Dickey's incubator problem -inconsistent cabinet tempuratures

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paidin

paidin

In the Brooder
Jan 25, 2016
5
0
20
Springville, Tennessee
Hi guys,

I just bought a Dickey's incubator. Huge improvement over the Styrofoam incubators I have been using. My problem is that the temps in the incubator at the door, where the thermometer is, is not the same as the temperature at the hatching tray on the bottom. I have the temperature at the door hovering around 99.5 degrees, confirmed with 2 other digital thermometers. When I place those other two thermometers in other places in the cabinet, I find that the hatching tray on the bottom is consistently 97 degrees while the door thermometer indicates 99.5 degrees. Is this going to be a problem for hatching the eggs? do your cabinet incubators exhibit this same issue?

I have eggs in the trays at the moment so it is difficult for me to measure the exact temps in the trays. well actually, I just set some eggs in the hatcher so I should have room. I will follow up with those findings.

Thanks!
paidin
 
This is too verify they all match
400


This is the temp a minute ago according to the thermometer that came with the unit
400


This is sitting on the hatching tray 97 degrees
400


This is on the middle tray, slightly less
400


This was on the top shelf, also calibrated with the other Digital thermometers
400


Any ideas? Is this normal?
 
Here are updated temps from top and middle trays:

Reference temp from front of incubator
400


Placement of thermometer on top tray for reference
400


Temp displayed
400


Placement of thermometer on second tray
400


Middle shelf temp display
400


Top shelf thermometer for reference
400


My vent holes are about 1/3 open. I'm wondering if I should calibrate the cabinet based on one of the shelves and see what the door thermometer says and maintain that in the future. I don't know anyone else with this incubator and am wondering if people are just successfully incubating at 97-98 degrees instead of 99.5?
 
I own a Dickey. It's an excellent incubator. You will have differences in temperature in every cabinet incubator made. You will drive yourself crazy with numerous thermometers located at different levels. I know, I have done it. Just relax. If you are getting good hatches on time you are good to go.
 
My new Dickey has an upper tray temp of 99.5-100 and a hatching tray temp of 95 no matter what I do! My first batch is due to hatch next week-end. Am curious how other Dickey owners feel about this temp difference? My 1502 incubator has consistent temps throughout....
 
I hatch at a slightly lower temp than I incubate by using a separate styrofoam incubator for hatching so it seems the lower temp in the cabinet may be intentional in the design. The babies produce body heat during hatching so the lower temp prevents overheating.
 
We hatch well over 90% in our Dickey so I'm not really concerned what the temp difference is
big_smile.png


I recall checking the hatching tray for temp and it was within a degree of the rest of the incubator. Back vents are open 1/2 at all times, don't know if that means anything to the temp but it definitely affects the humidity.

You just purchased a very nice, and very expensive incubator. Don't be afraid to call Mr. Dickey and ask questions! He would prefer that you would call and hash it out instead of trying to figure it out yourself.

Keep in mind that Mother Nature tolerates fairly wild temp fluctuations to her eggs and they still hatch every day! I consider a Dickey incubator to be legal cheating
yesss.gif
 
First hatch did very well despite continued 95 degree temp in bottom tray. It did take 23 days instead of 21, but I didn't have much of an issue with dried out chicks or half-hatchers. Humidity during hatch was 55-65. Temp in middle of incubator is 99 so I turned it up to 100 to see if the next batch hatches a little faster. In comparison, I put half of the eggs from this batch (which incubated entirely in the Dickey) into my 1202 hatching tray, and they are taking even longer to hatch, even though temp in that tray is 97-99 with similar humidity!
 
I am very curious myself. I have a home made bator that i spent a weekend building. It is large enough that it needed a larger heat source than a light bulb and a larger fan. So i used a cheap hair dryer and a small desk fan the temps are good in the trey but i have a thermometer mounted in the top near a vent and it seems to read a little higher. my chicks are due to hatch next wednesday. On your experience how big of a part does a few degrees play? I know they can hatch early/ late depending.
 

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