understand the phenomenon either, but nonetheless in an ant-ridden area, one must ant-proof the electrical devices.

Here are things I have personally found helpful:

1) Keep electronic equipment up on a table away from a wall. The more narrow or circuitous the ant route is to the equipment the better.

2) Try to keep electrical cords away from common ant paths, such as grooves between tiles, corners, edges, etc. Ants love to use cords as a path, too, if they find them, so this may have its limits.

3) If the ants find the equipment on the table, you may have to ant-proof the entire table. Put bowls of water, oil, or ant-poison of some sort around each table leg, and have all electrical cords loop down through a bowl of such as well before continuing to the "safe" zone of the table.

Steps 1-3 are the simpler, less invasive methods. Step 4 is more invasive, but likely more successful.

4) Open the electrical devices and sprinkle a powerful (be sure not to breathe any of it yourself--face mask while doing so is recommended) ant-poison powder at key places inside where ants would be likely to crawl. Reclose the device and rest easy--any ants finding their way in will not last long enough to build a nest there.

Fire ants are more intelligent than some might think. I gave boric acid to a friend to help poison the ants around his home. He used it outside for the fire ants as well. When they began dying from the poison, he witnessed a group of their soldier ants bring mud to bury the poison and make the area safe for the rest of the ants!

Boric acid is safe for humans and pets, but is death to insects who ingest it (takes more than just touching it in most cases). Mosquitoes, etc., won't ingest it, but is can be successfully used against ants, silverfish, and cockroaches when presented to them attractively. Mix it with sugar, even 80% sugar to 20% of boric acid powder should be effective without raising their alarm. Ants will take it back to the nest, and won't immediately perish, but it will there be able to help eradicate the nest.

Boric acid is NOT the poison I used inside the electronic devices. I used something far more potent and toxic--I don't know what it is, but it would probably be illegal in the states, banned by the FDA. Whatever is the most toxic thing available, and dry with long-lasting potency, is what I would recommend using inside the case. Don't forget it's there if you need to open the case for some reason down the line!

 

[fuzzmunky415]

Saw title, first thought: Boric Acid.

 

[robby]

Combat ant gel that comes in a syringe has eliminated most of my ant problems. Put down a bit near their path and they form a circle around it like cows at a watering hole. Add more as needed and within 2 weeks the complete colony is dead.
They carry it back to the nest infecting the larvae and the queen.

 

[Crowz]

Lady bugs are something we have had a real problem with in Alabama getting into electric boxes and other devices. I'm not sure if they are actual normal lady bugs or some chinese import since there seems to be a ton of new stuff popping up that looked like the old bugs

Anyways its not uncommon to open up an electric box and have them pour out.

 

[cdsolar]

In my barn, spider webs, yes, bugs all over the equipment, no. I clean things off every two months.

 

[CMDRZOD]

Say what you will about the frozen hellscape we call Canada, this is rarely an issue here. Usually Moths and flies inside light fixtures are the worst of it. I've never seen ants in any equipment here.

Keep them hot bois south of the border please.

 

[MarkSolar]

I've had ants destroy the control boards in two of my automatic gate openers and the system board on my backup generator, it's probably cost me $1000. My inverters are inside the garage on an exterior wall. I spray around all my equipment and along the foundation with a spray that kills the ants when they walk through it. I have to do that every few weeks outdoors because it gets washed away. Indoors or under the eaves once a month seems to work.

 

[Norwasian]

I've had ants destroy the control boards in two of my automatic gate openers and the system board on my backup generator, it's probably cost me $1000. My inverters are inside the garage on an exterior wall. I spray around all my equipment and along the foundation with a spray that kills the ants when they walk through it. I have to do that every few weeks outdoors because it gets washed away. Indoors or under the eaves once a month seems to work.

I once had our vehicle in the shop expecting to have them replace the starter: they needed only to clean the ants' nest out of it! (It still cost a fair bit.)

I've had ants disable light switches many times, requiring that I open and clean the contacts to restore function. Ants have nested in my electric shaver. They've ruined the circuit boards of printers and routers. They nest in the most unusual and seemingly unlikely places, but certain varieties of ants seem especially attracted to electricity.

Manufacturers should make everything to IP67 standards so ants would not become a nuisance. In lieu of that, I've had to design my own solar equipment rack with ant-proofing built in. A year has passed, and no ants have moved in. Let's hope the success continues.

 

[MarkSolar]

but certain varieties of ants seem especially attracted to electricity.

Manufacturers should make everything to IP67 standards so ants would not become a nuisance. In lieu of that, I've had to design my own solar equipment rack with ant-proofing built in. A year has passed, and no ants have moved in. Let's hope the success continues.

Yes they seem to like electricity, in every case they have laid their eggs right on the traces of the circuit boards. I assume the moisture in their eggs is what shorts out the components on the boards. I've injected silicone into all the wire feed throughs on my gate controller enclosures. That and the ant spray on the enclosure and wires seems to be keeping them at bay. They also seem to come in waves, we won't see them for weeks or months then all of a sudden they're just everywhere.

 

[Norwasian]

They also seem to come in waves, we won't see them for weeks or months then all of a sudden they're just everywhere.

Here the "waves" you reference get timed with weather, e.g. the rainy season is NOT the time to be nest-building out-of-doors!

 

[Hogheavenfarm]

I have used borax (powder) against fire ants, it must be diluted with peanut butter or some other protien otherwise they will avoid it, if diluted enough they will carry it back to the nest and kill the whole nest. Ants are pretty much of two types, "sugar ants" and "protien ants". Fire ants are protien ants, so peanut butter works, sugar ants like anything sweet, so honey works well with those. Fire ants are now here in NY, I suppose Canada will not be safe for long.

 

[Norwasian]

I have used borax (powder) against fire ants, it must be diluted with peanut butter or some other protien otherwise they will avoid it, if diluted enough they will carry it back to the nest and kill the whole nest. Ants are pretty much of two types, "sugar ants" and "protien ants". Fire ants are protien ants, so peanut butter works, sugar ants like anything sweet, so honey works well with those. Fire ants are now here in NY, I suppose Canada will not be safe for long.

I've heard that theory about the "protein ants" versus the "sugar ants" before. I'm not ready to buy it without more evidence. From my own experience, I would say all ants need both protein and sugar sources. The one which attracts them at the moment just happens to be the one they have lately been shorter in supply.

 

[wpns]

I had the board in one of my HVAC splits fail due to ants immolating themselves on the high voltage circuits. Fortunately, it was a warranty repair, and I've since started using Talstar ant granules around the outdoor foundation.

 

[LydMekk]

I tend to glue in mosquito netting over all factory punched holes in electronic cabinets.
That stops the insects.
Otherwise they tend to crawl in for the heat it seems.