Ants made a home in my laptop!

@chiyosan (30183)
Philippines
February 5, 2013 7:34am CST
That is really scary!!! i have created another discussion, as you can see. i had someone check out my laptop because recently i have noticed that it is overheating almost instantly. i was told that the fan of the laptop is probably broken, etc. (see discussion here http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/2745779.aspx ) So i got my laptop today, my office mate gave it back t me and guess what?!!! he showed me pictures of the ant "colony" all dead in chunks inside my laptop!! He found two sets of collective ants (dead) in my laptop =( I was so embarrassed that this was the case... i am still thankful though that i have asked him to look at if for me, because at least my laptop has been cleaned already and Thank God for that!! He told me to just check my laptop once in a while and he asked me to be careful not to eat while i use my laptop. heheh (guilty as charged!) Now i am relieved, but he told me it was good and i was in luck that according to the state he saw my laptop with chunks of dead ants, he thought it could have destroyed my laptop's motherboard. Since the ants were in the circuit board he was worried that it might have caused electric malfunction... Whew! Thank God that he already asked me to let my laptop be checked.
3 people like this
12 responses
• Indonesia
6 Feb 13
next time be careful, do not thing like that happen again Ok.
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
6 Feb 13
hi there, yes i have learned my lesson and i now know i should be careful with my laptop, where i put it and what i do when i am using it. he he
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
7 Feb 13
hi! I am from Philippines
• Indonesia
6 Feb 13
by the way... where are you from?
@laydee (12798)
• Philippines
6 Feb 13
Darn these ants! I do have constant fears about ants creeping into my gadgets and electronics. I just don't know why they're so attracted to these things. I once had problems with ants going inside my keyboard. I don't know what happened but I guess that was the season when ants went bezerk. They cost me around 3 consecutive keyboards in just a month! Until my cousin told me that some components of cheaper keyboards uses materials that attract ants. When I bought a much expensive keyboard, the ants no longer came. Whew! Have a great mylot experience ahead!
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
6 Feb 13
wow, is that really so? i was thinking where and how or why they would want to be in my laptop... i am not aware that there are something about electronics that could or actually attracts these ants, thank you for the information, maybe i can look around while i use laptop and make sure not one makes it way in otherwise it might attract others.
1 person likes this
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
9 Mar 13
hehe yeah so i became so paranoid now i would tell even my officemate to not eat at my table at work so i would not pick up those crumbs that might attract the ants. =)
@laydee (12798)
• Philippines
23 Feb 13
Yeah, you be careful of those cheap products (or components). They attract ants!
@rsa101 (38166)
• Philippines
7 Feb 13
Now I know why ants made it there in your laptop. LOL! Well honestly I also am guilty of doing that since it is so convenient to eat while doing our thing in our laptops. I also have that experience in our A/C year ago. We noticed that the power switch was not working properly so we have a/c technician checked it and noticed this lump of ants around the switch and it damaged it already that we have to replaced the switch with a new one because of that. I really do not know the reason why the ants were attracted to that switch but technicians told us it happens a lot to many appliances and they too could not explain why they are attracted to it.
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
7 Feb 13
*(covers face) hehe Oh yeah i am so guilty and i was really feeling embarrased that i had ant colony in my laptop! :D he he maybe it was like what our mylotter friend said that ants get attracted to certain electronic parts... :D he he but i have learned my lessons, i would not be eating with my laptop on the same table, just to be sure.
@lynboobsy11 (11343)
• Philippines
6 Feb 13
I'm glad that your friend ask you to check your laptop sometimes we really can't avoid eating in front of laptop while were doing something. I don't have problems in ants in my laptop only dust that makes my fan getting noise. I just ask the repairman last month to clean and a month ago it starting to make noise again whicb is a bad sign again of expenses.
