It might be a bit chilly outside, but after a lovely day when my first Peacock butterfly visited me in the garden, I thought I would put out the new MK2 moth trap to see what it would catch. This is a new revamped version of my old homemade trap which was getting a bit warped. A few mods saw me attaching the electrics to the side instead of just laying about.
On the trap went and after a couple of hours, I popped outside to see how things were going. The air was cool and fresh with a subtle hint of melting plastic, the odd moth fluttered.. MELTING PLASTIC!!! I looked down at the trap and the electric box on the side had this darkening square developing on it and was quite hot to the touch. I killed the power and waited for it to cool off. Then, after getting required tools, I popped the lid off.
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| Molten plastic, not good. |
It would seem the base plate which holds the electrics had come away and the big blocky thing (I'm not an electrician it case you haven't guessed) was leaning against the lid melting its way out. So there ended tonight trapping session. Will need to replace the box tomorrow. In the meantime, I checked through the trap to see what it had caught. 5 moths, a Hebrew Character, Common Quaker, Chestnut, Yellow Horned and a Clouded Drab.
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| Yellow Horned |
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| Clouded Drab |
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| Common Quaker |
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| Chestnut, despite what the background says, I don't advise you 'Taste it". |
These 5 coupled with the 2 moths (Agonopterix arenella, Alucita hexadactyla) and this mornings Peacock butterfly bring my total to a whopping 8.
Roll on spring :)
Sorry to here of your mishap! Yes the chokes get incredibly hot if they are not fully protected in a durable plastic case.
ReplyDeleteNice Yellow Horned!
Oh it was in a durable weatherproof case, however, the base plate heated the screw which heated the plastic to which it was screwed into, which caused it to melt and release base plate, which lead to the choke falling against the cover leading to the horrible mess above. All refitted into a new box and base plate now fixed (via a silicon washer) to a wooden batten that is in turn screwed to the base of the box. Box is much bigger to, hopefully it will not get so hot in there now. :)
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