Brinsea Octagon 20 - humidity pump

[BarnGoddess01]

I just got a new Brinsea Octagon 20 with a humidity pump and I'm having trouble getting the humidity to stabilize at 45%. It seems to be running at 34% with the base trays empty and over 60% if I add water. Vent is currently at half open with no water in the the base but I can't seem to get the humidity over 34%. Am I missing something? (Humidity in the room is 50%.)

 

[Eighty806]

I want to thank everyone who posted to this thread. I received my humidity pump today so spent the evening setting it up. I incubated 23 eggs, out of the 14 fertile eggs, only 2 hatched and only that is healthy. So I broke down and spent the money for the pump and going to give it another try. After setting it up, even though the instruction said to wait an hour for the humidity to stabilize, it did not after 3 hours. BYC thread came to the rescue. I sucked the air out and voila, it worked within minutes. Boy, you guys are the best, thank you for the tip. You saved me many hours of frustration.

 

[Berry1177]

Totally agree on sucking the water through the tube with your mouth. I tried all solutions, I.e. Changing hoses, checking for obstructions, etc. nothing worked until the sucking trick.

 

[KIDDSBANTAMS]

Made sure the hoses are not cut and are actually pumping the water to the humidity sheet. If the pump is running all the time then there is either a hole, tear, cut in the tubing or the tubing is not cut the right lengths or you can have the tubing wrapped around the motor shaft wrong. All has to be done perfect or it will not pump right. I have 2 pumps and mine work well and I have had the humidity all the way to 75 during lockdowns.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
I am thinking I don't have the pump working correctly. Lengths are as specified. Wrapping around motor shaft looks like the pictures. I can't find any holes but I don't think water is being delivered.

I do believe I have something wrong but I don't know what to check!!!

RH is still reading 34/35% after several hours ....

Humidity sheet isn't wet. I assume it should be?

 

[KIDDSBANTAMS]

When I first got my first pump one of the short hoses was about an inch too short and we had to cut a new hose and then it pumped right, also the hose around the pump motor has to be equal on both sides, You can undo the hose where it goes into the rigid tube and suck and see if the water comes through, if it does not you probably have a small cut somewhere or a pinched hose. The sheet should be wet if it is pumping.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
I did replace that short hose. Mine was also about an inch short. Still, it wouldn't bring the humidity up. So I replaced ALL hoses.

Someone else suggested "gravity feed" - raise the pump above the incubator - and that seems to have done the trick!

If it's still maintaining in the morning, I MAY move eggs ....

I'll keep you posted.

 

[Faerytalefarm]

I just got the Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance Ex that has the pump as well. I'm really hoping I don't run into any issues setting it up since I need to set eggs sunday. This thread will come in handy if I do run into issues. I hope yours continues to remain stable.

 

[Gypsy07]

I have my pump sitting beside my incubator on the same surface, meaning the motor has to pump the water slightly 'up the way'. It manages this fine, so I don't think the height of the pump relative to the bator should be an issue. What I have noticed is that if the tubes are full of air when you've connected everything up, it can take hours for water to actually be sucked up along the tube to reach the humidity pad. The motor turns and turns but the water takes ages to make it all the way along the tube. The best thing to do is to suck the water up yourself right to the end of the tube, then pinch the tube near the end you're going to put into the bator, at a soft bit. Pinching the tube stops the water falling back down into the reservoir. Get the tube into the bator and sitting in the correct place before you let go of the bit you're pinching. If all the tubes are the correct length and wound round the motor okay, your humidity should reach the set level within an hour of being connected up. If it doesn't, there's something wrong.

Edit: Also meant to say, if you're using a humidity pump, you're not supposed to have to put water in the base trays.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Interesting, Gypsy07. Thank you! I don't think the instructions that come with the humidity pump are quite clear/detailed enough. Apparently not for this feeble brain, at any rate.

Perhaps putting the pump up higher helped it to speed to process of getting water to the unit??? Or maybe it was just time. Anyway, it's holding beautifully this morning so I'll get some eggs on board later today.

Faerytalefarm: My advice - Set the unit up the day before you plan to set your eggs. Make sure you've got it stablilized well beforehand, just in case!!