(Scroll down for mods for external power supply)
EXPERIENCE/TIPS:
We bought a set of three ULTRA version, on sale online last summer.
For the most part, we are happy with the units, since they zapped over 3 dozen chipmunks (a bumper crop this year due to the milder winter last year) which were killing many of our plants.
Although we aren't proponents of killing animals, we did freeze them and donated to a wild animal rescue agency which used them to feed animals/birds they were rehabilitating.
Buying D-cell batteries by the case at Costco was prohibitively expensive (pack of 14 Duracell D-cells was $9 on sale).
$0.65 X 4 = $2.60 per set which lasted us about 2 weeks each set.
Thus the $6 power supply paid for itself in less than two months. The batteries seemed not to last because of all the unfruitful zappings (no animal inside). For our duracell batteries,
there were maybe 25-30 zaps per battery set.
Why a $0.50 power jack is not included in the ULTRA design, who knows. DO NOT confuse the UNLABELLED existing jack as a power jack: it is for an external/remote signal LED
For efficiency of re-baiting, we left a jar of sunflower seed next to each, for twice-daily checking to re-bait.
At first we used plastic jars, but larger animals found and chewed those up.
We're still not sure how/why the following failure modes happen (there are no operational instructions, and it's not clear what technology is used to sense an animal is therein, probably PIR)
Red light:
(a) was blinking, seed inside untouched (turn off and then on, and green light shows it to be OK and ready to go; plate was still clean)
(b) was blinking, seed inside gone (no animal) - we observed that sometimes (a) had happened and we hadn't yet checked to see that it had tripped, so that after it tripped (blinking), the animal that then ate the seed was not zapped because the unit does not further zap once blinking.
(c) not blinking, seed inside gone - a clever animal or a failure mode
We successfully used them outside by putting them in a plastic container or garbage can on its side to provide shelter from rain and wet ground.
And in stretches of rain-free weather, even put them on our rock wall, woodpile, etc.
Side comment: the manufacturing assemby of our devices varied in quality, as observed prior to our modificatoins.
Of particular note: the circuit board is attached to the plastic chassis with three tiny phillips screws. In one of our devices, two screws were stripped and rattling around loose.
In two devices, the inside wiring of the rocker switch and external signalling LED jack, had the connecting wires to be barely tack-soldered on, certainly not mechanically/topologically looped thru/wrapped around the hole in the terminal lug post. One of the switch connections was literally hanging (soldered) by a "thread" (only one strand of the stranded connection wire).
These units were labeled as being manufactured in China. I suspect some of the wonky-ness of operation is due to the sloppy wiring and loose screws.
Victor's web site says: "The green light will also blink to indicate a successful kill" -- this is not true for our three units, ours blinks RED.
Victor's web site may be the best deal for purchasing. Rat Zappers can also be found on Amazon (but shop around for newer/better deals) (We have no affiliation with any vendor)
6VDC (2A) power supply (100-240VAC wall adaptor) on Ebay Panel-mount power jacks 5.5mmx2.1mm on Ebay (these fit the adjacent power supply plugs) 5.5X2.1mm plugs 6VDC SLA rechargeable batteries
1. Tape the bottom portion of the vent so that the bait (seed, etc.) don't fall out; animals can still smell the bait via the upper slits left open
2. Add black tape to increase contrast for panel light LEDs.
It's much easier to see the lit red LED against black than red against shiny grey, from a distance (especially in sunlight).
This is an easy ergonomic/usability improvement in the unit design.
3. Add panel mount power jack to top. 6V pwr supply is $6 on EBAY, and jacks are 15 for $4. (too many, but best price to get just 2 or 3).
We used a 19/64" forsner bit on a drill press to easily and cleanly drill the new top hole for the jack.
By luck, + and - power (same as battery terminals) are available on the outer terminals of the rocker switch.
Do check polarities: (a) with batteries installed to make sure your device is of the same wiring lineage; (b) and polarity of your power supply (wall adaptor) to make sure inner plug contact is +
Note: Our rat zappers are HIGHLY sensitive to having at least 5.9V - this is one reason batteries seem to wear out fast because if they drop more than 2% (!), the device will not operate
(a red blinking light indicates ambiguously the same for low battery as well as inside electrocution plate not clean enough, as well as animal may be inside (plus there are lots of false alarms where there is no animal but it has tripped and even if bait is left, would no longer zap additional visitors)
Bottom view (in my case, i doubled the wires because i only had CAT5 "hookup wire" available, and did not want to risk any resistance in the wire
because of the observed overly sensitive narrow operating voltage range for the zappers we have.
Our three zappers will no longer need these expensive batteries.
We spliced in extra "extension cord" wire into the low voltage side of the power supplies to allow the cord to reach the trapping area.
Enclosure to exclude squirrels and larger animals when you're targetting smaller animals. Created by Dave Harris.
Showing entry hole, smaller than squirrel.
Inside view, with tiny drainage holes to allow water to exit (if it should get in)