DIY CABINET COOLER INCUBATOR How we did it and TEST RUN Ready Set GO!

[Sally Sunshine]

Hubs and I have had a very busy weekend, lets call it "Together Time"

We had more time fine tuning our new incubator than building it so it has perfection in temps top to bottom, but our brainstorm has turned out amazing!
And WAIT till you see the temps holding top to bottom!!

Gigantic Cabinet COOLER INCUBATOR w/semi auto turning

I took images all the way through this project even the fine tuning to get no variance top to bottom. This brainstorm started with the desire and need for a large capacity incubator that could hold enough eggs for our chick sales and also lesson all of the hand turning I have to do. And we are always trying to come up with cheaper and better ways of doing things, plus I really dont have $800. to have a new sportsman mailed to me.

est $135.00 cost

IF y'all make one, come back and share your cooler cabinet with us please!

















I started with the largest cheapest cooler I could find.....
Walmart 150 quart Cooler as of 3/2014

Free shipping too! Came in two days!
Next thing we did was admire the size of our new cooler! After having made several coolerbators we were in awe of this cooler and its endless possibilities!

Product in Inches (L x W x H): 43.2 x 19.2 x 19.2
inside is 15" x 38" HOWEVER if you look at the images you can see at the bottom that a cooler is tapered not square








These are our fans from Ebay
Lots of 4pcs Black 14CM Computer Case Fan w/Screws *NEW $14.97 for all 4 fans so I have two spare!




We laid our our fans side by side, traced them and reduced traced size enough to fit screws for installation (aprox 1/2" reduction from trace)
open image to see better.



then we traced this template as seen below and drilled holes from the inside out in each corner of the template, flipped cooler over and traced the template on the outside and then finished up with the jigsaw. We simply "eyed up" the template to center it, making sure we had enough cooler above the template to screw into later on.



You can easily see how it fell in that middle section of the bottom of the cooler, I would skip lining inside and if its the same cooler just lay the template on the bottom at the start of that recessed middle.

We cut this fan hole and we cut the bottom air duct hole as well,
NOTE: I forgot to take dimentions here so I did it with the shelf installation.... see that section below...




As you can see below I made the opening aprox 3 inches too long for the lower air return but it worked out well as I could make it smaller with duct tape and control the air flow to achieve perfect temps at all levels of the incubator. It would have messed up my egg turner had I made the hole any higher, and would have been bad if I would have to rip all the back air duct off to make it longer! SO refer to the total height in the one picture below. I will include a video below of my hours of using tape and cardboard to achieve the perfect depth and hole size before final installation of cabinet backboard and caulking.










Check out this vid of my fine tuning temps so top to bottom are identical, MIND you I messed with a taped piece of cardboard in the bottom and re-sized the return duct opening numerous times and the depth of the bottom shelf to get the temps the same. It wasn't an easy feat and my bum hurts from sitting in the kids little chair watching the thing and making minor adjustments! HA HA HA

This vid is before I added the permanent backer board shelf at the bottom as I was adjusting for perfection. I could technically include a hatcher in the bottom or another egg rack, but I dont want to hatch in it, but it has plenty room for additions stuff, also if you note the cut outs in the side of the cooler, you can easily take out the racks and turn this quickly into a multi level hatcher, we may do another for a hatcher and find plastic tubs to fit in the slits.








WE ADDED TWO pcs of 2x3's to the bottom just screwed in with galvanized decking screws, just in case it had a wobble effect and to lift "off" the table for easy opening.





We drilled the holes for our CERAMIC light sockets



t




We also drilled vent holes 7/8" paddle bit, we covered them and would only open the top up for use as a hatcher





Also drilled 7/8" holes down the left side of the incubator for ventilation, these remain UNCOVERED





Then the lid was also cut for the plexi, 8x10" plexi x2 Lowes $1.98 each.
Trace the plexi and then again REDUCE template so you can fit screws in.







Drilled first to get jigsaw started


We decided to angle the plexi and slide it under the top thin pc of cooler plastic, then we pre-drilled and screwed and since the plexi was between the foam insulation and the plastic it sealed well with four screws.










We tested our fans before installation to make sure they worked, as you can see its only 12V and nothing to be too scared of. We cut an old Power Supply seen below and wired them up.
WE USED ONE POWER SUPPLY FOR EACH FAN, in case one went the other fan would still run!





Not sure what these are called below? but you need a spacer of some sort to install the fans so they don't hit the cooler, see below for spacers and installed fans with spacers, NOTE: there is a dip in the cooler at the drain plug, we didnt put a screw in either fan in the inside top corner, no need either as three screws each were fine.




