To mark the launch of our new LED glue board, we talked to PestWest’s Product Design Engineer Andrew Nulty, discussing what makes the LED sticky board so special, how the boards are developed and what the future holds for PestWest®.
Q. Can the regular Chameleon® Range sticky boards be used for the PestWest LED series?
Answer: No, they cannot be used for the PestWest LED series, for various reasons. First of all, they will not physically fit, as the sticky board used in e.g.,
the Chameleon Qualis, is 12% larger. Additionally, these new boards are centrally dividable, meaning each replacement glue board gives two
usages in certain models. So, it is basically a lot more environmentally friendly, compared to the
traditional Chameleon® Range glue board, as 1⁄3 of it had to go to waste whenever it was used for the Chameleon® Sirius.
Q. What makes this new LED sticky board so special?
Answer: Due to the fact that UV LED tubes operate much cooler than traditional UV fluorescent tubes,
a specifically formulated adhesive coating is required to achieve optimised performance: Within
traditional UV fly traps, the UV fluorescent tubes generate heat, so that the adhesive on the board gets ‘sticky’ enough to retain insects, but not too
fluid, because otherwise it would literally run off the sticky board. Meanwhile, the heat generated by
UV LED tubes is too insignificant to repeat the same process, which is why PestWest has done extensive research in order to create a dedicated sticky board,
optimised to work with LED technology and the Quantum® X range in particular. To achieve maximum
efficacy, it is vital that only the dedicated PestWest LED sticky board is used for all PestWest LED models!
Q. Please tell me more about the development of the dedicated PestWest LED sticky boards.
Answer: Sure. Throughout extensive ‘fly catch performance tests’ at an external institute, it has been brought
to light that the insect retention of the existing glue board was insufficient at this point and therefore it was not an option for us to
bring the LED series to market with the same glue boards as the traditional Chameleon® units. Consequently, we invested into further research & development and the successful outcome of it is a dedicated, perfectly suitable sticky board, where the adhesive has the appropriate properties.
Q. Which PestWest units can these LED sticky boards be used for?
Answer: The dedicated PestWest LED sticky boards can be used for the Chameleon® Qualis, Chameleon® Sirius X and On-Top Pro 2 X and will be used on most of the range moving forwards apart from specialist and some decorative units. The Chameleon® EXG X will have a separate sticky board due to its dimensions and material requirements.
Q. How about the Quantum X LED tubes, can they be used for all PestWest LED units?
Answer: Yes, that is the case at the moment and is an advancement from the traditional Chameleon® Range, as e.g., the Chameleon® Sirius and the Chameleon®
EXG could previously not use the same type of UV fluorescent tube. Further, we are aiming to utilise these dedicated consumables for as many future units as possible.
Q. Which units will be launched next?
Answer: After launching the Sirius X, On-Top Pro 2 X and EXG X successfully in spring 2023, there will be an IP66 rated unit following in summer 2023. Afterwards, we fill focus on the development of a suspended model and various others – watch this space!
