My first (homamade) incubator. - Page 2

Very innovative, how exciting! I'm in no way an expert, and just botched my first attempt at hatching myself, probably because of temperature swings in the first couple days. If you want to make 100% sure the temperature is steady, I'd recommend using a water heater thermostat. They are easy to wire to the light cord.

I just built an incubator out of a styrofoam cooler and had a heck of a time keeping the temp stable. It was good for an entire day and night so I put my eggs in, then when the weather changed the next day the temp in the house changed enough to set the incubator temp swinging. I tried every bulb I could from 15 watt to 100 watt and finally decided to send dh to Lowe's for a water heater thermostat (I was afraid to leave the incubator long enough to go to the store, stayed up two night monitoring the temperature lol)  It turns the light on and off periodically so that the temp stays constant, even if the house heats up or cools down,

Good luck! Happy hatching.

Another tip for both of you would be to use a heat sink, just put a large stone or two in a corner. When using a thrown together bator it'll help maintain even and constant temperature and reduce temp fluctuation :)

First thing you need a thermostat to control temp.. otherwise your chicks cannot survive...

second is FAN ... use computer phone with 12v dc power supply to rotate generated bulb heat into bator.

Third.. direct bulb light can harm your eggs. Even you have a temp or hygrometer but direct bulb light can change temp immediately until your meter values changes. In my opinion temp which effects egg will be by air not by direct bulb light.

You cannot hatch until all three conditions must be true.. In my opinion your design is not correct

have a look at my homemade bator.

here you can see bulb is protected by foil.. so when bulb lit its light cannot effect eggs. just below bulb you can see two computers smps fans are situated to rotate heat... you can install only one ( i did it coz my one fan is weaker and i dont want to replace fan during hatching process :) ).

you can see thermostat just beside eggs to control bulb on and off.

Fan must be near water to increase vaporization in the air..

One more thing should remm that eggs and water should be in separate layer otherwise after hatching chicks can drowned their self in to water.
 

I successfully hatched 4 out of five this weekend in this bator.. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by rahul2299 

First thing you need a thermostat to control temp.. otherwise your chicks cannot survive...

 

second is FAN ... use computer phone with 12v dc power supply to rotate generated bulb heat into bator.

 

Third.. direct bulb light can harm your eggs. Even you have a temp or hygrometer but direct bulb light can change temp immediately until your meter values changes. In my opinion temp which effects egg will be by air not by direct bulb light.

 

You cannot hatch until all three conditions must be true.. In my opinion your design is not correct

 

have a look at my homemade bator.

 

 

here you can see bulb is protected by foil.. so when bulb lit its light cannot effect eggs. just below bulb you can see two computers smps fans are situated to rotate heat... you can install only one ( i did it coz my one fan is weaker and i dont want to replace fan during hatching process :) ).

 

you can see thermostat just beside eggs to control bulb on and off.

 

Fan must be near water to increase vaporization in the air..

 

One more thing should remm that eggs and water should be in separate layer otherwise after hatching chicks can drowned their self in to water.
 

 

I successfully hatched 4 out of five this weekend in this bator.. :)

I have seen that thermostat more than once. What is is supposed to be used for, like when you bought it or salvaged it.

quintinp ,,, I dont know its real usage(may be its used in electric boiler) but its very nice in function vise and very cheap only 1$.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by rahul2299 

quintinp ,,, I dont know its real usage(may be its used in electric boiler) but its very nice in function vise and very cheap only 1$.
 

Where did you get a thermostat for only $1?  Thx.

Here in india its very cheap... only 70rupees which equal to 1USD.