BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Incubating & Hatching Eggs › incubator ideas! post your ideas for home made incubators, whether they work or not~
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

incubator ideas! post your ideas for home made incubators, whether they work or not~ - Page 2

post #11 of 373
2/28/12 at 5:26pm
Thread Starter 
I... surrender! That post ain't never gonna be right! I think people can get the gist of what I mean to add for better temperature control...

BoutrosBoutrosGalusGalus: what'd you use for heating? I've heard lots of people having great success with fish-tank incubators. I wanna build one now! Ijust need a fish tank... your name is the most complex BYC pen name yet.. wow. I had to look at it four times to get it right! But anyways; what's the temperature of the room your tank is in? 70* is perfect and should be cool enough to not die of sweating and not kick your electric bill through the roof.

Try setting he room temp at 70, putting a warm towel over your incubator, and if that's not enough, add a higher wattage bulb. As long as your temps stay betwen 97-101 for the most part, you should have a decent hatch.

P.s! If is still doesn't work, don't give up!
Reply
Reply

Featured Stories on BackYard Chickens

Poll: Why raise backyard chickens?
The Basics Of Raising Chickens - Raising Chickens 101
Have you ever wondered how a hen can lay an egg every day?
post #12 of 373
2/28/12 at 5:30pm

I think that a water heater thermostat can be made to work in certain environments.

 

I was never capable of making a water heater thermostat work to my needs in a fridge or cabinet incubator. It really depends on the volume of the incubator as to what the thermostat can handle.

 

I am saying that in a cooler incubator, water heater thermostats work GREAT!
 

Mine held temperature variations of 4 degrees in a fridge or cabinet incubator.

 

With a water heater thermostat it was Trial and Error for me. I have learned a few techniques to make the incubator work very nicely.

 

I use a wafer thermostat in my cabinet incubator, and didn't have problems with it.

 

It is just how much money you are willing to spend and how much tinkering you are willing to do to get something to work right.

 

MONEY was my situation, when I started my cooler incubator I didn't have the money to go out and buy a wafer thermostat, so I bought the water heater thermostat, and learned some new tricks to make it work better, and for the inexperienced, I share all of my knowledge from my experience.

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, Let there be light! And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. Ellen DeGeneres   
also//////// Y'all also need to check out my homemade cooler incubator, my homemade fridge-a-bator, and my cabinet incubator on my BYC page.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-cabinet-incubator

http://www.backya...

Reply

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, Let there be light! And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. Ellen DeGeneres   
also//////// Y'all also need to check out my homemade cooler incubator, my homemade fridge-a-bator, and my cabinet incubator on my BYC page.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-cabinet-incubator

http://www.backya...

Reply
post #13 of 373
2/28/12 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cva34 View Post

Thermostat is Heart of Inc. Wafer thermostat are proven .Incubator Warehouse  makes a digital unit that's been good to me.about $50. Ranco 111000 makes a tough unit and controls well but no decimal places Whole # only about $50. on ebay been good to me too.Useing water heater thermostat s are kind of like shaveing with an AXE. My tip for today...cva34



I think you have a point. A water heater thermostat is a waste of a perfectly good 10 bucks.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 373
2/28/12 at 5:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kellyn View Post


I think you have a point. A water heater thermostat is a waste of a perfectly good 10 bucks.


EEEeeek!!!. You guys are killing me. If there is any problem you have with it, I would definitely like to help with your displeasure of the thermostat.

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, Let there be light! And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. Ellen DeGeneres   
also//////// Y'all also need to check out my homemade cooler incubator, my homemade fridge-a-bator, and my cabinet incubator on my BYC page.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-cabinet-incubator

http://www.backya...

Reply

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, Let there be light! And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. Ellen DeGeneres   
also//////// Y'all also need to check out my homemade cooler incubator, my homemade fridge-a-bator, and my cabinet incubator on my BYC page.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-cabinet-incubator

http://www.backya...

Reply
post #15 of 373
2/28/12 at 5:38pm
Thread Starter 
Maybe one of these days I'll get a ranco. I don't have a thermostat one the incubator at school. It actually works perfectly. Stays always 101-99*. 70 degree room temperature.