We pulled the wires through the drain plug.


Below you can see we used two power supplies,
One is not like the other, because its what we had on hand.







we cut 2 pcs of 2x3's and drilled and counter sunk them onto the cooler. Long enough to go to the top of the fan box and below the lower return hole. Then we caulked the outside and inside.








we cut a pc of left over foam insulation and used washers on screws to install over the 2x3s






So the inside dept is the width of a 2x3

We cut two small pc of insulation board to cover the top and the bottom and sealed it with metal duct tape
We made sure we wouldn't have leaks in this air duct.




With insulation..









Now is a good time to install a handle to pull as you push to seal the door closed. We thought of latches but cannot find any local. The lid is way too thick to accommodate a normal handle, would need a gate handle that screws in, but a normal handle worked on the side!




then we installed our wafer thermostat available all over the internet $22.
and you need a cord

I could retype how to do this part but its already been documented very well on an online site so Please

refer to wiring diagrams for either single or double light fixtures in this ​

VIDEO​

(scroll to bottom of link page) ​

NOTE: this cooler is extremely thick with insulation so we had to drill out and pull out some insulation in order to install the thermostat, we put the cut circle back in with some silicone. WE DID NOT PADDLE CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH JUST LIKE A HALF INCH PAST FIRST PLASTIC LAYER NOT INTO INNER COOLER, just the initial drill hole for the Allen wrench adjuster ​

SOME NOTES: The traditional wafer-type thermostat uses an ether filled capsule which expands under heat to mechanically activate a microswitch. On contracting as the incubator cools, it releases the microswitch, thus switching the heater on again. These are also very reliable and maintain a stable egg temperature even though the air temperature maintains a regular “wave” pattern. Wafer Thermostat is Adjustable between 75 and 120 degrees F. depending on room temperature. 110 Volt AC Power ONLY​

HERE IS A PDF for a DOUBLE wafer SET UP, installation of two in case one fails. Always suggest to keep extra wafers on hand just in case! http://www.gqfmfg.com/pdf/1202 1250 Cabinet model instructions.pdf​

Here are the links to the wiring diagrams for DOUBLE WAFER INSTALLATION to add the double system like the GQF does

http://www.poultrysupply.com/manuals/GQF3255_3002Thermostats_from_Kemps_Koops.pdf

http://www.gqfmfg.com/pdf/THERMOSTAT WIRING.pdf






I forgot dimensions so here they are after installation









We found these heavy duty ceramic light sockets at our local supply store dirt cheap, you can find them or ones that are already wired at lowes, OF COURSE ALWAYS CERAMIC, we use 90 W lights x2 TWO LIGHTS are ALWAYS better than ONE! If one blows you have a back up!



We checked to make sure the wires were connected securely and tested them with lights BEFORE installation


installation of sockets, HAD TO DRY overnight





See placement measurements below







You can see the depth of sockets below in image
Also note we used a left over pc of shelf for under fans to fit in slot, see measurements below for shelf depth











More pics of our wiring..... again link above for SIMPLE DIAGRAMS!
Its not as complicated as this appears! truly NOT!


















Semi Auto turner...

Three or four egg racks ebay Stabil Incubator 48 Egg Plastic 6 Tray Flats $21.99 for six
THESE ARE USED so we bleached and sterilized immediately.


NOTE: The only reason our turning Alum Rod doesnt go up through to the top of the bator (for turning w/o opening) is because the incubator is 42" plus the base 2x3s and added table underneith, I AM SHORT 5'2 and shrinking every year at this point

plus me up on a stool or a chair is a NO NO. Plus I do think opening the incubator will have positive effects on the embryos and you will be amazed at how fast the temp heads back up, faster than a hen back on the nest for sure!


Its just like all my other coolerbators just a different arrangement with more convenience. In the spring I can replace the rod if we decide to build a custom cabinet to hold it out of skids, but our skids are still buried under snow and ice.





three or four rods for the tuners, see size on label $1.95 each Lowes, can use dowels I guess




three or four clevis pins for turners



Simple turning rack which was screwed in each side... PLEASE watch video for how they work.
Also needed a alum flat stock for attaching all trays together.





I simply cut rods to length and ziptied the racks on. I will be switching the zipties out with hose clamps because zip ties can become fragile and break at some point.

NOTE bar placement......
you do use up one row of the 48 egg slots, so your capacity is then 42 still not bad
also install with the side that will have 4 rows of eggs FRONT, this way you can put your side rails back just a tad more too.




