Ants in my AC unit

[willyumiii]

For the second time in a few months, I have had to have a repair man come out and fix my AC unit.

 

The problem is ants going into the unit and them shorting it out.

They seem to be entering the unit from inside the wall.

 

Has anyone else had this problem and know of a safe way to prevent it?

Even the repair man mentioned that it is not a great idea to spray the unit with an insecticide and then breath the air from it!

 

I have only lived in this home for one year now and do not know if ants are always a problem here or if this  is just a bad year for ants,

but it seems we are always battling ants and trying to keep them out of the house.

 

Any good advice on prevention would be very welcome.

[Scotwight]

Foodland Pattaya

[willyumiii]

Thanks, I will look for it.

I live in Isaan and don't know of any Foodland here.

When I lived in California, there was a product called  "Tanglefoot" that was like a very sticky, non toxic tooth paste that any insect trying to cross it would get stuck in it.

I was hoping to maybe find something like that here in Thailand.

[rijb]

Try this, on their path to the AC.  They bring it back to the queen.  It will get rid of the hive, by the next day.  

 

5 parts sugar

1 part borax (no boric acid)  (can find in swimming pool store)

2 parts warm water

[BKKdreaming]

8 minutes ago, rijb said:

Try this, on their path to the AC.  They bring it back to the queen.  It will get rid of the hive, by the next day.  

 

5 parts sugar

1 part borax (no boric acid)  (can find in swimming pool store)

2 parts warm water

 

does this make a paste or ?????, 

 

do you need to keep it moist ?

 

Ants have been crazy at my house all summer , so I need to try something like this

 

 

[willyumiii]

21 minutes ago, rijb said:

Try this, on their path to the AC.  They bring it back to the queen.  It will get rid of the hive, by the next day.  

 

5 parts sugar

1 part borax (no boric acid)  (can find in swimming pool store)

2 parts warm water

Sounds like a great way to go. Thank you!

[Scotwight]

31 minutes ago, rijb said:

Try this, on their path to the AC.  They bring it back to the queen.  It will get rid of the hive, by the next day.  

 

5 parts sugar

1 part borax (no boric acid)  (can find in swimming pool store)

2 parts warm water

Where do you find borax in Thailand?  I've been looking for 10 years without success.

[Dmaxdan]

I use Naphthalene balls. One packet costs 10 baht for about 20 balls.  You need to add new balls every two to three weeks because they dissolve over time,

[tifino]

Run an extension lead, back into the A/C cabinet. Plug in a bug pest repeller, with the Electromagnetic feature...

 

 

any six-legger (8 leggers too) will go crazy and erratic for a couple of days - and then there are none!

[Scotwight]

6 minutes ago, Dmaxdan said:

I use Naphthalene balls. One packet costs 10 baht for about 20 balls.  You need to add new balls every two to three weeks because they dissolve over time,

I tried this my wife left (the one I liked).  

[rijb]

33 minutes ago, BKKdreaming said:

 

does this make a paste or ?????, 

 

do you need to keep it moist ?

 

Ants have been crazy at my house all summer , so I need to try something like this

 

 

 

I make a little at a time, using a teaspoon for measuring.  Mix it well.  Drizzle the thick liquid in their path.  It's fun to watch them swarm to the droplets.  

 

Swimming pool supply stores are your best bet for borax.  

 

Don't use boric acid.  It's toxic to animals.

[ripstanley]

17 minutes ago, Scotwight said:

Where do you find borax in Thailand?  I've been looking for 10 years without success.

 

 About 3 years ago I bought it online from 

http://healthfoodthailand.com/en/home-garden/279-borax-powder-commercial-grade-1000-grams.html

I live up north and there were no problems with delivery.

If you live in Phuket you can pick it up yourself.

[rijb]

Here is the Thai spelling for borax, that is on the label.

 

บอแร็กซ์

[BKKdreaming]

Just got my box of 20 mule team Borax today at Walmart

 

4 pounds / 1.80kg for US $4

 

if I just spread some around where the ants are will they take it back to the hive (if thats what its called)

or does it need sweet sugar / honey / donuts  so they take the sweet part back to the hive ?

 

and how does that kill all the ants in the house ?  do  they all use the same hive ?

 

Thanks for the info 

[willyumiii]

36 minutes ago, BKKdreaming said:

Just got my box of 20 mule team Borax today at Walmart

 

4 pounds / 1.80kg for US $4

 

if I just spread some around where the ants are will they take it back to the hive (if thats what its called)

or does it need sweet sugar / honey / donuts  so they take the sweet part back to the hive ?

 

and how does that kill all the ants in the house ?  do  they all use the same hive ?

 

Thanks for the info 

Walmart is in Thailand?

That is bad news if true.

I would rather live with ants than support Walmart!

Walmart sucks, in many ways!

[BKKdreaming]

no Walmart in the USA , not sure if they are better or worse than Tesco, Big C etc

[rijb]

6 hours ago, BKKdreaming said:

Just got my box of 20 mule team Borax today at Walmart

 

4 pounds / 1.80kg for US $4

 

if I just spread some around where the ants are will they take it back to the hive (if thats what its called)

or does it need sweet sugar / honey / donuts  so they take the sweet part back to the hive ?

 

and how does that kill all the ants in the house ?  do  they all use the same hive ?

 

Thanks for the info 

 

It needs to be mixed well (dissolved) with something the ants will eat.  Sugar seems to work the best.  See recipe above.

[n210mp]

We have from time to time  had the same problem in light switches, AC units switches 

It seems that the ants are drawn to small  dark places where there may be an  electromagnetic field etc. this in my experience is where they deposit their Queen

 

In the AC they were so many they caused an overheating problem and a  big repair.

