Yikes. Termites.

[pbmaise]

In Hawaii you may be dealing with drywood termite. They need 0 water. They take it right out of the air. Tenting may not kill them if they are inside plywood which has fiberglass on both sides.

Termite.com > TERMIDOR vs PREMISE > Termite Control ...

www.termite.com/termidor.html


... The active ingerdient of Termidor is fipronil, is classified by EPA


Note the chemical by Bayer Fipronil.

Now that stuff works fine. You just need to dilute in water and inject with a syringe.

You first need to find where they are living.

Hint Start hanging sheets of plastic to isolate areas of your boat. Narrow down where they are coming from. You may be at this for several years. You see the buggers will sit and eat as long as 2 years before sending out new flying type of termites.

[donradcliffe]

I treat the ubiquitous drywood termites with a home built hand held tesla coil. It throws a spark about 5 inches long, and you let the spark wander over the wood. It generally spreads out, but will be attracted to metal, like screws and and nails. The important thing is that it is also attracted to the chambers the termites eat in the wood. There is some sort of conductive residue, and the spark will run down the chambers and zap termites several feet away. I use it on my houses and fences, but it should work fine on the wood parts of a boat.

[groundtackle]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I treat the ubiquitous drywood termites with a home built hand held tesla coil. It throws a spark about 5 inches long, and you let the spark wander over the wood. It generally spreads out, but will be attracted to metal, like screws and and nails. The important thing is that it is also attracted to the chambers the termites eat in the wood. There is some sort of conductive residue, and the spark will run down the chambers and zap termites several feet away. I use it on my houses and fences, but it should work fine on the wood parts of a boat.

Now that's an interesting idea. How do you know it's effective?


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[groundtackle]

As I mentioned I do have some imported dry wood termites on my boat. I know they need very little moisture and unlike subterranean termites remain full time I the cathedrals they make in wood. They do need some moisture though. I've been running a dehumidifier and getting the relative humidity down to about 40-45% and wonder if that may eventually kill them. I also spoke to an entomologist who told me they would die if I could get the boat to sub freezing temps of -10 C or so for 2 weeks. Unfortunately for me that would mean leaving the boat in Alaska over a winter. Not something I want to do. Vikane does not seem to be available in Canada and very expensive or not available in Washington state.
I have no real idea where the nest is so I can't do local treatment.
Maybe the tesla coil idea is worth a try.
Any advice is welcome and appreciated


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[Snore]

Spray some termidiciide in the bilge. Unless it drains overboard, the rain water from the anchor locker flows to the bilge providing a supply of water for the bugs.

Same for leaky ports or Genoa tracks.



Sent from my iPhone- please forgive autocorrect errors.

[donradcliffe]

One time I was playing the tesla gun over one end of a fence board, and watched several termites trying to escape the other end. They got about half way out before they shriveled up and died. It also drops visible insects, like ants and spiders in their tracks.

The technique is used commercially

Electro Gun Termite Treatment - Pest Control Company

[pbmaise]

Nshaw

The reason Bayer Fipronil is so good is they do not die right away. They track the chemical back to the nest first. In many countries an ag supply company will sell it in pure form. Must dilute 50 to 1 in water, OR use 70% ethanol. The ethanol evaporates and carries the chemical too. Look for other sources of this chemical in things like dog flea powder. That you would use in mixture like 2 to 1. You must find the exit hole. Then take syringe and inject liquid into hole.

Find the hole by looking for the pellets and the flying termites. Use big sheets of clear plastic to isolate areas. So clean up an area with dead termites, seal it off, then see if you get any new flying termites in that area after a few days. If so, you found an area. You just need to locate the hole.

Sometimes you can isolate an area and then spray a bunch of the chemical mix inside. You then hope enough evaporates and then finds a hole you failed to find.

If you have heavy infestation you may need to start drilling to trace a hole you located. This allows you to use a vacuum cleaner to suck out the pellets and the inject chemical in many places.

Place a piece of blue tape on each hole after treatment. This helps you remember to treat that hole again and again. It also helps you focus on finding new holes.

REMEMBER A nest can go over a year without sending out any new flying termites. So dont be surprised if this process takes years. The good news it is new nests that take this long.

Termite repairs begin after water has dried out in channels. Minor repairs in heavy woods can be as simple as drilling to trace the channels, vacuum out pellets and dead termites, find highest channels, and then inject slow cure concrete crack epoxy. It takes several days to cure and will follow channels.

In softwoods with large amounts of voids, you may get away with using a three part injectable foam for non structural areas. The area is likely weaker so a top layer of new orientated fiberglass is probably needed.

Very big damage where whole areas of plywood are gone require removal of that plywood and replacement.

Buying a termite infested boat is a battle, however with chemicals, time and repairs you can do relatively easy, you will likely save a bundle over new boat costs.