Juiced-up ants

Can anyone explain to me why electrical devices have such an appeal to ants?

Wife woke me up this morning howling that we didn't have any water. I went out to the well halfway expecting what I'd find, and sure enough, the pump switch was covered with fire ants. I sprayed the ants, sanded the points and then smeared axle grease on the pipes and wires going into the switch. That'll keep 'em off for a while, but they'll be back. Why?

Here is an article I found on this subject:

There is general consensus that when fire ants and other ant species get shocked, they release pheromones that attract other worker ants to the site. Those workers also get shocked, release pheromones, and attract still more ants to the site.

As a result, switching mechanisms can get stuck "open" due to an accumulation of dead ant bodies, which allows the current to flow. How and why worker ants are initially attracted to electrical switches and similar situations where they get shocked is poorly understood. Their presence in these areas could be due to random foraging, or there may be something about electrical fields that attracts them.

Dr. Brad Vinson, Professor of Entomology at Texas A&M University, was involved with earlier lab studies that seemed to indicate that the ants have "an affinity" for electrical fields that makes them rest in those areas, thus making it more likely that they get shocked.

To keep fire ants out of electrical equipment, seal all sensitive electrical components, especially those that are not insulated. Examples are plastic housings containing contact points of switches, relays, and circuit breakers. Apply long-residual contact insecticides around housing, making sure to avoid the electrical circuitry or components. Treat the inside of equipment housings with products labeled for this use. Barrier-like pesticide strips are also available as a preventive measure. Proper placement of these strips is essential for adequate protection.

Regular inspections and treatment of nearby mounds, either individually or with broadcast bait applications over a surrounding area, will prevent fire ants from moving into the equipment boxes.
Gary

dont know but i have the same problem.maybe the smell of the points arcing slightly?thats all i can think of since they just seem to be attracted to the switch on mine.

That"s fire ants for you. Nasty little rascals. Always inflicting misery one way or another. They"ll wreak havoc on electrical connections - water pumps, A/C units, anything they can get into.

For prevention - sprinkle insecticide granules around the unit and treat any nearby nests. You can also use diatomaceous earth. All insects dislike it. Do not get the stuff for swimming pools.

Good luck and kill as many of them as you can.

I believe you need to get another electrician.

It appears to me that if #1 the wires were properly secured in the pressure switch with clamps, for water tight boxes #2 you properly install the plastic cover and possibly seal it with some silicon, you wouldn't have the problem.
If they can't get in, no problem. What do you expect with a mess like that?

At least the grounds are landed, that is if they are connected to a real ground somewhere.

Jerry, I have to replace a switch about once a year either here or my parents place. Its amazing how they can get in there. I think that they come to the heat cause its is usually cold when they get mine

I have the same problem here in Florida. Put some moth balls in the pressure switch cover. That will keep them out for for a few months till the humidity dissolves them, then just replace.

Best luck.

I still have a pint of Chlordane.

Gene

I was thinking along those lines and then I thought maybe he came home and the wife was irritated because there wasn't any water all day so no bath and no dishes or laundry done and you go out there and you jerry rig the thing just to make the world go round merrily again. Then tomorrow there's work and chores to do, and the brakes on the pickup are pulling to the right. Of course the day after that the kids have soft ball and maybe grandma calls and talks for an hour and somehow it just kind of slips past you till you come one day and the wife hasn't had a bath again and round and round it goes.
His wiring is a mess I agree. But I have things on my own house and tractor and pickup that ought to get done. And they will get done but maybe when it cools down a little and there aint something else going on that needs done first...

OK, so the wiring isn't hermetically sealed and pretty but that doesn't answer the man's question. Personally the pressure switch on my well has all of the wires properly pulled into it and secured with clamps, and it's sitting under a fully enclosed structure. Even so it has been over run with ants twice in the past two years. Both times my wife told me we had no water pressure is the only way I knew something was wrong. The first time I wrote it off as a fluke of nature, the second I sprayed the area inside, and around the well house liberally with insect spray that had a 'unhealthy' dose of permetherin in it. So far I've had no more problems with the ants.

On two other occasions ants got into the contacts on the HVAC system at our rental house. First time I didn't have poision with me and the second time, two weeks later, happened before I had time to get the area sprayed. Once sprayed with the same mix I used at the well house, and sprinkled with slow release granuals, there have been no more problems. I talked to a HVAC guy about the probem and he said he had changed out nearly a dozen set of contacts in a two month time period due to the same problem. With the contacts on those units in a housing that can't be 'hermetically sealed' he said what his company does is put a fly strip inside the electrical enclosure and that usually handles the problem for at least one season.

Beyond that I've always heard the same things another post stated about the ants being attracted to the electrical fields given off by the contactors. Too, once one ant dies it gives off pheremones that call in other ants and the cycle keeps repeating until there is a problem like both you, me, and thousands of others have experienced with no water pressure or A/C.

Come on, you know better. Its smoking hot out and they're trying to cool things down.

I recognize that pressure switch. Wired one just like it yesterday for naught. Drove a new 25' shallow well in a barn Saturday evening and yesterday morning just for watering the yard. No more, no less. But haven't gotten to turn it up yet and had to leave town for two weeks. Problem ran into as I had to head out, dirt hasn't sealed around the 2" pipe or much larger well point, so, not much suction, couldn't prime it. Will have to wait until I get home in two weeks, so had better rain a little. Nice thing about driving this well over other shallows in the past, this time rented a neumatic driver. Much easier than lifting and dropping a 100 lb weight like have done in the past. Problem with a neumatic driver though, weighs more than me, but nothing that a Deere with a loader can't lift and set down 8' up. Anyway, well is in, will seal and prime if isn't sealed by the time I get back. Hope have some grass and bushes left around the house.

Good luck.

Mark

If you figure it out and how to PREVENT it let us all know!!!

Well pressure switches, AC unit switches, gate controller switches are the ones I've replaced several times over the years. I siliconed everything up and am very diligent about keeping the poison out. Other than the PIA factor, it's probably cheaper just to replace a switch occasionally.

I buy a 50lb bag of bait from the local ag chemical co. It works great but it's $180. Looks like the same stuff as amdro.

Fire ants haven't made it to the Adirondacks yet, have they, CG? When they do, they might show you what you can do with your tidy clamps, water tight boxes and silicone.

I am certainly no electrician so I am a bit perplexed at why some of you have your knickers in a bunch at my "mess" wiring. This is the way my well guy wired it when he drilled the well 20 years ago. Other than the occasional fire ant invasion and having to replace the pump a few years ago, it has worked fine.

This well sits 50 feet from my house in an open grassy area. Even if it began to arc like a roman candle, it's not going to burn up anything but the wire. As for it posing a threat of electrocution, the whole well is covered year-round. Plus, if I need to do anything at the switch, I flip the circuit breakers. So someone would have to explain to me why I should hire a pricy electrician to come out and make it look pretty. Frankly, in my view, no harm no foul. And I've never been wrong before.

Ants are attracted to a magnetic, which they can
sense, like from a coil, such as on a relay.