 

In the light switches they clog up the contacts until there is no actual contact when you flick a switch and occasionally when it gets bad you can smell the ants being burned  when  caught between the contact points.

 

Our remedy  after the event has been to  split or break down the switch or part affected, clean them out  and then spray the areas  with a good insect spray,  normally after cleaning there is no need to replace light switches

 

if the problem is in an AC unit then obviously turn the machine off and give a good spray and leave to rest for an hour or until the vapour dries off  and its smell has dissipated

 

if the ants are already causing problems with contacting electrical points ie not turning power on or off properly then then a spray will not be enough and you will have to once again take the affected switches apart fro proper cleaning

[samuijimmy]

This one company that sells Borax in Thailand

 

Yes, it works well as posted above ^.... kills the whole nest. Repeat every few months as new colonies try to move in...

 

 

 

[johng]

I've had ants in my computer monitor/TV, External Hard drives, fluorescent lights,light switches , main breaker/fuse box and extension leads.
When they get caught between contact breakers in switches etc and are fried they make a very effective insulation material rendering the switch almost useless,until you can take it apart and clean the contacts.

In TV'S and hard drives the results are much worse.

[gazz]

Clipped this a few years ago: (It works; I keep a bottle cap behind the microwave and top is up as need from the batch I made years ago and kept in glass jar.)

 

Ant killer

 

Ingredients 1/2 cup water
1 tbl     boric acid
From some other TV threads: krod boric กรดบอริก
1 cup sugar

 

Directions

   1. Put the water in a medium sized bowl. Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon boric acid. Stir until completely dissolved, about a minute.

   2. Add 1 cup sugar, stir until completely dissolved.

   3. Place the mix in small containers, like bottle caps or the bottom 1/2" of a yogurt container. Put these wherever you have ant problems. Or better yet, pour a small 1" diameter puddle near problem areas on kitchen counters or floors. Warning: dogs and kids will eat this stuff. Cats won't, they don't like sugar. I dunno about hamsters, etc.

   4. Be patient. The ants will find it within a couple hours and go nuts. Don't interrupt their feed-fest. You have to let them eat their fill and bring it back to the nest, where, over the course of the next couple days, the boric acid will kill the queen. That's right, I'm inciting regicide.

   5. Proportions are important. Too much boric acid and the ants never make it back to the nest. Too little and you're just feeding the little buggers.

If you have something in particular you wish to protect from ants, like the cat food, put some talcum or baby powder under it. Ants hate this stuff and won't cross it. And, as a plus, your cat will get very soft little paws.

[terminatorchiangmai]

Chaindrite powder, last for years.

 

[RBOP]

You can buy ant poison from any store like 7/11, Makro, TOPS, HomePro etc. Set it up near the aircon unit. Maybe put it on top. The ants will find it. You will start to see the ants carrying the tiny pellets away.  Its a slow acting poison and can take up to a week for the ants to completely disappear.

[sometimewoodworker]

On 12 September 2016 at 11:41 AM, willyumiii said:

Thanks, I will look for it.

I live in Isaan and don't know of any Foodland here.

When I lived in California, there was a product called  "Tanglefoot" that was like a very sticky, non toxic tooth paste that any insect trying to cross it would get stuck in it.

I was hoping to maybe find something like that here in Thailand.

Better is the ant chalk you can get in Tesco, Big C etc ants don't cross it so just draw a circle round anything you want to protect, or round where they come into the house. There is also a powder by the same company that works sold beside the chalk

[willyumiii]

2 hours ago, terminatorchiangmai said:

Chaindrite powder, last for years.

 

Thanks!

I just picked some up yesterday.

Any tips on the best way to use it?

The package is in Thai and I can not read the instructions.

Thanks again.

[bark]

Just use your fan.

[pkspeaker]

why is using the borax/sugar water method better than ant poison? more effective poison because the pesticide companies don't want to use anything that might kill pets?

[hawker9000]

A lot of the commercially available poison will kill ants, but will do it either on the spot or too quickly.  It doesn't make it back to the nest where the queen is.   I've purchased ant gel-bait back in the states that usually works great; it's specifically designed as bait though and doesn't work instantaneously ('takes anywhere from overnight to a couple of days).  You see the ants being attracted to it for the first several hours, but then the activity gradually tapers off and they disappear.  (I don't think the worker ants are actually "feeding" as much as "collecting" food to take back to the nest.)  The boric acid recipes above sound like they work exactly this way, and I'd agree that the proportions must be critically important.

 

Some ant colonies will "bud" when exposed to poisons like this though.  The original ant trail will clear up, but another will appear somewhere else a week later.  You treat it, and then still another one will appear, and so on.  I therefore also stock a granular type bait which I sprinkle all around the outside of the house in about a 12- or 18-inch band, and use it along with the gel only if I find myself dealing with successive ant trails. (As applied, it's more expensive than the gel.)

 

With an ant nest actually INSIDE an AC unit, I guess you'd have to secure the unit (leaving it off & unplugged for the duration), remove the housing, deposit some bait nearby the unit, let it work, and THEN call the repairman to clean out the internals.  The ants might be "discouraged" by the lack of "EM field" (or whatever), but they'll go for the bait.

 

[dansbkk]

Thought for the day:

[little mary sunshine]

White vinegar...buy the cheapest at Makro, pour all around

where ants are.  Will not effect pets or people.  Ants will be gone.

I keep a spray bottle full of vinegar, a spray around patio and dog

dish area.  No more ants.  I spray on door sills too.  If you hate the

smell add a few drops of mint oil