Bug Invation Pt. 2

[martin1950]

Being a little anal and O.C.D., I just can't leave things disassembled in my shop. Mainly my PB 820. So on my quest to bug proof my smoker I bought a 1'x2' piece of 1/8" hardware cloth and cut 1 piece for the hoppers electronics and 1 for the smoke stack. Used PVC tape to hold it still while I punched the holes with a #2 phillips driver and screwed in place, leaving the tape. Rough cut round screen for the stack, added a fender washer to the bolt and loosely mount the cap so I could rotate the screen while I cut it flush with the stack. That took care of 2 out of 3 points of entry. As far as the grease drain I'll just stuff a rag in it for now, knees getting tired. There are a couple of small holes in the main body but a small glob of RTV-HyTemp sealed them. I think I'm ready for the lady and stink bugs.

 

[Bearcarver]

Pretty Cool !!
Nice Job!
All I needed for my MES is a Stainless Steel Sink Strainer upside down over my Top Vent.

Bear

 

[Fueling Around]

Didn't realize people have trouble with critters trying to winter in their outdoor appliances. Mine are outside year around and never a problem.
My worst around the house and garage are lady bugs (North American or Asian) and box elder beetles.
I limit them with a peripheral building spray of Bifenthrin in the fall.

I hope the mods work for you.

 

[Bearcarver]

Didn't realize people have trouble with critters trying to winter in their outdoor appliances. Mine are outside year around and never a problem.
My worst around the house and garage are lady bugs (North American or Asian) and box elder beetles.
I limit them with a peripheral building spray of Bifenthrin in the fall.

I hope the mods work for you.

It's not only "Wintering". We had a few years of Stinkbugs that were really bad.
They'd get into anything & everything, and I didn't want to spray anything in my Smoker. They aren't so bad the last couple years here. One of the problems living in the sticks. Now I gotta close up small holes to keep mice out.
None in my house but lots in the garage & on the front porch. Had to put steel wool in the bottom drain hole in my MES.

Bear

 

[Fueling Around]

Ahh
No invasion of the stink bugs to the house and garage here. They tend to stay in my garden in small numbers.
Check out spraying around the footings of your buildings with Bifenthrin. Talstar is a brand name, but I prefer the generic at half price.
Bifenthrin is a pyrethroid and has a long residual and very good on the building clinging pests as stink bugs, lady bugs, and box elder bugs. If you spray a little lower to the the 6" or so of concrete or turf around the buildings it works on crawling critters such as ants and crickets. I'm having a larger than normal fall invasion of crickets, so the spraying starts tomorrow.

 

[SouthernSmoked]

It's not only "Wintering". We had a few years of Stinkbugs that were really bad.
They'd get into anything & everything, and I didn't want to spray anything in my Smoker. They aren't so bad the last couple years here. One of the problems living in the sticks. Now I gotta close up small holes to keep mice out.
None in my house but lots in the garage & on the front porch. Had to put steel wool in the bottom drain hole in my MES.

I did the steel wool trick yrs ago. But it rusts away real quick, so I switched to
bronze or brass wool. I wore heavy gloves and cut a wad of it up, then rolled it into a ball. Rodents will only try once to paw at it or chew on it.
Don't see why this trick wouldn't work on all the smaller open areas on your rigs.
It's easy to remove too before you fire things up.

 

[martin1950]

Just a little follow-up. Now that the temps are down in the 40's and 50's the bugs are sleeping or dead. On the few times I've lifted the cover for a little cook I would shake out a couple of dozen of those stinkers. But not a single bug in the pit. Did find one or two in the rain cap though so I put a metal deflector between the vent and the pit during start up to avoid one from dropping in the pit while the hood was up. The screen on the bottom of the hopper does collect a lot of dust because of the hardware cloth so I make sure I vac. it when I do my normal service cleaning. The screen on the stack is going to need a little cleaning some day. And YES, I put the rain cap back on after the picture was taken.

Tried several time to screen the grease drain but couldn't make it work so I just rolled up an old (clean) sock and stuffed it in. Did a butt a while back and yes I forgot to remove it, wouldn't make that mistake again!! Since I do all my cooks in the garage during the winter I think I leave everything as it is just in case we get a little warm up.

 

[Bearcarver]

Below is an old Pic of my original MES 30.
I've always wondered what it is about the control box that the Stinkbugs liked so much.

 

[Fueling Around]

Food and light is normal attraction for beetles (bugs). Add heat in the cooler times when looking for a winter home.
edit Many bugs are attracted by pheromones. If you don't control them early and sanitize a collection point, they will "be back"
Back to my Bifenthrin spray.
Will have to spray again this weekend when temps get into the 60's. Haven't sprayed since the August cricket invasion. Temps will bring out the box elder beetle invasion

 

[Bearcarver]

Food and light is normal attraction for beetles (bugs). Add heat in the cooler times when looking for a winter home.
edit Many bugs are attracted by pheromones. If you don't control them early and sanitize a collection point, they will "be back"
Back to my Bifenthrin spray.
Will have to spray again this weekend when temps get into the 60's. Haven't sprayed since the August cricket invasion. Temps will bring out the box elder beetle invasion

We've also had a couple of Lady Bug invasions here. 3 times over the 17 years we live here, after a few cold Fall weeks, all of a sudden we got a couple of very warm "Indian summer" days. This brought the invasion of the "Lady Bugs" to the South side of my Log House, mostly on the SouthWest corner, on the outside log walls.
And I'm talking about "Hundreds of Thousands", maybe even "Millions". Those 2 walls were nearly covered solid with the little suckers. We only had about 20 make it into the inside of the house. However for months we would have the pleasure of seeing one or two walking around on the cathedral ceiling, driving "Smokey" our Cat Nuts!!!
It's been a few years without a big invasion, which makes me wonder if this year will be the year. If it is, this time I'm getting Pics!

Bear

 

[martin1950]

I knew it was bound to happen. Yesterday I had my pit disassembled for the install of my new Grilla Alpha Dual controller into my Pit Boss 820D. And of coarse I had to run it through it passes minus any food just incase. A lost traveler in the driveway distracted me from my garage. When I returned. O.M.G., the smell, and I knew right then what it was. Well it was too late to stop so I finished the test run. Today I stripped the grill for cleaning and sure enough there was just one dead stinker in the bottom. Guess I'll have to check the bottom of the heat deflector when I put it together.