NOTE: if at some point I feel the trays do not have the strength to hold the eggs (which doesnt seem likely at this point, they are very very strong) I can always follow through with the angle alum squares to hold my trays.





Here is hubs showing off his handywork of my GENIUS! HOWEVER I did get yelled at because I put the "darn thermometer" in his way for when he took the tray out!
Has some tweaking needs done, but Its awesome!!











Clevis Pin holds rack, undo pin when using loop to hold level and remove trays.








Loop we made to hook on to level egg racks when working with eggs or removing trays below



When tilted in lower position the alum bar just rests on the bottom of the cooler





When tilt in upwards position there is a round eye hook bent open a tad to hook the hole on the top of the bar to hold them in up position.





The trays are even level with eggs filled, I am paranoid of this angle 45 degrees, as I never had a turner like this and its like HANGING AND EGG OFF A CLIFF! HA HA HA






There she is.... or he is <shrugs>

Disclaimer:​

Please note this information is offered as friendly advice only and, whilst I have made every effort to ensure it is accurate, I can not be held responsible if it proves not to be useful in your case!​

 

[DJC62]

Good job! Glad you had great success!

I promised to post pics of the incubator I built, been busy at work (and home) but just went out and too a couple. Only have 3 trays in it at the moment But will add more each week. Sorry about the flash and it was a bit hard to get far enough back to get it all but most of it's in the photos.

 

[mattman1978]

HA HA HA!! Money?? MONEY?? Are you kidding? I have around $50-60 in my controls. That's it! The biggest thing is the time it takes to build the cabinet. And then, adding egg turners. They aren't cheap. But, you can start with just one and add more as you need too, so it's scalable if you build it right. Here you have pictures of the major components. First is the controller and solid state relay. Second is the front of the incubator with the cover removed off the top and without the front cover around the controls. Next shows the inside. Of course, you can't see my heater or my fan with the downspout and such, it's behind the false wall in the back. You can see the gap at the top of the false wall and the return where the warm air comes back into the main compartment at the bottom. Finally, that is what I did to my little giant incubator when the thermostat went out. I put a PID temperature controller on it with a Solid state relay, just like the setup that runs the incubator. Now I just set it, and forget it and it maintains temp perfectly. Also, the jars in the bottom of the incubator. We found over time, that we did better with less an less water in the incubator. Finally, we went to a completely dry incubation and we hatch in the old Little Giant with paper towels covering the wire bottom and 5 baby food jars of water inside. (Each jar has a sponge stuck in it). I put a penny in each one to keep the bacteria down. Oh and it has two computer fans in it as well to circulate air. The 5 baby food jars keep the moisture around 60%, perfect for hatching. We hatch in the LG to keep the mess out of the incubator. My incubator is spotless and I have not shut it down in over a year. It stays that way cause we hatch in the LG. The LG gets cleaned every week. We do NOT use the water wells as they only collect "stuff" from the hatching chicks and make bacteria breeding grounds. Baby food jars can go in the dishwasher and I use a sprayer with scalding hot water to wash the entire thing and then I spray it with hydrogen peroxide and dry it before we use it again. Below the pictures, I will post my entire design again, for anyone who didn't get it. I included some links, they are old but should point you in the right direction. Hope others finds my design helpful and if you use it, I'd love to hear about it along with any up-grades you make or anything you do to improve upon my design. Note, you can go as tall as you want, it does require a bit more heat to operate, but you can add many more egg turners if you go taller.


















