Ovillanta (mozzie catcher)

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mdav056

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#204762 16-Oct-2016 12:26

Living in a mozzie-ridden area, and having tried many "solutions", I have no nearly finished making my first Ovillanta out of an old car tyre and bits of plumbing. Anyone else out there trialling this? We should talk.

http://www.smsl.co.nz/site/southernmonitoring/files/Newsletters/2016/2016_5_NZB%20BH%20newsletter%20May16.pdf

(page 13). Lots of instructional videos on the web, most in Spanish with subtitles!

gml

Dynamic

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#1652128 17-Oct-2016 09:53

That is a delightful read. I think that I will have a go at making one of those, thank you.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

mdav056

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#1652185 17-Oct-2016 11:14

Great, @Dynamic! Mine is up now, and looking very attractive to the mozzies (but not to SO...). Some things I learned:

1. Cutting up the type causes a lot of noise and smoke -- I used an angle grinder and thin blade, and not much blade left now. Type shops seem happy to give away old tyres, but do get a smallish one! The tyre shop I got mine from is very interested to know how it goes, and maybe will even get into manufacture!

2. I connected the ends together with 4 galv screws of the sort one uses for attaching roofing iron which I had lying around

3. I drilled a 20 mm hole in the center of the bottom, snipped off the wires, and inserted a 20 mm brass threaded pipe (100 mm long), lubricated with plenty of roofing sealant, so that it was just flush on the inside. Then I sealed inside (smoothed) and outside with sealant and put a 20 mm flange nut on the outside. I have a 20 mm ball valve attached to the pipe, but am wondering why I don't simply use a wine-bottle cork in the end.

4. Screw hook on top so I could hang it from a tree.

5. I got some water from a bird bath and threw a little milk in it -- read somewhere that the attractant used was milk-based, so...

I'll post more when I have some results -- may take a while to get them really interested and laying. Good luck.

gml

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#1652323 17-Oct-2016 13:39

Fantastic. Thank you for the tips - will be interested to hear your results.

I'm assuming the tyre can be left full sized, but has been cut down to be a little more attractive in shape, and you could possibly make 2 out of a single tyre, or at least make 3 out of 2 tyres.

Might see if I can use a reciprocating saw rather than a cutting blade on a grinder, for the reasons you mention. :)

I'm about to make a small retaining wall out of tyres stacked staggered like bricks, with soil compacted inside them.

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mdav056

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#1652345 17-Oct-2016 14:05

Probably 3 from 2 tyres, not 2 from 1 -- you wouldn't get a big enough entryway with 2 quarter-tyres. My entryways are about 70 mm high max.

Cutting down is probably important, mostly because you need to keep the rain out, and you need a nice dark place. I made the bottom bit of tyre 500 mm, and the top bit a little more so that the ends of the top covered the bottom.

I've read that a bandsaw is just the ticket, but I don't have one. While I like to use projects to justify buying useful tools, SO would likely think that such a purchase to make a free mozzie catcher was a little over-the-top. Shame.

gml

neb

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#1652363 17-Oct-2016 14:40

I use a Pestrol hung under the house, it clears an area about 20m radius of mosquitos, moths, and other pests, to the extent that I can have the lights on at night in the bedroom with the windows open and get zero bugs inside. And that's living right next to a large block of native bush...

mdav056

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#1652369 17-Oct-2016 14:47

@neb -- I've got 2 of these at strategic locations, which run both morning and evening. Mine have not made any real dent in our mozzie population (though, I admit, I haven't turned them off to check...and not going to, scared).

gml

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neb

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#1652370 17-Oct-2016 14:49

Hmm, odd. I got one on a recommendation of a friend who lives on a farm with a pond close to the house, it's practically a mosquito ranch, and it makes it bearable to be outdoors there in the evening.

When do you run then, and how much? I only use them during the summer, and at night. You also need to clean them and exchange the UV emitters when they lose brightness.

mdav056

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#1652375 17-Oct-2016 15:10

@neb -- yes, nice new lamps, and I replace the attractant monthly. I only run them during summer (been going for 2-3 weeks now), and run 4 hours across dusk, and 4 hours as it gets light in the morning. They *do* collect bugs and mozzies, but not enough so we can eat on the deck without long sleeves and trousers. May be different variety -- these bastards are Mozzie Kohimaramae. Interesting, yes.

gml

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#1652383 17-Oct-2016 15:24

neb: Hmm, odd. I got one on a recommendation of a friend who lives on a farm with a pond close to the house, it's practically a mosquito ranch, and it makes it bearable to be outdoors there in the evening. When do you run then, and how much? I only use them during the summer, and at night. You also need to clean them and exchange the UV emitters when they lose brightness.

I've tried a UV device and while it got lots of moths there were very few mosquitos. Some sites report that of the mosquitos in such traps very few are female ie the biting ones. Mosquitos are attracted to CO2 breathed out by warm bodies not UV

neb

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#1652385 17-Oct-2016 15:36

Bung:
Mosquitos are attracted to CO2 breathed out by warm bodies not UV

That's what the Pestrol does, it produces both UV and CO2. You do need to maintain it to get consistent results, but it sounds like the OP is already doing that. I'm just glad we don't have his mozzies up our way...

SepticSceptic

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#1652408 17-Oct-2016 16:42

Being geeks, I'd have thought something like this was more appropriate:

Laser Bug Zapper

http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/military/laser-bug-zapper-inches-to-market-

I do recall an article in CC-Ink, or Nuts N Volts, or Elektor that detailed plans using servo-mounted IR Lasers, machine vision tracking, and was effective for around 5 or so meters.

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gbwelly

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#1652418 17-Oct-2016 17:16

mdav056:

I've read that a bandsaw is just the ticket, but I don't have one. While I like to use projects to justify buying useful tools, SO would likely think that such a purchase to make a free mozzie catcher was a little over-the-top. Shame.

A dodgy firebrand jigsaw from the warehouse devoured the enormous tractor tyre I was using it on.

I wasn't trying to catch these though:

I was removing the sidewall for a sandpit.