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
6 Feb 13
hi there Lyn! i sure hope that your tech would be able to find nothing too seriously wrong in your laptop. I did find it convenient to do my work while i am eating, but i made sure nothing gets in the laptop and in the keyboard, so i am really surprised that ants made its way to the laptop. =(
@vernaC (1491)
• Romania
5 Feb 13
Wow!! and you never noticed ants coming in and out of your laptop? I think you do but you didn't mind about that. At least now you know what happened and prevent this to happen again next time. I also eat in fron of the laptop but I always use plate and tissue, try to have a box of tissue near to your laptop too.
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
5 Feb 13
I was telling my mom what was found in my laptop and now she finds happiness scolding me! :D oh well at least it was cleaned now. i have no plans of replacing my laptop - not in the next half a decade so im going to be extra careful in taking care of my laptop and won't eat side by side. ha. lessons learned. I did notice some ants crawling in my laptop before but they weren't many, sometimes its just one or two so i would wonder if they were ants from the table... apparently they were crawling out of the laptop (due to the heat, i guess) few made it out alive, though hehe :D
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
6 Feb 13
he he yeah, i do think that they will be back, but i would be ready for them verna! :D there were only a few of them who made it out so it would take a lot of time for them to build an army to declare a war with me. ;)
@vernaC (1491)
• Romania
5 Feb 13
hahaaha..lucky for the ants who made it alive. Watch out, they might be back for revenge and burn your laptop.
@Nursefrai06 (2498)
• Penrith, Australia
6 Feb 13
Now I think i have a clue as to why my laptop got destroyed several months back. I never thought ants could colonize in laptops, i know that they're quite fond with electronics but then they seem to go away everytime i turn on the speaker. I thought that got rid of them. Thank you so much for sharing this discussion, i gotta be careful next time so as not to have ants colonize my laptop either. You know those washable rubber mats you put on keyboards to protect them? Looks like those things are really needed after all.
@drkraven (521)
• Romania
5 Feb 13
By far the coolest thing i have read today :)
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
6 Feb 13
haha oh i am embarrassed now that i have read this. =) thank you so much for your response to the discussion.
• India
5 Feb 13
Thanks for sharing, i will check your other discussion, normally i work with my desk top pc, when in my home, but now i am in my sons home, i brought my laptop, so that i or my wife can work, i have 4 grand kids, the twins are 3 years young, they play with it, poured milk that had sugar, when i saw, it was full with ants. I had to clean it and now i have put a protective transparent cover over it.
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
5 Feb 13
hi prof, so it isn't new... i guess ants will be everywhere they can fit right into?! :D he he i remember my niece played with my laptop before and it was a game she was so engrossed with and probably that was parts of it that got stuck inside the laptop. at least it has now been cleaned. Ha i will be extra careful, really. i do not want to risk my laptop now that i am back to using it often.
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
6 Feb 13
Aha! You must be munching on chips while using your laptop! That can really happen.
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
6 Feb 13
Guilty!! Raises my hand, but then making a face to hide embarrasment. hehehe Actually i was doing that, but then now i won't be doing that, not anymore... ;)
@asliah (11137)
• Philippines
25 Mar 13
that's really annoying to ants because they live where they want,especially in your laptop and even in our closets,and aside from that they can damage your things especially when they stay and create a home in that,so better you need get rid of them all.
• Philippines
5 Feb 13
you need to clean its parts manually, because it has a chance that may happen again. yes a "colony" of ants. did you think why would that happen? sometimes after we use our laptop we put it somewhere else. if there is something sweet remaining in your computer parts it is possible to happen again., so its better to clean it manually. im giving remindings only.. it is up to you. sossy ants huh. laptop is their home =)
@vamshi22 (19)
5 Feb 13
Actually its funny :) ..i have heard a similar incident in the past from my fried that ants got into his netbook and guess what? those ants ate up the hard disk and as a result he lost most of his writing projects and other stuff.. to all the laptop netbook and users, beware of ants!
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
6 Feb 13
oh my god!! at least i had mine just in time before they could even enter the hard disk and destroy it!!! oh geesh, thank God for this!! :D And yup, i do agree with you about the incident being funny... it is funny now that it did not cause me trouble. haha but i think i won't be laughing if those ants would cause me my laptop! i could have killed them again and again. hihihi