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bed bugs infestations in vintage components

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Posted on March 8, 2015 at 04:48:43
raq
Audiophile

Posts: 371
Location: Chicago
Joined: May 2, 2006
 Hi all,

Long time since I've posted here... My only excuse is having increased my family by one in the meantime!

Anyway, here's my conundrum, and I hope brighter / better minds out there will have some good ideas on this one. I've recently had a close call on a vintage component, namely upon opening it up for some fixes and upgrades, I've discovered a few of these creatures of hell inside it. Apparently all dead, but even in that state they're way outside the margins of what I am willing to experience. And then the eggs?!?... They found shelter on this foam blocking light from seeping out in unwanted places. Not a Mac, but so many Macs have such foam to block light from seeping out around knobs and such. I'm told the infestation must have been of historic proportions to make them invade electronics.

So, the avid researcher for vintage opportunities is now terrified of even trying, and that's a paralyzing thought. I can't being to imagine not being able to do this anymore. So what do you guys do? How do you handle this kind of thing?

Thanks for all input.

 

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RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 8, 2015 at 06:15:39
JonM
Audiophile

Posts: 292
Joined: December 29, 2000
 Freezing the little buggers for a long time is known to kill them. Put the unit in a sealed plastic bag and put it in the deep freeze for a week or two. When you bring it back out, unwrap it and let it come up to room temperature gradually before you turn it on.

I am not sure what this will do to the electronics - car electronics endure these sorts of temperatures all the time, so very possibly they'll be fine.

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 8, 2015 at 06:58:47
raq
Audiophile

Posts: 371
Location: Chicago
Joined: May 2, 2006
 Hi John,
Yeah, the agreement seems to be that you can either fry them at above 113F for over 90 minutes or freeze them at under 0F for more than four days.

The concern being that you may also kill the component. What gives me some peace of mind is that these may also be common conditions for shipping (in trucks or airplanes), so maybe I worry too much...

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 8, 2015 at 09:05:39
Brian Levy
Audiophile

Posts: 2438
Location: Toronto
Joined: June 5, 2000
 Oh, h*ll, one more crappy thing to think about when selling. From now on I will require a certification of no infestation of any bugs.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 8, 2015 at 09:26:03
Bill Way
Audiophile

Posts: 1884
Location: Toms River NJ
Joined: May 28, 2012
Contributor
  Since: December 14, 2012
 First, are you sure it's bedbugs? Double-check. It's extremely rare, if not unknown, to find them in electronics.

Freezing works, as long as it's at 0-degrees F for at least 4-5 days. (I'd give it a week.)

There are bedbug sprays that are effective: Sterifab (for fabrics), Permacide P1, and Bedlam.

The best might be to have an exterminator freeze-spray the unit, if they would let you bag it up and bring it to them. If I was mucking around with the unit, I'd be spraying my bench with Bedlam and keeping the unit bagged up until I knew it was ok. Bedbug treatment can be extremely expensive and really disrupt your lives for several weeks, so don't take chances.

WW


"Put on your high heeled sneakers. Baby, we''re goin'' out tonight.

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 8, 2015 at 10:33:39
geoff
Audiophile

Posts: 3501
Joined: April 5, 2000
Contributor
  Since: September 10, 2003
 My wife had better never hear of this.

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 9, 2015 at 10:17:16
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 You probably won't find them in class A amps then.

Dave

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 9, 2015 at 13:51:52
eleiko2@verizon.net
Audiophile

Posts: 207
Joined: October 4, 2008
 Your problem brings back bad memories of my former apt. complex and its once terrible roach infestation.

I once found one of those critters in the window of my Yamaha T-1 tuner. I opened the unit up but couldn't see anything. Either he escaped or his mummified remains are still inside. That was about 37 years ago, and the tuner still works great.

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 11, 2015 at 15:28:41
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 Baking soda will get rid of roaches.

Dave

 

Insects of all types - Roaches, Carpenter Ants, Silverfish, Millipedes, posted on March 13, 2015 at 09:55:25
Mike Porper
Audiophile

Posts: 1414
Location: Chicago
Joined: December 28, 2009



All of the old stuff you guys covet, including vinyl record album covers, may serve as shelter for insects and a nursery for their eggs.

In particular, ants are well known to be extremely attracted to electrical fields.

For silverfish, paper album covers and sleeves are a meal and a home.

For all insects, any crevice serves as a nesting site. To insects, there's no such thing as an off-limits audio component. There's only opportunity. For a thrilling, though fictional, insight into the lives of insects, see any of the Alien movies.

Remember, insects are different from mammals. They've evolved differently, and they are completely different animals. As shocking as some may find it, there's no such thing as a "baby" insect. Instead, insects go through several bodily transformations [much as the Alien creature], before reaching their final, adult stage. That's why that Zenith TV/radio/diswasher console you're drooling over may serve as an ideal habitat for a colony of cockroaches, gnats, or centipedes.

Life stages of bugs:

egg
larva
pupa
adult

At any one of those stages, the insect form, depending on the species, may inflict considerable damage on it's host. The Emerald Ash Borer is a good example of that.

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 18, 2015 at 18:46:57
raq
Audiophile

Posts: 371
Location: Chicago
Joined: May 2, 2006
 Thanks all for your thoughts on this.

Seriously, I think we really have to come up with a plan. Bring our minds together kind of thing. We all know this (bed bugs) is an increasing problem... If I were to continue doing this - monitoring eBay and craigslist (and even Audiogon, 'cause why not?...) etc. for opportunities and bringing that stuff home - I'd better come up with a plan. For instance, bed bugs don't typically like much to be in metallic chassis', even less in plastic, especially cold, solid state, environments - but vintage wood enclosures? Perfect environment. So the danger is clear and present.

The closest I came with a plan is this - the first stop in my house for anything is inside a zappbug or thermalstrike type heater until the thing runs its cycle. They seem to be many and easy to find (not really cheap...), and can accommodate the typical size of a standard or almost standard component. Will it damage it? One way to find out... crank it up. Can I still leave eBay feedback for a thing that doesn't work after this? Probably not.

The only alternative is exclusively buying from known sources. But then, the bargain aspect is probably gone.

Further thoughts?...

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 18, 2015 at 20:31:00
mark.korda@myfairpoint.net
Audiophile

Posts: 1253
Location: Maine
Joined: August 16, 2011
 One way to get rid of them out of your vintage stuff is to play the Beatles. They get all euphoric over that music and easy to round up...Mark Korda

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 29, 2015 at 14:32:32
rockanroller
Audiophile

Posts: 84
Location: ohio
Joined: March 29, 2015
 Hello,.
I had some opportunities to deal with Bed bugs in one of the nursing homes I consult with, and they did a high heat treatment(180 degrees) for 8 hrs in the room, then heavy duty sanitation. I would suggest get rid of those pieces quick.Maybe burn them if you can.

 

RE: bed bugs infestations in vintage components, posted on March 29, 2015 at 15:50:00
raq
Audiophile

Posts: 371
Location: Chicago
Joined: May 2, 2006
 I did get rid of this one component with the issue. I'd like, though, to put together some sort of procedure I'd follow every time, or I will never be able to regain my peace of mind doing this.

 

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