Bought a new thermacell yesterday to try it. Supposed to create a mosquito free area 45 yards square. Well, set it behind.my chair, almost touching it at knee height, turned it on for ten mins like the directions said, and waited. While there were certainly fewer mosquitos than before, every minute or so a few would fly up unfazed just like normal, try and land on me and bite. While there weren't clouds of them, there were many around me and a good number still biting. Sat there for a half hour.

I have a backyard fire tonight with a bunch of city girls and thought I'd try it out.

Anyone find that they do what they advertise? Mine was working properly.

Oh, and wind was dead calm

45 YARDS square?????

I think mine says 12-15 feet square.

Have 4 of them.
Never had one NOT work!

Are you sure the heat is on?

Work perfectly for me in half dozen years of bear hunting .. alsp take it to the kids ball games and keep skeeter free . Zone is smaller than the 45 you talk about , 12-15sq ft like white marlin says .

Re read the box. 4.5 meters, not 45. Lol. Either way, red glowy thing in the end was lit and the unit was a foot and a half from me, dead calm. And I installed the little scent pad thing right. Don't get me wrong, it was an improvement, but not night and day.

I am likely expecting too much! And I forgot to mention that it doesn't work at all on blackflies. Not many here but every one was crawling around me without hesitation. My wife walked out and stood in front of me talking for a bit in shorts and t shirt and had to go back in

take the foil wrap off the wafer first.

Mine didn't work one time. the heat went out. I reached down to see why I was getting tore up and noticed the unit was cold. looked in side no orange flame. did the starter click fired up and worked.

Try "Essential" insect repellant.

I kind of forgot I had one so dug it out. So when it is lite you will see the coil turn red is that right and it is lite?

I have a new wafer and a replacement fuel bottle for it. I want to pick berries soon and the mosquitoes are so bad maybe this will help.

Thermacell's are one of the greatest inventions ever. Down here they make a huge difference when sitting in a tree stand, but do take a little while (15+- minutes) to repell all mosquitoes away. After that, I can take my Bug Tamer jacket off. I get a few that come by but they don't stay long. In certain parts of the country I have read where some hunters use two Thermocell units. In many cases the mosquitoes would be unbearable without it. When using a Thermocell unit, I don't have to put any chemical repellents on my bare skin.

If there is no breeze at all, I have to move my Thermocell out away from me as the repellent cloud can be offensive to my sinuses.

Dave

SO when it is lite will yuo see a red glow of the coil? How long will the wafer repellent last? I have one not sure I ever used it.

Was the blue pad fresh? And how did you have the unit oriented?

If the pad is dried out, they do not work as well. If the pads are old, they can loose some strength even if they have not been exposed to the air very long.

And they work best if you have the unit horizontal so the heat is directly under the pad so the heat rises through the pad to put out the max possible repellent. And do not lay the back on a solid surface as that restricts the air intake.

With no wind, I put mine down around foot level and it does not take long for the skeeters to vamoose.

My daughter in law is the most popular Mom in the stands when she breaks hers out at the little league ball field that is down in a bottom.

Thermacels flat out work. Get some fresh pads and give it another try!

Something you could try if you are having an outdoor party. I've done it and it helped me. Get a bucket of water and put it 100 yards from where you will be. Someplace no one will be walking past or hanging out. You will want it upwind from you. When the skeeters start biting, toss in some dry ice. Skeeters are attracted to CO2. That's how they find you. as the dry ice melts, the skeeters will be attracted to the gas, not so much you. It's not 100% but it helps. It may even work without the water and last longer. Give it a shot if you can find enough dry ice.

I use two at times. Usually when the wind is variable, or during turkey season. Night fishing also.

They work awesome for me. We rented a cabin near a lake in a woody part of Minnesota once. It had a nice deck on the back of it probably 12'x24'long. Soon as the sun started to set that porch was wall to wall mosquitoes, never seen them that bad ever! We put out two Thermocells one towards each end of the deck. Within about 15 min we went back out and enjoyed the rest of the evening setting on a mosquito-free deck.

They are the cats meow on skeeters. I agree they dont work well on knats and flies. Make sure the blue pad is dark blue.