This is my instructions. You can build the same using any materials available.
I thought about my design and I thought I'd add the following info for those who are going to build it,
more like how I'd suggest starting.
First, I'd order the parts from the parts lists. The parts from Dealextreme.com take 3-4 weeks to arrive,
so I'd order them first. Then, order the platinum RTD. Note, the Chinese RTDs are horrible, don't buy
them. The controllers aren't bad, but buy american made RTD. That listing for Ebay may or may not
be good, but the company is always selling on ebay. They seem to have a great product for the price.
Ok, so you have the controls ordered, now go find some hot rollers or curlers. It's the kind with the
aluminum "fingers" sticking up off an aluminum base. I think I included a link. Anyhow, I bought
mine at a yard sale for less than $5.
Ok, so you have parts on the way, now go buy a little giant egg turner and unpack it from the box.
(Bargan foods on hwy 8 has em for less than $40 if you are local to Anderson.) Anyhow, use
something to build a tray to set it in. I used the plastic angle that is used in shipping pallets of boxes.
They put plastic angle on the corners and then shrink wrap it. The plastic angle is usually thrown away.
I used it to make a tray by cutting it into 4 pieces of equal length and fastening them together with
small screws so that you have a tray that comfortably holds the egg turner. You do NOT need anything
solid under the egg turner. You can put hardware cloth under the eggs if you so desire, but you don't
need anything. Make sure your tray or "rack" is wide enough to hold the egg turner and not interfere
with the moving parts. (You may wanna plug it in and make sure it can cycle the eggs back and forth
without getting stuck. Takes hours to complete a cycle.
Now, use the tray as a guide for the INSIDE dimensions of your incubator. This is JUST the main
compartment and Remember, it is the INSIDE of the incubator. Leave at least 1/2 inch all the way
around the rack. It doesn't have to fit snug on each side or the front and back. Note, I say the main
compartment, but in truth you need room behind the false wall to mount the fan and heating assembly.
So, if the outside of the rack is 16 inches by 16 inches, then you would want to make the INSIDE of the
incubator 16 1/2 wide by 20 - 26 inches long, depending on what you think you need. Maybe even
more. If you go ahead and get the metal downspout material and a metal 90 degree, that should help
you decide. You'll need a little extra space on the back for the fan which is probably bigger than the
downspout. Now that you can lay out the bottom of the incubator and start thinking about how close
you can mount your racks together and how many you may want for expansion and therefore how tall
you want to build the incubator. Remember, you will need space for jars of water on the bottom for
humidity control (we place ours in the back corner of the main compartment). You may want to add a
light to the top of the incubator so leave space for that. I used a 110V LED under cabinet light. You do
NOT want anything that will give off significant amount of heat for obvious reasons.
Once you decide on how tall, then cut your four corners out of 2X2 (I ripped spruce 2X4's into 2X2's).
mount the corners to the bottom and then copy the bottom to the top. You should have a rough frame
when you have that assembled. Oh and I suggest using wood screws. Next, decide on where your false
wall will go and add a vertical piece of 2X2 to the frame on each side where the false wall will be
located. (So you have something to fasten it to later). Next, install the inside of the incubator. I used
white plastic material, but it's hard to find. You can probably use thin plywood and paint it with a good
latex paint. It will take a few days to cure out well before you can use it without fumes. I figure fumes
will kill the eggs, but I could be wrong. This is why I went with plastic. Once you have your inside
top, bottom, and two sides installed, then install the false wall. You may need to use some sort of
bracket or you can cut a few pieces of 2X2 to mount to the false wall and to the inside of the main
incubator wall. In any case, leave a gap at the top, probably 1-2 inches? Now, you can start adding
more angle pieces to each side of the main compartment to hold your racks. Construct a door using
2X2s and set it on hinges. Install the heating element assembly and run the wires out to the top. I put
an insulated piece of plywood on the back (two pieces of insulation and then plywood on top screwed
to the back of the incubator. Honestly, I wish I had framed a second door and mounted the door on
with hinges for easy access to the heating element.
Drill some holes along the top above the false wall and just behind the false wall for the RTD and the
digital pharmacy thermometer. Insulate the top, bottom, sides, door, and back with foam board
insulation. Drill holes in the top and bottom for ventilation. How much do you need? I have no clue!
I use 3 aquarium aerators for mine. I do not suggest that. It's better to drill holes and add more till
you have successful hatches and then add a few more for expansion.
I put a window in the door, that's up to you. The rest is simply wiring up the controls and testing
everything. Always make sure the fan stays on all the time. The heating element should only come on
when signal comes from the controller, but the fan must be running all the time. I put a switch on the
outside for my light as well.
I spent a LOT of time in research and I finally built my own incubator. We get GREAT hatch rates now.
I believe the number one thing is to get the temperature right before you put eggs into the incubator.
Then, the temperature has to be stable. To calibrate the temperature of an incubator, we use a digital
pharmacy thermometer. They are the only thermometers you can buy that are FACTORY
CALIBRATED! Buy one, check it on yourself, if it is right, then use it to set the incubator. Now, the
little giant, even with a fan is not very stable at all. It is very bad about drifting every time the room
temperature goes up or down. The wafer thermostat is a very poor controller for incubation. It cycles
on and off many times a day in an attempt to maintain temperature. If it sticks ON at any time, even for
a few minutes, then it can cook the eggs and destroy any chance you had of a hatch. I had one that went
