Bedbugs In A Laptop, How High Temp ?

This is all I got, I cannot afford a new one. I can't work because of my ey esight but it isn't quite enough to give me disability, even though I would not be able to run a cash register now.

Anyway, we got hit with bedbugs. Two schools got closed over it. It was an epidemic or whatever.

Anyway, my laptop is infested. I have researched and found that when expose d to temperatures of 135 F for like 45 minutes it kills them and their eggs . The government and the companies who do this assure us that this is safe. It probably is if not running.

I just checked the oven, the lowest it will go is 170 F. Is that safe for a non, running (at the time) computer ? Could it damage the screen if by not hing else but expansion and contraction ?

We are about to bring in new matress and whatever, but anything happening t o this laptop IS NOT AN OPTION.

Reply to
jurb6006
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Adrian C
Reply to
Adrian Caspersz

Don't rely on oven gauges, I nearly came a cropper using what I thought was a low temp set oven. Place a thermometer on insulation at the bottom of the oven to check first. I had to leave the door open a crack to get low enough temp

Reply to
N_Cook

Consider Isopropanol, but check with the handbook first to make sure it will not damage any plastic components such as the screen. If there are parts of the laptop that might be harmed by liquid, leave the machine in a sealed plastic bag with the Isopropanol soaked into an absorbent pad underneath it and let the vapour saturate it for a day or two.

Be careful to make sure all the vapour has dispersed before switching the machine on again, Isopropanol is very flammable and the vapour could explode.

Usual disclaimer: at your own risk.

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Reply to
Adrian Tuddenham

Why can't you treat the laptop the same way you are treating the rest of the place?

I've never had them, thank God, but I have seen info about them and the temperature thing is supposed to be for real. It is a way to treat your entire apartment in fact as insecticides don't work very well. It seems to be hard to get the chemicals into the spaces where the bugs hide.

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman

Check how professionals use dry ice for bedbugs. Saw it on TV.

Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see: Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things)

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Reply to
Boris Mohar

The dry ice thing is interesting but, it seems to be a way to attract them. Yes, you can kill the ones you attract, but with a bed bug infestation it seems you need almost 100% kill otherwise they just breed and you are right back where you started. "An individual bed bug can lay 200 to 250 eggs in her lifetime. The eggs hatch in about 6 to 10 days and the newly emerged bed bug nymphs seek a blood meal." I also found 118* for 70 minutes or 122* for 20 minutes. I'd rig up something and do 118* for 2 hours. That seems much safer than 138*.

Mikek

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Reply to
amdx

I know bedbugs need to breathe. If you were to place your laptop in a plastic bag with a chuck of dry ice, let the dry ice sublimate and fill the bag with CO2, then seal it in for a week or so, maybe that would kill 'em. Eric

Reply to
etpm

I'd not use a standard oven. The cycling extremes will melt stuff. Start with an ACCURATE thermometer that you can read with the oven door closed. Preheat the oven to 150 F or so then turn it off. Let it stabilize and let it drift down to your target temperature. May have to do this more than once to get the heat evenly distributed. Stick a 100W incandescent light bulb in the oven and watch the temperature. If it rises, use a smaller bulb. If it drops, use a bigger bulb. Or maybe a big bulb on a light dimmer. You want the heat from the bulb to match the heat loss of the oven.

Now, you have a well-controlled temperature that doesn't have wide swings as it cycles. I'd still not leave it unattended. Watch the thermometer. Stuff happens.

I've done the same thing with a cardboard box, but the lack of insulation makes it less stable.

The weakest link in a laptop is the glue that holds the conductive strip to the display glass. You don't want that temperature to go any higher than absolutely necessary.

Reply to
mike

y eyesight but it isn't quite enough to give me disability, even though I w ould not be able to run a cash register now.

an epidemic or whatever.

posed to temperatures of 135 F for like 45 minutes it kills them and their eggs. The government and the companies who do this assure us that this is s afe. It probably is if not running.

or a non, running (at the time) computer ? Could it damage the screen if by nothing else but expansion and contraction ?

ng to this laptop IS NOT AN OPTION.

