Can a computer be sprayed with ant killer?

Question

I have a computer thats infested with ants. It's a WINCOR Touchscreen computer and it is FULL of ants. Will I damage the computer by spraying the inside of it with ant killer? I have disassembled it and cleaned it as well as I could, but there are still ants coming out of all of the tight places I can't disassemble and get to.

I'm in Costa Rica. The machine has been sitting in my display area (we sell point of sale systems), but has not been powered up in a while. Our cleaning girl noticed the ants yesterday, and I initially thought it was just a few. Then I opened the machine. I wish now I would have taken pictures. I probably removed 1/4oz of ants and eggs from the machine. The machine was bought in the US, but everything we ship down is fumigated before it goes thru customs. Nothing has been spilled in the machine, guess "los ormegas" decided it was just a good home.

Answer 1

ANY type of liquid will cause electrical shorts etc., DONT spray it, LOL....dang, where you been storing this machine for it to get infested with ants?

Answer 2

As one person said, you don't know what is in the ant killer and if it is conductive, so it is better to find a safer method. One thing that comes to mind is temperature. PC's only operate in small temperature range, but the storage conditions (not powered on) for a PC are wider, like 0-130F. You could try freezing it (put it in a plastic bag first to prevent moisture absorption) or a preheated oven making sure you do not exceed about 130 degrees (monitor with a thermometer). I don't think the ants will survive this but the computer is designed to handle these types of temperatures (and typically does during shipping.) BTW, if you do this, wait a few hours for the pc to acclimate after it is removed from the freezer or oven before you power it on.

Answer 3

This has got to be the coolest question I have seen yet!

You need to be very carefull here.
I don't know what ant killer is made of, so you may be applying a thin coat of potentially conductive material across the motherboard. I wouldn't do it.

Here's what I would do:
I would buy a few of those ant motel things: put them in the machine and let them do their thing for a few days. That should solve the immediate problem, but what is more interesting is why they would want to be there in the first place.
You may have a soda spill in there, and if so, you may have a recurring issue.

Update:

Debuggin' Pfff! B-}

Answer 4

Ants are too sensible for sprays. you're able to kill each and each sight on because of the fact they have tens of millions of replacements waiting to bypass each and every time you kill some and that they're going to make paths around the spray. discover out the place the nest is and then get them. have faith me, my workplace has been coping with ants for years. in case you spray and a few die they're going to use the lifeless bodies of fallen companions to construct a bridge over the poison and proceed on their way. What you desire is to discover that queen ant and kill her. they're possibly in a wall.

Answer 5

the ants obviously have to come out looking for food!
Place in their path outside the computer some ant-rid and this they will take back to the nest and this will kill the nest.
Do not spray anything on the circuit boards.

Answer 6

Put your CPU in an airtight container...this may take a couple of days but they will die and you will have no outside forces having a chance to harm your computer. When they are dead use some compressed air in a can to blow out any bodies and away you go!

Answer 7

Hi. No. The ant killer has solvents in it that may corrode the circuit. I would place an ant cup near the spots where you see them and they will carry the laced food back and kill the other ants. Then you can blow it clean when they are gone. (This is called 'debugging'.)

Answer 8

thats what i would call a bug, there is a liq ant killer, you can place around it, should work.

Answer 9

are you joking?