When trying to troubleshoot the new wireless controller for my old Defender, I decided to leave no stone unturned and order a new catch basket (the gadget that works like a net to catch and hold the mosquitos) because the old one might be restricting the air flow too much because of accumulated mosquito awfulness on the screen material. At the last minute, I decided to throw in some Quick Clear cartridges so that I wouldn’t have to set up my electric air pump to blow into the unit every second tank. Well, lo and behold, the Mosquito Magnet brand cartridge is no longer available on the Mosquito Magnet web site (although other brands are still being sold). What was going on?
I called the Mosquito Magnet support line, waited a few minutes, and asked about the cartridges. The operator said there was a recall of units made between 2014 and 2016. She said that if the cartridge was used improperly, it would damage the regulator on those units, so the ‘product manager’ decided to withdraw the product. I asked whether it was necessary to periodically clean the trap to blow out the contaminants in the propane. She said this was no longer necessary.
She said the improper use was use while the trap was running, which back-fed the high pressure gas into the exit port of the regulator, damaging it. Of course, using the air pump, I have done this several times. Fortunately, the regulator on my old units was not in the 2014-6 range, so presumably no damage was done.
Or was it? The pressure on the pump with the valve closed went up to 120 psi and stayed there. If it were blowing out contaminants, I would expect the pressure to drop as time went on, but no. Some times, the pressure would indicate around 40-50 psi, which I considered more reasonable. However, I now realize that this occurred when the solenoid was open, and I was back-feeding the regulator at that time. Anyway, the pump or cartridges never made much or any difference. And the directions were faulty: the cartridge would not run for 30 seconds — it was gone in one big whoosh. If partly unscrewed, a weak flow ran for about 30 seconds, but did that make any difference?
So, no more cartridges. I will keep it up with the pump, with the solenoid off (trap unplugged). Out of superstition or habit, I suppose. And I will change the nozzles or at least clean them from time to time.