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Helen Thomas
Contributor I
November 8, 2014

Ants in my Sonos PLAY:1

I know it sounds utterly ridiculous, but there are ants living in my Sonos PLAY:1. As there's no easy way of opening it up, I can't try to kill them all, but they are constantly crawling out, and also seem to leave behind little black flecks of something. I assume they're eating something in the speaker (maybe the rubber?).

Not sure if anyone else has had this problem but would love to hear from you if you have and have any advice, as I'm worried that the sound quality will start deteriorating as they eat away at the speaker.
I've not had much luck with turning it off at the mains and leaving the speaker to cool down. They're still in there.

FWIW I'm in London, UK, and it's getting into winter here - so it's not as though seeing lots of ants in any situation is a common occurrence, which makes this even more bizarre.
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      sheareb
      Trending Lyricist I
      September 11, 2017
      wow, is this serious?

      Seriously tho... try playing Ed Sheeran, nothing hangs about near a speaker after that....
        Tomster2
        Lyricist II
        September 11, 2017
        Once a Sonos system is setup, you don't need the RJ-45 port. That is the the largest entry point for critters... as the power port has a tight fitting power plug. Has anyone had success, after extermination, with putting a piece of electrical tape over the RJ45 port? i.e. would that be sufficient to block future access? Hey, remember... electrical tape is what Mark Zuckerberg (et al) uses to block his webcam. Maybe we found yet another "high tech" application for electrical tape.

        I am going to give that a try when it appears the existing infestation has reached EOL (end of life) and is no longer supported. Sorry, couldn't resist. But in the meantime, has anyone tried that approach with any luck?
        Keithmac
        Virtuoso
        September 12, 2017
        You could put the Play1 in the middle of a big sheet of sticky insect trap paper?. The ants would get stuck coming in and out, eventually they would all be stuck outside the play 1.. I'm sure you can either buy LAN port cover bungs, or buy a set of empty connectors and make your own?.
        mattmatt
        Lyricist I
        November 15, 2018
        My daughter noticed some ants crawling in through the mesh this morning and a quick google found this post. I found this youtube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cs3C6Z_3gU , showing how to open the unit - it's not too hard and mine is out of warranty anyway so I thought I would have a go. This is what I found in the top of the unit.



        I gave it a good wipe out and put it back together and it all works fine.
        Stanley_4
        Stanley_4
        Grand Maestro
        November 15, 2018
        Terro makes some great ant baits and area poisons that may prevent another infestation. I keep a couple baits stuck behind mom's computer and sprinkle outside her wall for just that reason.
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