Brinsea EcoGlow 50 - anyone have problems with them?

[Ariel188]

According to Brinsea you cannot get an accurate reading putting a thermometer under it. Air temperature will not show an accurate reading. I didn't get a conclusive answer about sitting a thermometer ON the black plate to get a reading. I asked him to please make a FAQ to explain how the EcoGlow works and how to check to make sure the one you have is working correctly. Some people go on faith, and some people go on evidence LOL. I lean towards the latter especially if something is not doing what I thought it should given the information made available to me (even if I misinterpret that information for whatever reason - my misunderstanding or vagueness on the part of the company). I would still like to verify myself that my EcoGlow is not cooking my chicks, but I am confident the one they are sending me IS working as it should since they tested it to verify that.

Would love a story update of what ever happened with the 2nd one. If they said it was right?

 

[debir1966]

Hi Ariel188!

Well, it acted exactly the same, and the same as the second one they sent to replace the first one - they both felt unreasonably warm to me in certain spots when I held my hand on them. However, I have used the EcoGlow for several batches of chicks and poults over the last 2 years and have only lost one poult and that was to smothering I am pretty sure.

I also bought the EcoGlow 20 and it has very warm spots too!

Debi

 

[Ariel188]

Hi Ariel188!

Well, it acted exactly the same, and the same as the second one they sent to replace the first one - they both felt unreasonably warm to me in certain spots when I held my hand on them. However, I have used the EcoGlow for several batches of chicks and poults over the last 2 years and have only lost one poult and that was to smothering I am pretty sure.

I also bought the EcoGlow 20 and it has very warm spots too!

Debi

Thank you so much! My first hatch is due on Sat and I plugged in 2 Ecoglow 50's I bought and they both seemed hot to me and since Brinsea was closed I searched threads. Thank you for updating, I am guessing mine are probably normal. Like you thought, what is the chance of TWO bad ones?

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

buckey52: I do love it also! No pasty butt, no constant light, happy chicks, safe... I really can't say enough about it. I do wish they would discuss it more with me on the phone versus just sending out a new one, maybe it would help me feel everything was working as it should if they were willing to talk about it a bit more. Well, like I said, hopefully 3rd time is the charm and I won't have any issues with the next one!

I got one today and I noticed that Brinsea warns that some warping of the black cover is normal.

 

[ashtree]

So the consensus with the thread is hot to touch is normal? I ordered a EcoGlow50 and it feels pretty darn hot but I can't find anyone at Brinsea to answer if that's normal. I've been told they will send a new one when mine is returned, which is great, but if it's normal I'd love to save myself the hassle of shipping and waiting.

 

[crazyhatlady]

Does the mains transformer on anyone elses' ecoglow 50 get extremely warm to the touch? I can hold it in my hand but if it was any warmer it would be too hot to hold.

 

[manychitlens]

Does the mains transformer on anyone elses' ecoglow 50 get extremely warm to the touch? I can hold it in my hand but if it was any warmer it would be too hot to hold.

I don't have the 50, I have the 20, but what's funny is that just today I was wondering if this was normal. I've had it going for 5 weeks now, and hadn't really handled the transformer until a few days ago when I started taking the chicks out to the run every day. I take the eco glow out too because I have a chick that hardly has any feathers (he is huge, and still covered in a lot of fluff). Anyway, I noticed when I moved it that the transformer was really hot. I'm not sure if that's normal or not, either, but I'm glad that someone else is also having that experience. I hope someone else will chime in.

 

[crazyhatlady]

I agree if someone else would chime in if they have the same experience, it might indicate if its normal. Thank you for replyinv.

 

[Suzilla Bean]

I might be late to the party, but I warmed up the unit before I got the chicks, so as to check if it actually worked. The ambient temperature was 99.5 and touching the unit burned my hand. The website states that: Because the heat from the black underside of the EcoGlow is largely radiant, measuring the temperature with a thermometer is of little value. Radiant heat passes through air without warming it. Only a solid object will absorb and be warmed by Radiant heat. So a thermometer will register the air temperature but not the radiant heat and will usually show some 5 to 10°F lower than the effective temperature felt by the chicks. Always watch the behavior of the birds. They will naturally huddle together if they are cool. The more of them, the less external warmth they need. Based on their information, my unit was 109! I've emailed them today and will add to the thread once I get a response.

 

[Suzilla Bean]

I have to replace the unit.