SkeeterVac SV3100 Mosquito Killer, Attractant, Lure, and Eliminator for Backy...

Holy cow, it really works. I live in Central Texas, where we have the 'old' kind of mosquito and the 'new', the Asian Tiger. My home is within a half-mile of a large creek, and we get the bloodsuckers PRETTY THICK for being in a city. Ugh. I lurked on the review boards for at least a YEAR before biting the bullet because these things are too expensive to not work. I eventually decided on the SkeeterVac over the Mosquito Magnet sadly, because the MM is made in America and I like buying American. The overwhelming consensus seemed to be that they are unreliable and short-lived, though. I just have no handy/putter gene, and fixing/jerry-rigging a propane appliance every few weeks just wasn't appealing. So the SkeeterVac went into the cart. It ships in its own package, so if you live in a sketchy part of town, you might want to be home the day it arrives since anyone passing by will be able to view the sweet new item you ordered. I went down to Wally World for my propane, as it was reasonably priced and of the Blue Rhino brand (maker of the Vac) and I wasn't 100% sure you could use any brand (I told you I'm not handy or outdoorsy). Setup was easy even for a newb like me, and I didn't have any of the issues listed by other reviewers (I listened and listened for the 'popping sound' without which catastrophe was implied, but never heard it and it seems just fine). And best of all IT CATCHES MOSQUITOES. I suspect then that some of the disappointed folks didn't experiment with placement ( the other reason I went with this brand is that you need no electrical outlet, which is big at my house because there's only one outlet and its smack at the back door...not where I want to park my mosquito-attracting item). I put it in the corner of the yard under a tree and next to a bush...mosquitoes congregate in cool shady areas with not a lot of wind/draft. I haven't even moved it to see if anywhere else is better because it works well right there. Every time I go to check the catch cup there's thirty to a hundred vampires in there. It does NOT catch the Asian Tigers because they are not sensitive to the lure that SkeeterVac sells. I have purchased MM's Lurex-3 bait for the Tigers and now I just need to figure out where it goes (they are different sizes but so many reviewers said they will fit...kindly let me know if you know where to install them!!!) Also, the Tac-Trap went straight into the trash. I have no desire to catch lizards/birds/bats/dog faces. Don't want kill anything but bugs, thanks, and so many people mentioned finding out the hard way that small animals are attracted to the delicious bugs stuck to the glue...only to be caught in their turn. Man, that's got to be bad karma. SkeeterVac peeps, can't you sell some kind of wire cage for the Tac-Trap that tiny mosquitoes can infiltrate but insect-eating animals cannot? If your sales of traps are lower than you expect, maybe that's why...I'd buy if there were such a device. But it turns out I don't need the Tac-Trap. I can now sit on my deck. My dogs can sit on the deck without serving as blood bags. Before I couldn't even walk out to turn the sprinkler on without coming back with 3-7 bites. Sitting outside to read a book/have a drink/play with the dogs??? Unthinkable. For masochists only. Now I know when I've run the propane tank down 'cause I start getting bitten again. I might get five bites in a week now, and they are ALWAYS the Asian Tigers, which this product does not target anyway but which I'm working on addressing as mentioned earlier! I'm doing my neighbors a solid favor. The leeches should be chipping in for propane, because it DOES chew through a tank quickly if you run it continuously like you're 'supposed' to. But I mean, what is it worth to you to be able to go outside not suited for battle and slathered in chemicals? Its amazing. I'd forgotten the feel of the sun on my face. I'd buy it again...wish I'd bought the bigger one. Trust me, I WILL update if it only lasts a year, because a perishable good should not cost three to five hundred dollars. But for now add me to the wagonload of folks ready to testify that if placed properly, it does catch its target and results are significant.