Where are you getting city girls from in Gergian Bay?

They only work on U. S. Skeeters....

My sister is having a wedding shower. Having a bunch of her friends over from Ottawa. Long drive!

I had it flat, facing up on a small stack of boards behind me. Building on one side. And yes the foil was off!

I'll give it another shot.

I honestly wouldn’t even want to imagine life outoddors without one. Early bow season, turkey season, fishing, just sitting on the back porch, thermacells rock. I generally turn mine on in the truck when I hit the property and by the time I park and get to my stand I’m good to go.

Always hunt with mine. Keep plenty of refills with me also

I can't believe Beav ain't started in on his whining about them yet. lol

Did the same thing tonight. Clouds of them before hand. Standing directly over the thermacell with it between my legs, and got a few bites on my ankles and legs. Zapped one after another with my zappy mosquito executioner wand. It had been on for a half hr, and you could smell the repellent smell. Was definitely not as bad, but was still getting bit. Went from clouds of skitters from all angles to ones and twos.

You can't get them for free,ADC.

In my experience, they cut down on mosquitos and sand flies, are not 100 percent effective, and do little if anything at all against black flies and white socks.

Jim

Yes James as I see it, it is effective but not perfect. And the blackflies could not care less. With bug spray mosquitos generally buzz around but don't bite, the thermacell lowered the numbers of them in the general area. I figure combining it with a bit of bug spray would be the best method based on what I've seen.

When the pads turn light blue I just put drop 3 to 4 of permethrin on them.

I don't think those blue pads last very long.

I have to say I use mosquito coils more often than the Thermacell. The coils seem to be about as effective.

The best repellant, though, is a fine cigar.

Jim

The best repellant, though, is a fine cigar.
Bingo!
But the wife still likes Thermacell

The blue pads last 3 and 1/2 to 4 hours if it's turning white slowly than it's working if it's not turning white then it's not working I would turn it in and get a new one either way... You shouldn't have had any mosquitoes within 5 minutes of it being on

Well I am currently in the tent camping with the wife and dog. Had a campfire tonight and put the thermacell between me and the wife, right on the ground between our two camp chairs. Last night I didn't use the thermacell. About as dead calm as it gets here, sheltered behind some cedars on an outer island on Georgian bay. There is never a mosquito on these islands during the day. Just as night falls you get driven into the tent by the skitters. Turned the thermacell on a half hour before dusk and had some marshmallows. Coil was lit, it was making heat and that odor it makes and got lots of bites, although it seemed we maybe didn't get swarmed quite as bad. Still though, got a lot of bites.

I figured maybe there were just too many at my house so I would try here where there are fewer, at least during daylight. Not much difference!

Maybe I'll try an exchange.

I turned believer in the one I got. I hadn't used it till this year and I think I have had it for 10 years. I been using my picking berries. They are so bad before I light it that yo don't dare open your mouth. I light hang it close to where I'm picking and they disappear. I have been amazed how well it has worked.

Good Luck.

Before any of the chemicals and other gadjet stuff was invented,a smudge was used-still by far the best bug repellant,and once your clothes start to smell like a smudge-no bugs will bother you.And for clothes,long sleeve light baggy clothes with tight neck and cuffs,same with the pants.And you can handle and cut meat and not worry about contaminating it with chemicals.
For sleeping a bug net is great.Worth its weight in gold here in the lowlands.

During the deer rut in November soak a used pad with "Doe in heat" and light it.

The heat really gets it going. Maybe try some coyote gland lure & urine for calling

coyotes?

I used two of them around the campfire last night. It was pretty brutal without them. They have completely changed the sport of bear hunting. I'm amazed at how well they work, I use them for camping and hunting all the time.

Thermacells Rock!

I'd rather leave my bow at home before leaving my Thermacell at home.

You need new chemical pad I suspect. Never known a Thermacell not to repell mosquito.

If it won't work for you don't use it! I have 4 of them in various packs and wouldn't leave home without one. Just yesterday my son and a friend were scouting for deer stands and my son and I didn't see a skeeter and our thermoless friend said he was getting eatin alive.