bad half way through a batch and we caught it cause we had a cooking thermometer with a high-temp
set to sound an alarm at just 2 degrees above 99.5. I moved the eggs to my home-built incubator and
removed the old thermostat from the LG. The LG is now used as a hatcher with a digital temperature
controller that I purchased along with a solid-state relay and a platinum RTD. The controls assembly is
probably $50, but now it doesn't matter what the temperature in the house does, the controller
maintains 99.5 plus or minus 0.1 degrees. The solid state relay will never "stick" in the on position. If it
fails, it will fail in the OFF position due to the design. The same controller setup controls the
temperature in my home-built incubator. I used little giant egg turners that set on trays that slide in the
front. Air is sucked out of the incubator at the top, through a heater in the back, blown back into the
incubator at the bottom. All the guts are hidden inside the incubator cabinet. I have hatched eggs for a
while now, and to be honest, they appear to be pretty forgiving on humidity. We have successfully
hatched eggs that were incubated from 30 to 45% humidity. That's a pretty big window. However, I
believe temperature is the most critical factor. Get a digital pharmacy thermometer, rather, get TWO of
them. Stick them into the incubator so the fan will blow on them away from the heating element. Test
your temp every day, twice a day. Get it right and then add the eggs. Confirm it it is right every day.
That is how I get great hatches.
Anyone who assembles the electrical should be knowledgeable in electrical code and should
understand that I am NOT responsible for any injury or any damage that can come from incorrect
installation of the electrical parts. I am not responsible in any way for what you do with this
information.
Ok, basic physical design is this. The LG turners are approximately 15" by 15" if memory serves me.
So, I built the main compartment to be 16" by 16" on the INSIDE of the incubator. Now, the incubator
is actually much deeper than just 16 inches to make room for the heater and fan that is in the back. It
has a "false wall" 16 inches back from the front. Behind the false wall is the heating element and fan.
The fan is a 120 volt 8 inch fan, looks like a computer fan, but bigger. It is mounted to standard metal
downspout. The downspout houses the heating element which is just the aluminum guts out of an old
set of 80's curlers. Believe it or not, it is the absolute best heater for incubation. After the heating
element, the downspout goes into a standard downspout 90 which sticks through the false wall to return
the heated air to the bottom of the incubator. Air flows up around all the little giant egg turners and is
sucked out at the top of the false wall. The false wall has a 1 inch gap at the top for air flow. The
platinum 100 RTD (PT-100) sticks through the top of the incubator right at the top of the false wall.
This is the most efficient place to measure temperature. Beside it is a digital thermometer. The
incubator is framed with 2X2" spruce. It is lined with plastic panels for easy cleaning. It is insulated
with foamboard and covered with thin plywood or paneling. It has plastic angle pieces to support the
shelves (blue). The door has a double-pane plexiglass window and I have a dimmable LED light fixture
in the top that can be turned on from outside. I built trays using the plastic angle to sit the LG turners
in.
http://dx.com/p/xmt7100-1-3-screen-pid-intelligent-temperature-controller-black-192851
http://dx.com/p/ssr-25dd-solid-state-relay-238639#.Ut8jR9Io5DA
http://dx.com/p/panel-mount-10a-250v-fuse-holder-black-5-pack-134527
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Probes-Unli...320?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d13f7bba0
The solid state relay does not fail closed like a mechanical relay or a thermostat (like is used on cheaper
incubators). They are intended to last a VERY long time. Orders of magnitude more cycles than a
mechanical relay or mechanical thermostat. That means RELIABLE! If it fails, it fails open, which
means it just stops sending power to the heater. The incubator goes cold. Replaceing it would bring the
bater back up. If you do it fast enough it would probably still get successful hatch. (Eggs can go cold
for up to 24 hours and still have a reasonably successful hatch.)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clairol-Cus...131014076?pt=US_Hair_Care&hash=item35d07b63bc
Now, the fan I used is bigger than that one, I think this is a 6 inch. Don't use a cheapy dollar store brand
fan. This fan has to run continuously for months maybe years at a time. So, get a industrial type fan. I
bought mine at a flea market. Barely used. Like $3. The curlers were purchased at a flea market for $2.
I disassembled them down to just an aluminum plate with the "fingers" sticking up and the heating
element and wire sticking out. You will need a box that meets code to mount the controller and solid
state relay in along with the fuses. The curlers will slide up into standard downspout (the stuff that's
used on the side of your house to route the water from the gutters). The metal downspout will safely
house the curler guts. Mount the fan on the top blowing down into the downspout with the curler guts
(heating element) below it. Then put a downspout 90 on the bottom using a self tapping metal screw.
ELECTRICAL HOOK UP: Mount the fuse in the side of the box so you can change it from the outside.
Use a standard 3-prong wall outlet "pigtail". Run the pigtail into the box and ground the box. Hot goes
to one side of the fuse. Other side of the fuse goes to the AC side of the solid state relay and to the
digital controller LINE AC terminal. Hot goes from the "load" side of the solid state relay out to the
heating element. Neutral goes to the heating element and to the controller. Now, RTD. RTD wires can
be trimmed to correct length and then stripped. Connect RTD to the RTD input on the controller. Don't
worry about which of the three wires goes where. Hook it up and then power it up. chances are, you are
wrong and it will say "EEE" for error. change TWO wires and try again until you get it working. Note
the fan should be wired to a pigtail and plugged in at all times when the incubator is running. Now, use
the manual to set the controller to degrees F. Set it to 99.5 and let it come to up to temp. Use the digital