First off, conceptually, this product is a good idea. When it works, it really cuts down on the mosquito population. However, it's finnicky and fragile. I had a lot of trouble every time I started it, and had to hold the control valve button for about three minutes to get it to run, even though the instructions said it should only take 30 seconds. After about three months of use, the Skeetervac stopped running entirely. I could still get it to start, but it would turn off after a couple of minutes. Customer service was completely unhelpful. Their troubleshooting process was arduous and pointless (imagine dealing with a PC repair company, but they spend 30 minutes making you turn the computer on and off even though you know that isn't the issue). They misdiagnosed the problem because their troubleshooting process is terrible, could not send me a replacement part in a timely manner because it was backordered, and when I finally replaced the part, it did nothing to help the problem. Now I can't even get ahold of them, because their phone menu hangs up on you after a few minutes of being on hold, with the message "try again later". Basically, when you buy this product, you're rolling the dice on whether or not it works, and at this price I'd rather have not done that. Avoid this product, and probably avoid anything else Blue Rhino.

After a lot of research, reading reviews on Amazon and other places, and trying a number of other options that didn't work, we decided to give this product a try. I am so glad we did. This product works much better than I expected. We have an acre yard in central NY bordering swampy farmland. Prior to setting the SkeeterVac up, we were unable to enjoy our back yard anytime after 5:30 PM from April through October without spraying half a can of bug spray. Even with bug spray, we'd be swarmed by blood suckers as soon as we walked out the door. The pool required daily skimming to remove dozens - sometimes hundreds - of dead bugs. Within two days of setting the SkeeterVac up, we noticed a vast improvement. Now, after about a month, we have no need to use bug spray at all when venturing outside, even well after dark. The pool is down to a few beetles floating weekly. I've replaced the tac trap once and replaced the propane tank after 17 days with about an 1/8 of a tank remaining. Since I had trouble finding any details on propane usage - here's ours so far - 7/8 of a 20 lb tank (18 lbs safe fill) in 17 days. A little less than 1 lb per day. With all of the other things we've tried, $1 a day for ongoing freedom from bugs is well worth it to us. It doesn't work on everything, and you have to find the right lure - Octenal works for our mosquitoes, and the dead mosquitoes attract plenty of biting flies to the tac trap. We've been asked for details on how to buy the SkeeterVac by friends and relatives that have visited our house since we set it up, everyone has noticed the huge difference between before and after. It is now a pleasure to walk back to the detached garage in the backyard after work, instead of the swotting running gauntlet it used to be. Make sure you read the directions about placement, it is definitely line of sight - our front yard - blocked by the house - is just as bad as it ever was. Also - it does put on a bit of a light show after dark - one of our neighbors thought we had a prowler using a blue light and almost called the police. The basket does need to be emptied every so often, though the first time it fills faster as you have more bugs in the area, as it works, the bug population drops, so there are fewer bugs to be caught over time. Something I've noticed that I didn't see in any of the reviews I've read, when you initially start it up, or after switching tanks, the directions mention a pop that you need to listen for. After the pop, it sometimes seems like it has stopped running, but give it a few minutes, walk away and come back, it will make more noise a couple of minutes after starting. The first time I started it up I thought it hadn't started, went back out to try again, and found that it had started, it just stopped making much noise for a few minutes.

