FOUND A BETTER WAY TO DISASSEMBLE THIS UNIT! Attaching the top to the unit are Phillip screws barely visible when turning the unit upside down and looking along the cage to the top. These screws secure AND lock the top to the cage when the unit is initially assembled. Could not get to the screws with a screw driver along the side (must be a design to keep people from fixing these). Soooo I pulled out my soldering iron and used it to melt a column in the plastic cage to allow my screw driver access to the screws while making the column big enough to retrieve the screw when it came out as well as to put the unit back together! Worked like a charm. My unit was not charging the cages due to the wire connections being just clamped onto the cages and mine were loose. Understand from other videos newer units have the connections welded to the cages. Soooo I cleaned up my soldering iron, fluxed up the connections and soldered the connectors to the cages. Result has been a charged cage ready to zap. To test use a multi volt meter set at AC for your highest reading. With the unit on and bulb lite up, my meter showed 300 Volts with one probe on the outer cage and one on the inner. Had done this test before soldering the connections and found the connection(s) was intermittent. Steady voltage after i soldered the connections to the cages. BTW.. I did not find any fuse which some sites said i "might" find . Good luck all!
Thanks for the video. I was considering attempting to repair mine which was 4 years old but it also had a loose metal screen inside. They must just rust out. So I removed the bulb and threw the zapper out. I guess I should only expect about 4 years out of one if it's outside all the time. Not bad for the amount of bugs it kills every night. I blow the dead bugs out with a leaf blower.
I almost bought this exact item recently. Until I noticed how cheap it was made! I went with the black and decker that's the same size and has a 100% better quality!
Thank you for sharing. If it lasted 2 years till it got to this point, I might take a chance with it. With all the mosquitos, this was the only one I could find in my area and I would take a chance. Your dismantle shows that it might come loose if windy or drop so I will take precautions.
Now THAT'S what I was looking for, to see the spacing between electrodes. That looks easy enough to mod by reducing the diameter of the outside grid (cutting out a section), so that smaller bugs get zapped. Will probably need spacers to prevent short circuits.
Reminds me of my neighbor that tried working on his 2017 jeep Rubicon and couldn't put it back together after months of sitting I had to go over and slide a coolant line on in 20 seconds that he just couldn't comprehend how to attach lmao. I'd slap your hand like a little kid reaching for the cookie jar. No no no. So alone with the 2 you removed there are 8 yes 8 more to remove that are up and down the plastic cage heman
There's no gas or smoke other than burning insects. Just remember, insects will be attracted to the light, so having it indoors might cause them to try to get inside the house if it can be seen through a window.
Piece of junk zapper get a flowtron. I've had one for 35 years and it died a year ago. Curious if I could buy one of these for the high voltage parts. I have the as seen on TV monster zapper that lights but doesn't zap good like my flowtron. I could take the high voltage generator out of the black flag zapper and put it into my monster zapper. Otherwise it's just a plug in fluorescent light that's shaped like a bug zapper.
I'm sure there are better types and models. This one worked great for a long time and killed probably thousands of bugs. In fact, now that I think about it, I feel sad for the thousands of bug orphans created by this mass bug-murder device.
black flags bug zappers are HORRIBLE!! Seeing you tear this thing down felt so great! You know it's bad, when it's so quiet you won't be able to hear it unless you're standing right under it! PLEASE stay away from black flags! If it's black flags, then RUN, don't walk! RUN AWAY! Get stinger, or Flowtron! I prefer the Stinger BK510!
FOUND A BETTER WAY TO DISASSEMBLE THIS UNIT! Attaching the top to the unit are Phillip screws barely visible when turning the unit upside down and looking along the cage to the top. These screws secure AND lock the top to the cage when the unit is initially assembled. Could not get to the screws with a screw driver along the side (must be a design to keep people from fixing these).
Soooo I pulled out my soldering iron and used it to melt a column in the plastic cage to allow my screw driver access to the screws while making the column big enough to retrieve the screw when it came out as well as to put the unit back together! Worked like a charm.
My unit was not charging the cages due to the wire connections being just clamped onto the cages and mine were loose. Understand from other videos newer units have the connections welded to the cages. Soooo I cleaned up my soldering iron, fluxed up the connections and soldered the connectors to the cages. Result has been a charged cage ready to zap. To test use a multi volt meter set at AC for your highest reading. With the unit on and bulb lite up, my meter showed 300 Volts with one probe on the outer cage and one on the inner.
Had done this test before soldering the connections and found the connection(s) was intermittent. Steady voltage after i soldered the connections to the cages. BTW.. I did not find any fuse which some sites said i "might" find .
Good luck all!
