Removing Thunderflies from your monitor screen

D3K · 17 Jul 2015 at 17:36

Had a dead one stuck in the top right hand corner of my rog swift. Spent today feeling sadface.

Did a quick search and came across the novel idea of attaching a suction cup to the screen, pulling it gently, and tapping the side of the monitor til it fell away.

It worked. Happyface!

Hope this helps others in this bug infested season!

zola25 · 17 Jul 2015 at 18:15

That's a useful tip! Did the suction cup mark the screen at all?

D3K · 17 Jul 2015 at 18:56

Nothing that I couldn't wipe off.

FWIW, my suction cup is about 5cm in diameter.

D3K · 17 Jul 2015 at 23:02

This is the umpteenth one I've seen this week. I must have a blooming nest in there

zola25 · 18 Jul 2015 at 08:18

At least you know how to remove them now. I've seen loads around this week here, but none in the monitor thankfully.

Edit: by saying that, I've probably doomed myself now.

slipd · 18 Jul 2015 at 16:30

Right, it looks like one has decided to die in the middle of my screen! I remember this happening a while back (+5 years) to a Dell LCD monitor I had and they actually replaced it for me... don't imagine Benq will want to do the same?

The monitor is just over a year old. I seriously thought the manufacturing processes had improved in that time but obviously not!

@OP, can I ask where you got said suction cup from? Thinking that might be worth a shot, I can't put up with this, it's staring me in the face :mad:

Kelt · 18 Jul 2015 at 17:14

slipd said:
Right, it looks like one has decided to die in the middle of my screen! I remember this happening a while back (+5 years) to a Dell LCD monitor I had and they actually replaced it for me... don't imagine Benq will want to do the same?

The monitor is just over a year old. I seriously thought the manufacturing processes had improved in that time but obviously not!

@OP, can I ask where you got said suction cup from? Thinking that might be worth a shot, I can't put up with this, it's staring me in the face

I would imagine the bay of fleas has them.

Armadillo · 18 Jul 2015 at 23:40

What are they getting inbetween anyway? I thought what faces you is the front of the display. I thought it was only the glass fronted monitors that had something over the lcd panel? Looking on youtube, most disassembly videos on youtube seems like there is nothing in front either?

Do they get inbetween the panel and backlight?

D3K · 19 Jul 2015 at 01:43

slipd said:
@OP, can I ask where you got said suction cup from? Thinking that might be worth a shot, I can't put up with this, it's staring me in the face

You don't wanna know where I got mine from, but you can get them in pound shops with items for hanging stuff on bath room or kitchen tiles

Armadillo said:
What are they getting inbetween anyway? I thought what faces you is the front of the display. I thought it was only the glass fronted monitors that had something over the lcd panel? Looking on youtube, most disassembly videos on youtube seems like there is nothing in front either?

Do they get inbetween the panel and backlight?

I think you're right. Part of reason I couldn't tell if it was a bug or not at fist, was that it looked pixellated at different angles. So it must have been behind the panel and in front of the back light.

slipd · 19 Jul 2015 at 10:54

There's some risk involved in using this suction method, surely? What worries me is that I'll actually damage the monitor... If I was to flog it now I'd probably get a fairly good price for it with just the one fly resident but if I damage it in the process it's worthless

So annoying.

gord · 19 Jul 2015 at 12:15

Have you tried the torch method? Bugs love light. So leave the monitor over night with a torch pointing at the corner of the screen. If it's still alive then it will migrate to the edge at least.

slipd · 19 Jul 2015 at 16:03

Just noticed there's one in my TV too... bloody things! Not such a problem because you can't see it at distance but it's still a pain.

D3K · 19 Jul 2015 at 19:54

slipd said:
There's some risk involved in using this suction method, surely? What worries me is that I'll actually damage the monitor... If I was to flog it now I'd probably get a fairly good price for it with just the one fly resident but if I damage it in the process it's worthless

So annoying.

Zero damage to mine. I oriented the monitor so that the bug was closest to the bottom, then very gently pulled the suction cup while tapping the side of the bezel.

They crawl around so freely that there's plenty space for them, they just need a tiny bit more if they die.

For me it was worth the risk. I'd feel a little depressed every time I turned the screen on and saw the dirty black streak it was making. If I broke it I'd be forced to buy a new one.

DarkFulgore · 20 Jul 2015 at 03:05

Never even heard of this issue, but glad to know it can be solved. Just another thing to look out for with monitors these days.

Asa · 20 Jul 2015 at 15:10

Lol I didn't know this was a common issue. I have one stuck in the monitor I'm using right now, it's been there for about 4 years. I think it's probably a permanent fixture by now, but I'll give this a go.

D3K · 9 Aug 2015 at 11:32

Bump for the new threads getting made

lettuce · 23 Oct 2016 at 10:50

Just had this issue on my 42" Sony TV, i didnt even know of the term until the engineer who came around said it wasnt dead pixels and actually a bug...i thought he was kidding to start of with!!. Anyway they wont do anything under warranty as its not an issue with the screen itself!

I would try the suction cup method but as i though it was a dead pixel to start of with so i was tapping and pushing it so its probably squashed against the screen now and now way of removing!!. S

I would have though these would decompose after about 6 months or so though and just disappear??

slipd · 23 Oct 2016 at 10:55

Ha, maybe its a Sony thing as I've just noticed one in my 32"... When they're alive you can switch off your set and they usually seem to find their own way out! Pain in the ass tbh, you'd have thought manufactures would have got wise to it now but obviously not.

Kaiketsu · 23 Oct 2016 at 11:18

lettuce said:
I would have though these would decompose after about 6 months or so though and just disappear??

Decomposition requires bacteria - and bacteria need water. There's not really much water inside of the TV

The bug's carapace takes a while to decompose even in humid environment. Don't expect one to decompose inside of a TV anytime soon.

mistersprinkles · 24 Oct 2016 at 21:38

What is this freak fly you guys have in the UK that goes inside your monitor? I have never heard of such a thing. Here in Canada our flies are polite, just like our people. Any time a fly comes into your house it flies around saying "Sorry. So sorry. really I apologize." until it can find an exit.