(edit, second review) Changed rating to 4 stars. OK. I got the new model and got it working. It has been running for over a week now and I'm really happy. The tray has gotten full of various stuff (including moths) which is weird. I will need to find out which moths they are because I have a tomato garden and moths are a problem. In one week we have noticed a dramatic drop in bug bites. It is interesting, but the sand fleas seem to be diminished. I'm not sure what has made the difference but I think it might be the black and white sticky paper on the outside of the trap. One extra (see below for more info) negative thing I found was the tray does not allow for quick examination. It is "see through" but visibility is limited. The "Mosquito Magnet" has a flip top which closes when you open the catch tray and prevents the bugs from escaping. This tray, if you pull it open, will allow live bugs to escape. I'm guessing that you need to let it sit for a while in the sun after the propane has run out or you shut it off in order to dry out all the bugs. My previous observations still stand, ignition can be a problem, but if you pull out the tray and watch the fan spin instead of trying to listen for a "POP" you will be better off. My last observation is that while you can use half filled tanks of propane, I recommend using full tanks. ___ (first review) Setup was a piece of cake, but getting it to work is a chore. I put in a new AA battery, new tank of gas, cleared the line, blah blah blah blah. Still doesn't work. I got it to work once and left thinking it was working, but when I got up the next morning it wasn't working again. Tried and tried and tried to restart it but it will not work again. Didn't catch any thing but one gnat and one spider on the sticky paper. Nothing in the netting. I'm going to return it. (edit) I found out several things about this device which they don't speak about in the documentation. One is that the unit appears to get the electricity to run the fan and the LEDs by burning the propane. This is an improvement over my first mosquito magnet (different product) which had to be plugged in to the wall to get the fan to work; their other model required a motorcycle battery to make it portable. The other thing I realized is that the documentation tells you to listen to a "loud pop" to know that the device has started but this is a bogus claim. This loud pop never happened, ever. I was really afraid I was going to blow myself up. Plus I drained three AA batteries trying to get the damn thing started, waiting for a loud pop. The thing to do is 'pull out the catching tray' and then proceed with the steps to start the unit. If the unit starts you will see the fan start to run. Release the ignition switch and hold the regulating button until the LEDs start to flash. The fan should continue running after you release the regulating button. Another thing which they failed to mention in the documentation is that this device will light up during the evening and flash like a tiny disco. I saw this happen when I first started it, but then it stopped. When I got up early one morning I found it was doing it again. The documentation fails to tell the user that this is normal or abnormal. I got it running now, but I'm still going to return it because I think it is a defective model. It doesn't seem to want to ignite and I wonder if my ignition (sparking device) is the problem. I will give it another chance and if the second one works I'll come back and change my rating.

It worked OK for one season. Reduced number of mosquitoes by about half. Second season, harder to light, but worked about the same. Then six weeks in, it would light but not stay lit. Customer Service advised me to unscrew the gas line, remove the filter and try to light. It lit more quickly, being unblocked, but wouldn't stay lit. I called back and they offered to replace the machine for free if it was less than a year old. Obviously, they have this problem a lot. I told them it was a year and six weeks old. They told me I had to pay $200 for a new machine. I decided it was too much money to replace a machine that should work for a at least three years, and is expensive to operate and only works so-so.

I see other reviewers have the opposite experience that we had. I don't know what to make of it unless it's the varieties of mosquitos in our area - W. Alaska. Years ago we had a Mosquito Magnet. It was great. Every few days the net would be stuffed full and we'd have to empty it. Later as the population went down we'd catch less and less and you could tell how much fewer mosquitos there were as compared to neighboring areas. That unit died after several years. A few years ago we decided we wanted to get another device. The Mosquito Magnet we needed (self contained - no plug-in) was very expensive @$800 so we decided to get the Blue Rhino Mosquito Vac. It was considerably cheaper - though not cheap - and appeared to work on the same principle: burn propane to generate warmth, moisture and CO2, run a fan to suck in and dehydrate mosquitos and Octenol to help attract them. The only differences are the tacky paper on the outside and some blinking lights that supposedly attract insects. This is our 2nd summer with it and we're pretty disappointed. It catches some mosquitos but not very many. After two weeks the net isn't even 1/4 full. The tacky adhesive paper attached to it seems to almost get as many mosquitos as the net. It's really not worth the expensive propane we're consuming and emissions we're putting out. This summer we gritted our teeth and decided to spring for the $800 Executive Mosquito Magnet. What a difference. In less than24 hours the container is over half full of mosquitos - hundreds and hundreds if not thousands. Again.. I don't get it. The two devices are working properly and use the same principles but our results are DRASTICALLY different. Based on our experience I cannot recommend the Skeeter Vac - at least for our area (again I note others in other areas have had a different experience. We had even tried an even cheaper unit that claimed it didn't need propane and it was even worse. The lesson for us was that we have to spring for the expensive Mosquito Magnet to do what we need to do.

