ants in keyboard?

[nz3r0er]

I've seen small groups of ants try to swarm my keyboard as I woke about a week ago, I completely cleaned my keyboard up and worried about ants being in my PC, but to my surprise no ants were in there (not complaining). Does anybody know why the ants try to go to my keyboard rather than swarm my PC? I know ants are attracted to electricity and all and I'm just worried one day they will swarm my PC

 

[R_1]

my first thought is a chemical leeching from the plastic is attracting the ants. there is very little to no power running through a standard keyboard. ants are chemically controlled, pheromone trails etc. or they are feeding on something.

 

[vrumor]

Do you eat over your keyboard?

 

[nz3r0er]

Do you eat over your keyboard?

No I don't even bring anything edible in the room where my PC is.

 

[nz3r0er]

my first thought is a chemical leeching from the plastic is attracting the ants. there is very little to no power running through a standard keyboard. ants are chemically controlled, pheromone trails etc. or they are feeding on something.

Would changing my keyboard solve this issue?

 

[R_1]

my first thought is a chemical leeching from the plastic is attracting the ants. there is very little to no power running through a standard keyboard. ants are chemically controlled, pheromone trails etc. or they are feeding on something.

Would changing my keyboard solve this issue?

it will if the keyboard is the attractant.

a simple enough test is to swap keyboards and move the ant keyboard and see if the ants follow. if so you'll know.

 

[toshibitsu]

Are you sure you or someone else did not spill any food/fluid into the keyboard? All the years I spent working in a computer repair shop I've seen it all. fluid spills on laptops(mostly macbooks for some reason), including wine/beer/milk/water/coffee/(other questionable residue)… fluids aside, I've even seen ants, roaches & spiders inside of laptops and desktops. The most memorable was a guy visiting from Fiji who had some sort of ant species I had never seen before coming out of his laptop. I just know some of those things managed to escape and are infesting San Diego.

 

[smorizio]

your better off finding the nest and killing it. if your in the basement pull up the edge of the carpet see if you can see if there coming in from a crack. if you cant and dont have any pets set up a few ant bait station. walk around your home look for any cracks in the foundation and seal them. one big ops is wood chips near the house or wood. also with ants they need water too or dampness.

 

[R_1]

I make a pet friendly ant killer out of equal parts powdered sugar and baking soda. it has worked well for me in the past

 

[toshibitsu]

btw summer time is ant season. I actually need to go around the perimeter of my home and use some ant deterrent spray.

 

[vrumor]

Terminix, $25 a month. I see zero bugs or anything and im in Arizona.

 

[nz3r0er]

the keyboard was the issue no ants near my setup anymore, but the small problem now is that my replacement is a membrane, any good mechanical keyboards that won't attract ants you can recommend?

 

[toshibitsu]

I'm using a Corsair K95 RGB Platinum on the desktop in my bedroom. I also have a Logitech G910 Orion Spark RGB keyboard on the desktop in the living room. No ant(or other insects) issues with either one.

 

[nz3r0er]

some ants are still showing but only 2 or 3 at most they don't go to my keyboard they just are on my desk. Are they following the trail that previous ants left and if so how can I kill stop the trail.

 

[R_1]

some ants are still showing but only 2 or 3 at most they don't go to my keyboard they just are on my desk. Are they following the trail that previous ants left and if so how can I kill stop the trail.

vinegar, white, undiluted. wet down, leave a minute and wipe down. the acid will help breakup the chem trail.