Small ants invading my Laptop

I have had my laptop invaded by small ants about 4 times while living in the Philippines. I guess they are trying to find a warm place to nest, especially during the rainy season.
I got rid of them by simply putting the laptop in a plastic bag, sealing it and putting in the freezer for a couple hours. When you take it out of the freezer you will have a lot of condensation. So to get rid of this I just placed it in front of a fan for a couple days to get rid of all the moisture.
Thought this might help someone with the same problem

Brad

 

good tip!
for prevention, how about a cheap plastic cutting board with a ring of ant chalk placed under the laptop. i use ant chalk in house plant saucers that are placed under fruit shelf legs and a bucket lid with ant chalk under a compost bucket to keep ants out. i also have a worm bin sitting on it's plastic lid with a ring of ant chalk around the edge. works great...

norm : ))~

 

Yep, ant chalk does the trick and does not harm your pets, re-apply after a few days...

 

the chalk applications i've made *inside* the house last for months, in fact, it's been a year or more since i chalked the saucers that are under the fruit/sugar shelf legs. it works so good that i'm considering building a weather protected ant chalk channel around the outside of my house when we build.

norm : ))~

 

What have you been eating while using the laptop?

The tiny black ants here are attracted to electricity. They, like another type of ant that has invaded parts of the southern U.S., have caused quite a few electrical problems when enough of them enter an electrical device. Their bodies, when there are enough of them, conduct electricity and can cause a short circuit.

 

A friend who visited a few years ago had spilled some sweet drink in his keyboard. Keys where sticky and worked bad. The small ants "attacked" it and, he claimed, removed the sugar, so the keyboard start working again. They might be useful too ;-)

 

I was going to ask if the OP often eats while using his laptop..

 

"Norman" where and what chalk are you buying?

 

Anything that is handy when I am hungry

the ants are invading through the power supply, usb, etc.

 

Has anyone tried "1-2-3" powder insecticide?

The small ants actually went in between my keys and the frame on an Hp laptop.

Has anyone tried a product "1-2-3". It was recommended to me. It is Carbarly (1-naphthyl N-Methyl carbaamate? I have cats and have some concern as it seem powerful. For Cockroaches, Fleas and Ants.