thermometer to see how far off it is. It WILL BE OFF AND WILL REQUIRE CALIBRATION!
Subtract the measured value from the controller from the value of the thermometer. Use the controllers
manual to "calibrate" the controller. Allow it to come to temp and settle out again and check the temps.
Continue until you get it to 99.5. Run it a day or so to ensure everything is stable. Add egg turners
and you are ready to go. Note, you MUST ventilate your incubator. Fresh air
exchange is a must for eggs to develop. I am running three fish tank air pumps along with some vent
holes. Seems to be the right amount of air for me. This is where experience counts. You have to figure
out what you need. More eggs, you'll need more fresh air. IF you have a means to measure Oxygen
content, you can add more vent holes or cover some to get it right. Otherwise it's a test and see, which
is what I've done.
The carpentry and then finding a suitable heating element took the longest. Most devices that heat
either give off way too much heat or they "stink" when they get hot. Believe me, I tried most
everything I could get my hands on. The curlers simply worked. Test the ones you get to make sure
they don't develop a smell when plugged in for a few minutes. Also, when you build the incubator, be
very careful about wood selection. I origionally built my shelves out of spruce. They were beautiful!
But, then I couldn't use them, they gave off a resin smell. I was afraid it would mess up my hatches.
The plastic angle material that I used is actually corner supports for shipping boxes on pallets. They put
these on each corner and then wrap em with shrink wrap. They are pretty common and are usually
thrown away after one use. Make great shelves and they work well for the trays as you can see. Oh and
one final comment about this project. As best as I can tell, most of the 80s type curlers are 300 watt.
While it works great as a heat source, it's actually a bit more than what you need. The controller will
turn on and off to regulate the temp, but it works a little better if you make a simple adjustment. I
installed a diode inline on the output from the Solid State Relay. The diode in essence drops the heater
from 300 watts to 150 watts, which is much closer to what you need. (Diode should be wired in series
on the hot wire leaving the solid state relay.) Get a couple heavy duty diodes. I actually put two in
parallel and then put that in series so that I'd have a "backup" already there. Once everything is up and
running, you will need to calibrate the controller and then Tune the controller. If you use the same
controller as I have and you install the diode, then I can simply give you my tuning parameters and that
should get you very close. Now, the best part of building this yourself is that you can maintain and
repair anything that could ever go wrong. You aren't scared to adjust something or tweak something as
you think it should be. The forced draft design keeps all the eggs at the same temperature. If you
wanted too, you could add additional fans on the sides of the exit at the bottom. I don't think they are
needed. Now, we do NOT hatch eggs in our incubator. I'm very anal about keeping my incubator clean.
So, we always move eggs to the hatcher as soon as they pip. This way the incubator stays clean and I
don't get all that feather dust in my heating element and fan assembly. Now, when you place your order
for parts from deal extreme, I suggest ordering two of everything. You can build a controller for a
hatcher and if anything ever went wrong, you can then swipe parts and get the incubator going again
quickly. Remember this, the solid state relay, if/when it fails, it always fails open. This means it fails in
the "OFF" state so that no power is being sent to the element. The only way you could have serious
over-heating is a failure of the controller or the RTD. American made Platinum RTDs have a very long
service life, probably 20 years and I have had no problems with the controller. You can purchase much
more expensive controllers if you desire, but I found this does the trick. Let me know if you need any
help. If I was smart, I'd charge a fee for installing the electrical components and wireing them up. I'm
not the best carpenter, but I can install, wire, and program the controls!
Now, I've been running mine for probably 7 or 8 months without any trouble at all.
The incubator INSIDE dimensions are 16 1/2 inches wide and 24 inches long. The false wall is 18
inches from the inside of the front door. That should be enough for anyone to build a basic cabinet. I
used 2X4's that I ripped down to 2X2's for the frame. I put plastic material on the insides and then
insulated with foam board. Covered the foamboard with paneling. Now, you can choose to build yours
out of simple plywood, or you could repurpose an existing cabinet. It's all up to you. On the top, I
drilled several holes just above and slightly behind the false wall. These holes are for the digital
pharmacy thermometer, RTD, and cooking thermometers that have a high-temp alarm. My design is 28
inches high on the inside. It will easily accomodate 5 LG egg turners on racks. If I move them closer, I
could probably fit 6, maybe 7 into that space. Note, these are INSIDE dimensions. You can go taller if
you like, it should work fine and would hold more LG turners. The little giant egg turners are 15 inches
by 15 inches. So, get a spare and build a frame or rack that will support the legs of each turner. You can
put wire in the frame under the egg turner or leave it open, up to you. The frame MUST be able to slide
into the completed incubator and must not interfere with the motor and leavers that turn the eggs. I used
the same plastic angle to make "shelves" on the sides of the incubator for the racks to slide into. I plan
on incubating duck eggs, so I left some extra space between mine. It's good cause I can reach my hand
in to candle eggs without pulling out the rack, but if I need to add more eggs, I'll move all the shelves
closer together. I found a LED light fixture intended for under cabinets and installed it into the top.
Wired it to a standard 120V light switch mounted to the top. Now, when I started mine up, it smelled
strong like freshly cut wood. I assume it was the rosin out of the spruce that I framed it in. The racks
smelled really strong like rosen, so I wouldn't use them. I put activated carbon in it and increased
airflow and just let it run for a couple weeks till the smell died down. It may have been fine, but I didn't