Thanks for the video. I was considering attempting to repair mine which was 4 years old but it also had a loose metal screen inside. They must just rust out. So I removed the bulb and threw the zapper out. I guess I should only expect about 4 years out of one if it's outside all the time. Not bad for the amount of bugs it kills every night. I blow the dead bugs out with a leaf blower.
I’m so happy to see a guy who knows stuff have to fight a little to tear something open. :) Gives me hope. thanks for the helpful video.
Thanks, but I should really take a hammer to things sooner.
Fix until broken, perfect name
I almost bought this exact item recently. Until I noticed how cheap it was made! I went with the black and decker that's the same size and has a 100% better quality!
Thank you for the video. I actually ended up using a can of compressed air it worked really good. But I only had mosquitoes no mouths no flies.
Thanks for the comment!
Thanks to this video I was able to disassemble it without a sledge hammer so I could replace the power cord.
Good job! Sledge hammer will be there when you need it though
I'm not going to hire you you work on mine. :)
It was smart to include the detail of the peg to enable the circuit. An easy step to forget!
Thank you for sharing. If it lasted 2 years till it got to this point, I might take a chance with it. With all the mosquitos, this was the only one I could find in my area and I would take a chance. Your dismantle shows that it might come loose if windy or drop so I will take precautions.
Now THAT'S what I was looking for, to see the spacing between electrodes. That looks easy enough to mod by reducing the diameter of the outside grid (cutting out a section), so that smaller bugs get zapped. Will probably need spacers to prevent short circuits.
I think if you would have just installed some insulated spacers between the grids, you might have been back in business.
That thing saw a bad season of mosquito which over loaded the zapper
Reminds me of my neighbor that tried working on his 2017 jeep Rubicon and couldn't put it back together after months of sitting I had to go over and slide a coolant line on in 20 seconds that he just couldn't comprehend how to attach lmao. I'd slap your hand like a little kid reaching for the cookie jar. No no no. So alone with the 2 you removed there are 8 yes 8 more to remove that are up and down the plastic cage heman
So any idea how to fix it? My bulb won't light. This zapper does not have a "starter" for the bulb like other models do.
+Walter Larson the bulb might have expired. They are replaceable in most cases though with replacement parts available anywhere they sell the zappers.
You could have put some hot melt glue to hold the grids down....
Had mine on for about 30 mins.It was killing the bugs and then cut off and won’t come back on smh
Had mind 2 days nothing very displeased
@@sandramendez3356 had to go get another one.Home depot replaced it.It works like a charm.
What a waste of time. Clearly put forth little effort to dismantle it, probably destroyed the plastic housing along the way.
Is it safe to use in the house? There’s no gas or poisonous smoke or anything!? What do you guys think.
There's no gas or smoke other than burning insects. Just remember, insects will be attracted to the light, so having it indoors might cause them to try to get inside the house if it can be seen through a window.
mine came with broken lightbulb
Very very sad. So tragic that this one saw its death!!
But ...what about YOU FIXING IT ?? DIDNT DO ANYTHING BUT MAKE PROBLEMS WORSE!!!
Easier to just buy a new one! Damn sure not worth the aggravation trying to fix one!
Thanks. You saved me wasting time.
Do you have to use the poison strip to attract the bugs
nope. The light attracts the bugs. The poison strip attracts mosquitoes.
toying with idea, to make my own jumbo one🤔😏
untill i do, i won't say what it'll be from
Piece of junk zapper get a flowtron. I've had one for 35 years and it died a year ago. Curious if I could buy one of these for the high voltage parts. I have the as seen on TV monster zapper that lights but doesn't zap good like my flowtron. I could take the high voltage generator out of the black flag zapper and put it into my monster zapper. Otherwise it's just a plug in fluorescent light that's shaped like a bug zapper.
I'm sure there are better types and models. This one worked great for a long time and killed probably thousands of bugs. In fact, now that I think about it, I feel sad for the thousands of bug orphans created by this mass bug-murder device.
I have a Sears Craftsman (Flowtron type) that is still going strong after 35+ years.
Well mine is a goner as well 😂
Break until it’s broken.
If it's not broken, hit it harder
black flags bug zappers are HORRIBLE!! Seeing you tear this thing down felt so great! You know it's bad, when it's so quiet you won't be able to hear it unless you're standing right under it! PLEASE stay away from black flags! If it's black flags, then RUN, don't walk! RUN AWAY! Get stinger, or Flowtron! I prefer the Stinger BK510!
Thx for showing us the wrong way to disassemble this.🤦🏻♂️
Anytime. It's called a teardown for a reason.
These bug zappers are junk. Come on, a plastic transformer? You can't replace the starter. Just disposable garbage.
You're suppose to clean it so this won't happen
What's the easiest way to clean it?
There's more screws or the outside genius
Great!
well ray we know your not worried about the covid
wat? ;)