Ants in my Pants...

[divango]

Put my first machine out on Monday at my Uncle's construction company office... Went back to check today and it had ants crawling on the machine    Luckily, this was a test for me and my Uncle had not even noticed the ants yet..  I cleaned the machine, sprayed around the area with ant spray and put a coat of vaseline on the underside of the machine where the pole meets the head. I heard this would stop the ants. Any of you guys have any good ant stories or sure fire cures?? Good news is that it had $4 in quarters from 4 days and the secretary told me there was a boy whose Mom worked next door and he told his Mom he wanted to go to the store... His Mom did not know what he was talking about and he took her to my Uncle's place and pointed at my Terminator in the front window!  Gotta love the kids finding the bright colors!

[jamesjmcgough]

You must really be new to this biz. Old-timers spray all their candy with Raid before they refill. We do business in the tropics of Central America. I can tell you horror stories about what crawls up those chutes. How about a coral snake that somehow got thru the small spaces in the chute and ended up in the coin tray? Was probably chasing the cockroaches. He was too big to crawl back out. I never, ever carry on a conversation when I open a machine. I have learned that maneuver demands my full undivided attention.

[JEREMYTINA]

You must really be new to this biz. Old-timers spray all their candy with Raid before they refill.

lmao

[divango]

James, where are you located in Costa Rica? I have a business partner in Playa Hermosa, Puntarenas near Jaco... I have not been to visit him yet but may be going soon..  O0

I have heard of putting Pam on M & I's to keep them from sticking, never thought about the Raid on MMP's 

[mainor5251]

Get the non scented raid

[Faith Vending]

Raid flavored candy... do you put a label with that? Our candy comes with a spritz of Raid? LOL. Just messing with you. I spray "Hot Shot" ant and roach spray all around the baseboard around the machine and the base plate of the unit. This prevents the ant trail to the machine which can freak out owners. This stuff leaves no odor and works great.

[mizugori]

This is highly off topic but I thought you guys might enjoy hearing about this experience of mine, which I was just reminded of by this thread.

In an apartment I used to live in, which was honestly VERY nice, I once had a cockroach invade my bathroom. This was a total shock because as I said, it was not a dirty place and I kept everything very clean.

So anyways, I'm on the throne, and a cockroach seriously 1/3 the size of a roll of quarters, scurries in under the door. I jumped up in surprise, and started looking for things to kill it with (I really thought if I stepped on it with my bare feet, it would bite through my flesh. That's how big this damn thing was.) First, I found one of my girlfriend's magazines, rolled it up, and slammed it down on the cockroach. Twice. It just kind of looked up at me with a sneer.

Next, I grabbed a tissue box, and slammed that down on it, and even kind of dragged it across the floor. When I lifted it, the roach ran away and hid under the bathmat. This thing was so big I could see the bulge where it was hiding!! Okay, time to break out the heavy duty sh!t. I grabbed a hammer from the hallway closet, walked back in, and slammed down on the obvious bulge in the bathmat.

End of story right? WRONG! I lifted the bathmat and it still ran away!! What appeared to be 2 legs were stuck to the floor, that is apparently all that the hammer did to it. I swear I hit the thing dead on too. At any rate, by this point I was seriously getting mad, so I devised a new plan.... I started chasing the little b--tard around by slamming the magazine near it until I managed to herd it into the shower.

....Now, if you thought I was going to just wash it down the drain, you're insane because A.) this was clearly monster roach, and would have survived, and B.) I really don't think it would even have fit down the drain.

Nope, I grabbed a bottle of 91% isopryl alcohol that I use to clean computer parts, and gave that little prick a bath.

And then I lit a match and threw it in the tub.

Possibly a bad idea. The flames went up so high I couldnt even reach the knobs to turn on the water in the shower to put it out!! I had to run and grab bunch of those round poland spring bottles and I was able to put it out with those. On the plus side, when my entire bathtub burst into flames, the roach split in two and the bottom half incinerated, while the top half floated up for a couple of seconds before completely disintegrating. Right before the head vanished into the flames, he gave me one last sneer...

So, if you ever have a roach problem, don't waste your time trying to smash it. Incinerate it!

DISCLAIMER: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! I almost burned down my apartment doing it.

[sherlock]

This is EXACTLY why I have never lived in an apartment and hope to never have to.

I may wind up living next to someone like you! 

I prefer not having my neighbor burn his apartment down over a roach considering me and mine are probably right on the other side of that wall.

All in good fun, brother.

[dapreachaman]

stupid sewer roaches.  Our city thought it would be a good idea to put them in the sewers to help with keeping them clean.  Unfortunately when the season turns dry and hot like now they come out of the sewers and look for water.  They are just what you described.  I have flushed them down the toilet and watched them attempt to stick around.  Washed down drain of tub and had it come back up a little later.  Ran the tub for about 10 minutes next time and it was gone.