SkeeterVac SV3100 Outdoor Mosquito and Backyard Insect Trap, Up to 1 Acre

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.

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.

Like a lot of people I HATE mosquitos. I moved from the city to the burbs about 5 years ago and simply couldn't enjoy being outside because of all the flying, blood sucking little bastards. I'd get half a dozen bites each time I tried heading out. That first year I bought a "Mosquito Magnet". There are a bunch of different models & I bought the higher end "Liberty" model for somewhere around $500, hoping it'd be the best one. It was good, caught a lot of mosquitos but it was a bit finicky and sometimes wouldn't start up- I got a lot of error lights and getting it to work was hit or miss. A few months later I saw a cheaper model of Mosquito Magnet (the "Defender") for around $299 and decided I liked the idea of possibly killing twice as many mosquitos running two units (I really do hate them). The "Defender" actually proved to be a much better unit. It was more reliable, was easier to clean and reset and actually caught more mosquitos than the Liberty. I really enjoyed going to the trap to find a whole set of dead skeeters. The following year my "Liberty" wouldn't start up at all. They tell you to buy these air cartridges to clear out the lines, which I did to no avail. The unit would begin the cycle to start up, but then flash an error light and never get going. After numerous attempts I gave up on my poorly invested $500. Luckily my "Defender" was still going strong, but I still wanted to run two at a time as it really helps make a difference in keeping the yard free of the buggers. One day I'm in Target and come across a Blue Rhino "SkeeterVac" on sale for just $199 and had to go for it. When I got it home I was both happy and skeptical about the fact it didn't need to be plugged into an electrical source like the Mosquito Magnet models. It's lower price also made me wonder if it would perform well. Those fears were unfounded as it caught almost as many biting bugs as the "Defender". The fact it didn't need a power cord allowed me to place it anywhere in the yard I wanted. I was impressed. This past year the MM Defender started doing the error light thing like the Liberty had done before. After reading online about the MM models, it seems there are a lot of complaints regarding their only lasting a couple of seasons before breaking down completely. You'd think with all the money they charge for these things, you could at least use them for more than a couple of years. Thankfully my SkeeterVac was still working- after two years it looks weathered and beaten up but after a little cleanup I managed to get it started. Needing to replace the Defender, I decided not to buy any more Mosquito Magnets and went for another SkeeterVac b/c of its reliability & being tether-free. Got it on Amazon for $308 with free shipping. It arrived in less than a week, I hooked up the propane, set the bait and within three days my trap was almost full. The sticky surface also had about 300 mosquitos stuck to it. It's a beautiful sight that just put a huge smile on my face. (...did I mention I hate mosquitos? :)

I bought it, despite all the bad reviews because we have a definite mosquito issue and I really really wanted it to work, but... I ran into the problem with the unit failing to light that many other people have complained about. It starts to light, but then after about 20-30 seconds the flame goes out. This is a safety feature that automatically shuts off the gas if the units doesn't detect a flame, but in my case, and others, the flame is there, but not being detected so then it shuts off. Very frustrating. After dozens of attempts and several calls to the company that weren't helpful (they more or less read the instructions to me over the phone), I ended up opening the thing up and removing the safety feature such that it didn't need to detect the flame. So now that works fine, although I'll point out that I use it pretty far from the house and my kids are grown so if it blows up it is only me headed for kingdom come. In other words, don't crack it open to do surgery on it like I did. In fairness to the company, they offered to have me box it back up and send back to them for replacement. In fairness to me, boxing it back up and then have to assemble another new one didn't seem like much fun at all. If a product is this chronically defective year after year of production then they should take bigger hit than just saying 'oops', like how about fixing their poor design. OK, finally it was up and running. The fan blows, the lights flash it all seems very exciting,but it did not catch any mosquitoes. I understand that the location is important, but this location is shaded among some trees and if I stand there at dusk I'll easily have mosquitoes swarming me within a minute. After 3 weeks of usage, it caught maybe a half dozen mosquitoes. Not worth it. I bought a second tank of propane and a new scent cartridge and another 3 weeks got me only two mosquitoes. Next summer I'll try a new location that is even further from the house just to be definitive, because I'd love to see the filter drawer filled with mosquitoes even if it wasn't helping where we need it.. This summer, we couldn't eat outside at dusk without being tormented by the little guys and yet this thing was catching nothing.

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 have never reviewed a product I have bought via Amazon. However, I wanted to warn other potential buyers NOT to buy this. My first purchase of this product was several years ago. As I recall, it worked for a period of time, I didn't store it at end of season, and when I went to use it, it failed to light. I blamed it on my failure and decided to try patio repellants. After several year, I decided to give it another try, bit the bullet, spent the money and bought this again ( had several refills left over from first purchase.) Received the product, went to light it, and it failed to light. Spent hours on the phone with customer service and, after trying everything per their instructions, they agreed that the unit was defective and sent me a new one. Meanwhile, I had to explain to my wife, why I had spent over $500 on a mosquito trap that didn't work and waited for replacement. Thank god it was covered under warranty. The replacement trap came and it lit easily the first time. That was great until the second time. After the propane tank empties, you have to replace the propane, and relight the trap by pressing propane intake hose and the immediately pressing the igniter button until the trap lights. If you have ever pressed hard with your fingers on a button that is akwardly placed, it is not fun. The trap eventually lit for the next two times, I purchased the lure refills, the season ended, and, this time I stored it per the instructions. This year, I set it up, lit for 1/2 of a month and failed, Tried lighting it again, tried replacing the propane, tried to have other people hold the button, heard them complain, and finally gave up. Now the trap is out of warranty.While I thought this was a good idea, I will NEVER buy this trap again or recommend it.