The Skeeter Vac works very well and exceptionally well when the (fine tune insect lure/attractant BAIT) is freshest. If you don't have a mosquito problem during the day, you may want to remove the BAIT and store it in a sealed baggie until nightfall when the biters are more active. Having the bait sit in the machine and drying out when mosquitos are not present is a waste of the product and at 15 dollars each you can see how it would soon add up. If you simply leave the bait in the machine, the effectiveness soon fades and you would need 2-3 baits per each tank change for optimal effectiveness. I guess you could in fact simply shut the unit down completely during times when there are no mosquitos present and save yourself 1/2 in propane and bait replacement costs. In addition the sticky trap supplied with the unit appears somewhat unnecessary as all it traps is flies, other random "Beneficial" bugs and an occasional Bird looking for an easy snack. The propane tank works best when fully pressurized and (appears) to lose its effectiveness altogether when less than 1/4 full. Moving the device around to different locations where mosquitos harbor is a necessity as they cannot be attracted to what they cannot detect. If you live in a tent in the middle of a field you'll be all set, but if you own a home then you should be prepared to move the device around your property from time to time so any mosquitos present can detect the exhaust. Mosquitos on one side of a house or large (fence) structure cannot detect the device through those obstacles so move it around. I definitely have less mosquitos than I have had in the past and highly recommend the product to anyone.

I got three years use out of it before it died. What finally did it in is it ran out of fuel, and I was unable to change the tank for about two weeks. When I did change the tank I just could not get it to light again. Propane tends to attract spiders, and I figured there were webs blocking the gas jets. I decided to open it up and see if I could get to the jets to clean them out. I am used to disassembling and working on machinery, including gas systems, so that didn't seem like it would be much of a problem for me. Let me say that this unit should never be disassembled by a consumer. There are paper gaskets that are sealed to the housing that, if removed, will shred apart and you cannot reassemble the unit once this happens. What I did find is that inside one of the exhaust ports something had made some kind of honeycomb nest. I'm assuming it was some kind of paper wasp, but it was charred beyond recognition as the nest had caught fire at some point and clogged the port. This was no small nest, it was about 2" long and filled the entire width of the exhaust tube. There's a safety thermocouple in the unit like you'd see in any gas appliance, like a hot water heater, that shuts the gas flow off in case of fire. From the looks of it that's what went when the critter nest burned up, so the clogged tube and failed thermocouple is why it would not start. I probably should have just sent it in to be serviced instead of ruining it completely myself, but I was trying to save money on a repair. Live and learn. As for how it ran, when it was working, it did catch mosquitoes, but the third year it seemed to attract them more to the general vicinity than it did actually catch them. It was a lot more effective than electric bug zappers that tend to attract everything except mosquitoes, and a lot safer as the last time I used an electric bug zapper it burst into flames for no apparent reason. It is definitely expensive to operate being propane driven, but without CO2 you're not going to attract mosquitoes. The fly paper did a great job of catching flies and the occasional yellow jacket, but it did not get many mosquitoes, and there's a serious downside to the fly paper: It catches birds that try to get to the insects that are stuck to the paper. Twice I found bird feathers stuck to the unit where it was clear a bird's wing had brushed the glue and trapped the bird. The first time was from a wren, the second time was from a cardinal. I don't know if birds can shed their feathers and get loose, or if a predator pulled them off the paper, but I resorted to using an old bird cage to cover the unit to keep the birds from getting caught on it. That kept the birds off it, but I don't know how much it might have interfered with catching mosquitoes. Flies still got in and got stuck just fine. Blue Rhino, I would highly recommend some kind of safety cage that can sit over the paper to prevent birds from getting trapped on the unit. In addition, you should consider the addition of some small screens over the two exhaust ports to keep wasps and spiders out of the burner assembly. Until then, I would recommend people NOT use the fly paper or else put the unit in a chicken wire enclosure with mesh across the top to keep birds and other wildlife safe, but with wide enough holes to let the mosquitoes in. Pros: It does catch mosquitoes, it's easy to assemble, and it's pretty weather proof. Cons: Expensive to run, fly paper can catch birds and other things you don't want it to catch, letting it run out of fuel can allow pests into the mechanism where they don't belong.