Quintip: you mustve done yours right. This weekend I'll try and fix mine better.
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 373
2/28/12 at 5:40pm

I would enjoy helping you fix this problem you are having.

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, Let there be light! And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. Ellen DeGeneres   
also//////// Y'all also need to check out my homemade cooler incubator, my homemade fridge-a-bator, and my cabinet incubator on my BYC page.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-cabinet-incubator

http://www.backya...

Reply

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, Let there be light! And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. Ellen DeGeneres   
also//////// Y'all also need to check out my homemade cooler incubator, my homemade fridge-a-bator, and my cabinet incubator on my BYC page.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-cabinet-incubator

http://www.backya...

Reply
post #17 of 373
2/28/12 at 5:46pm
Thread Starter 
Could you post a picture of what yours looks like? My incubator is in use, but I only use the light to add xtra heat when it's under 70* out. It oucassionally gets too hot so I have to constantly monitor it.

I may use it on another 'experiment' incubator later on; I already have an idea of what to do~

I must have brain damage... every time I finish an incubator, I just HAVE to start on another one! Sometimes I swear I spend more time on that than I do tending my chickens! Yeah, I think I have some type of 'build another incubator' disorder...
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 373
2/28/12 at 5:57pm

Sure, one thing you should do is place the thermostat within an 1 1/2 inches from the light bulb. The thermostat should have holes drilled into it to let warm air into it, and make it react faster to changes in temperature. The light should be between a small fan, and the thermostat.

 

I will give you some pictures of the heating, and placement of the thermostat in relation to the fan and light bulb.

 

UpdatedCoolerBator 004.JPG

 

UpdatedCoolerBator 005.JPG

 

When the fan is placed facing the bulb and the thermostat, when the light bulb cycles off, it still releases heat, and with the fan blowing the light bulb, it cools the light bulb, and cools the thermostat, and makes the thermostat react faster, and give you very steady temperatures.

 

If you want to see other pictures of the incubator, just ask or look on my page, I just wanted to show you the heating in my incubator.

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, Let there be light! And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. Ellen DeGeneres   
also//////// Y'all also need to check out my homemade cooler incubator, my homemade fridge-a-bator, and my cabinet incubator on my BYC page.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-cabinet-incubator

http://www.backya...

Reply

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, Let there be light! And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. Ellen DeGeneres   
also//////// Y'all also need to check out my homemade cooler incubator, my homemade fridge-a-bator, and my cabinet incubator on my BYC page.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-cabinet-incubator

http://www.backya...

Reply
post #19 of 373
2/28/12 at 6:00pm

By the way, here is a link to a video on how to drill holes into the thermostat.  

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MsbVbQ2vZ0

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, Let there be light! And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. Ellen DeGeneres   
also//////// Y'all also need to check out my homemade cooler incubator, my homemade fridge-a-bator, and my cabinet incubator on my BYC page.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-cabinet-incubator

http://www.backya...

Reply

In the beginning there was nothing. God said, Let there be light! And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. Ellen DeGeneres   
also//////// Y'all also need to check out my homemade cooler incubator, my homemade fridge-a-bator, and my cabinet incubator on my BYC page.

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-cabinet-incubator

http://www.backya...

Reply
post #20 of 373
2/28/12 at 6:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by quintinp View Post

By the way, here is a link to a video on how to drill holes into the thermostat.  

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MsbVbQ2vZ0



that guy lives down the road from me, lol and motivated me to build my coolibator

2 Cochin 2 Golden Comet 2 White Leghorns 1 Buff Orp. 4 RIR 4 Barred Rocks 3 Silkies 2 Polish 3 new EE,  and Growing

Reply

2 Cochin 2 Golden Comet 2 White Leghorns 1 Buff Orp. 4 RIR 4 Barred Rocks 3 Silkies 2 Polish 3 new EE,  and Growing

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Incubating & Hatching Eggs

Featured Stories on BackYard Chickens

Poll: Why raise backyard chickens?
The Basics Of Raising Chickens - Raising Chickens 101
Have you ever wondered how a hen can lay an egg every day?
BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Incubating & Hatching Eggs › incubator ideas! post your ideas for home made incubators, whether they work or not~