want to add eggs until I was sure. The wood racks smell fine now and I could probably use them with
no problem. I think the piece I made them out of had a very large amount of sap in it. Lining for the
incubator? You could probably use shower stall panels? I was able to use plastic panels I bought locally
from a guy that resells odds and ends. Wood will probably be fine, especially if you paint it and give it
some time on temp to clear out all the smells. Ventilation. Simple as this, eggs won't hatch if they can't
breath. Eggs actually breathe quite a bit through the shell. So, if you don't provide enough ventilation,
you will get a buildup of CO2 and your eggs will die off until there are very few left (if any). So, you
MUST drill holes in the top and bottom for ventilation. How big depends on the number of eggs you
have in the incubator. Maintaining temp is easy with the 150-300 watt heater. The only variable left is
humidity. We keep our incubator in our home, so the AC and heat dries the air out. Julie uses either 1 or
2 clean cherry jars for the humidity source. It varies based on season and how much the AC or heat is
running. Now, I simply put a back on mine using wood screws. It is built the same as the sides. If I had
it to do over again, I would install the back with hinges and latches so I could open it up easily. I'd put
my water jars in the back. Now, for anyone concerned about the electrical, the controller comes with a
pretty detailed wiring diagram that is pretty simple. Anyone who knows a reasonable amount about
basic household wiring should be fine with it. As I mentioned before, once it is complete, you need to
calibrate the temperature on the controller, (it may be off by up to 3 degrees F prior to calibration). This
is why the digital pharmacy thermometer is so important -for EVERY incubator. You need a factory
calibrated thermometer to CHECK and adjust the incubator as needed. Once the controller is calibrated,
it should remain so for quite some time, however, it is wise to hit the little button on the pharmacy
thermometer every day and check the temp. Only takes a second since we leave ours in the incubator
all the time. If it ever reads "off", I swap it out for our secondary and get a "second opinion" before
changing the calibration on the controller (Very Rare). Any time you open the incubator, the controller
"winds up". This is normal. When you close the door, the incubator will heat up and overshoot the 99.5
that you have set. Again, that's normal. As long as the overshoot isn't too much (ours will go to around
102F) and doesn't last long, the eggs will be fine. Julie opens ours at least once a day and checks eggs.
The bator overshoots every time and it doesn't cause any issues with hatching. One last detail is the LG
turners. I decided to use them because as I need more space, I can just purchase another. They are
pretty reliable and are easy to get. I figure I'd take more time and money designing a turner than just
using something that is already tried and true. Failure on one turner does not ruin all the eggs. (All eggs
in one basket principle). Chances are, most people with chickens already have one anyhow. To power
the LG turners, I simply cut a kitchen type extension cord that will take three plugs. I ran it through a
hole in the top, front corner of the incubator. I used lugs to put the wire back together and plug it into a
power strip that is mounted to the top of the incubator. Everything plugs into the strip. Continuous
power consumption: once the bator comes up to temp, the controller only "flashes" power to the heater
every now and then. The fan probably uses more energy than the actual heating element once it's on
temp. Well, there you go, a book on how I built my bator. That should be enough info for anyone who
is handy to build one as good or better than my own. It does take some time, and once you get it going I
suggest running it at least a couple weeks to clear out any rosin smell and to ensure it's reliable. The
digital cooking thermometers are the kind that use a triple A battery and have an alarm for when it
reaches a preset temp. They are horrible on accuracy because one claims the temp in the incubator is
108 degrees F while the other says 103! Now, it doesn't matter, cause all I do is use them as an overtemp alarm. I set the high temp alarm on it to be just a couple degrees over whatever it is reading at
steady state. It may go off after I open and close the incubator for a few minutes while the controller
overshoots the 99.5 setpoint. That is a good test. The alarm is cheap insurance. I recommend it on
EVERY incubator. (It saved my first batch of eggs in my first little giant incubator, the contacts stuck
closed and it overheated.) We just happened to be home at the time and was able to move the eggs out
of the LG and into my homebuilt incubator that I was still testing. Talk about perfect timing! For
anyone that is new, hatching eggs is one part having the right equipment and one part experience. It
takes some experience to know what will work for you. For anyone starting out, and for anyone who is
testing a new incubator, I recommend you buy some cheap eggs and practice a few runs before you get
into expensive birds. Again, I take no responsibility for how the info listed here is used. I am not liable
for any damage if anyone uses this info to build an incubator. I have had great success with it, but I
cannot guarantee you will.
I mentioned the term "steady state". This is where the incubator has been closed and has achieved a
steady temp for at least a few minutes. THIS is when you check the temperature and do calibrations.
NEVER check the temperature just after opening the incubator. If the temperature is changing, you
cannot rely on the digital pharmacy thermometer to read the same temp as the RTD. My door is made
from a 2X2 wood rectangle frame with plastic panel on the inside. I framed out a window in the middle
with 2X2's and then cut out the plywood I put on the outside. IN the middle of the plywood outside and
plastic panel inside is foam board insulation. I then used two pieces of plexi-glass, one on the outside,
another on the inside so I have two layers of plexi-glass for the window. The double pane window
really helps to insulate the incubator. I also used weather stripping to seal around the door and window.
Funny that I did that cause then I turned around and drilled holes for ventilation.