^^^ Best answer^^^

A large cardboard box with an incandescent clamp light will make a nice ove n (or preheater for warming up multilayer boards for tough desoldering). A djustment of the flaps or poking holes will get you where you need to be te mp-wise without destroying the computer.

Reply to
ohger1s

Have you ever left that laptop in a car on a hot day? Did it survive? If so, then it probably experienced temperatures well over 120 F. I don't know about the 135 F, though, that is getting pretty hot. I've heard rumors that a car can get to 160 - 170 F in summer sun. I have doubts a laptop would survive that.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

We use a commercial food dehydrator at work to bake old magnetic tapes that get sticky from moisture absorption. I've used it to dry out electronics t

How hot does it get in your car on a sunny day? Leave it in there along wit h a thermometer to monitor the temp.

Reply to
stratus46

The battery won't like being hot.

Reply to
Chris Jones

at get sticky from moisture absorption. I've used it to dry out electronics

ith a thermometer to monitor the temp.

Extreme dryness might be another option. Seal it in a bag with a bowl of sa lt. That kills many bugs, not all, you'd need to check for bedbugs.

The laptop could be its own heater I expect, but I'd be nervous about getti ng it that hot. I wouldn't do it.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

I had a squirrel living in a corner of my garage some years ago, and it brought bed bugs that crawled up the pipe into a bedroom. They're miserable, but we had no problems getting rid of them using Permethrin spray in some quantity plus diatomaceous earth swept into the cracks in the wood floor and under the moulding.

Since you can't afford to risk the computer, I'd probably just put it on a Permethrin-treated tray and use it like that for a few months. A bit of permethrin on the keyboard would probably also be a win. It's pretty safe stuff, especially when it's had a chance to dry, and it lasts a long time.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

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Reply to
Phil Hobbs

It's safe for humans but far from for animals.

If you're looking for a cheap option, vapona type flykiller sticks containing dichlorvos wipe out insect life pretty well, while windows are closed. 2 of those can wipe a house clean. It is an organophosphate and banned in some places.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

Depends on the animal. IIRC dogs are OK but not cats. And even a cat would have to lick the tray pretty hard to get any exposure from dried permethrin.

Yeah, the old No-Pest Strip gizmos.

Doesn't get into the crevices that well though, I don't think.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

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Reply to
Phil Hobbs

I hear that spice extracts drive them away (peppermint oil, spearmint oil, cinnamon oil, vanilla oil, etc..)

Reply to
bruce2bowser

Oil of Pennyroyal. Gets rid of anything. DOES NOT KILL - drives stuff away, from fleas to spiders.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Reply to
pfjw

Battery could exlode. Why not just open it and find them. THey aren't THAT small. Brush or blower. Fumigation of some sort. (THat's why smoking used to be considered HEALTHY.) Bedbugs (often confused with micrscopic dust mites) have a nasty feature that they can live for months on one (blood suck) feeding, so they stay put in some hiding place.

Are you sure it is bedbugs and that they are in your laptop? Much talk about bedbugs often is hysteria. Unlike mosquitoes or rodents, bedbugs don't spread disease. I never stop being amazed how some folks freak out about supposed bedbugs on the subway at the same time as rats (yes, I've seen them) ride the subway. My dad's shop steward died of West Nile five years ago a block from me yet my neighbors freak out about insect spraying, and they freak out about draining the swamp (former amusement park and airport) where they (and Sullenberger's geese) breed.

DUst mites are microscopic insects that feed on dander (skin flakes). THeir crap is skin bits with enzyme used to digest the skin. THat enzyme can cause nasty itches and asma if gets into lungs. It's not the insects that directly cause problems, but the enzymes in their crap.

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vjp2.at

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