 

[perchie.girl]

Injection molded Joe.

Probably about ten cents worth of plastic. Half a second to mold. Half a second to eject ten seconds to clean up if by hand... Maybe a dollars worth of labor... through its whole manufactured process.

Tooling costs up front maybe about ten grand for a non hardened tool with a lifetime of say 10,000 trays. If it were done in the US. Four bucks a piece retail.

The first few are expensive to run till they figure out optimum product quality.

I used to design deep draw injection molded parts. Designed the plastic so that it would:

Do the job it was intended for
Be easily ejected during the molding process
Look nice
easy to assemble with other parts

Had to resolve issues with the part using Tool Safe changes. Meaning Not expensive.

deb

 

[DJC62]

I have built and hatch tons of chicks from my incubator. Used a 3 door drink cooler like you'd find at a convenience store. All digitally controlled, automatic turning with PID timer, countdown timer and more. Will hold 1728 chicken eggs with my current trays, probably 6-10 thousand double stacked quail eggs. I used 2 of the ceramic cone coils as was posted a few back. I think mine are 550 watts BUT they only get hot enough to glow when I initially turn the unit on. Once it's up to temp it's feathered by the electronic controller. I have 3 fans, 2 up top moving 200 cfm, 28 watts each, one squirrel cage type down at the bottom, 40 watts. I recently put the bottom one in, didn't need it as it was doing well so I might take it out. Running this, after it gets up to temp, about 15 minutes, it's basically like running an ordinary light bulb. Haven't noticed any difference on my electric bill either. Cabinet has door lights, fluorescent tubes. Considering this is an insulated cabinet, hold the temp pretty well. I also have a lab probe inside connected to one of my laptops, super sensitive, allows me to chart the temp the entire incubation time. Temp stays within 1/10th over or under 99.5. For the turner motor, I used a 1.8 rpm stove auger motor, about 20-25 bucks. Built my racks out of 1 1/4" aluminum angle. Everything is standard 115v except the countdown timer. It is 12 volt DC so I had to use an adapter. I'll post some photos if anyone is interested. But my main point in this post is the ceramic wire coil elements work quite well. They might cause you problems though depending on how you are setup as the ceramic hold/radiates heat so on a manual wafer thermostat it would probably blow right past your tem setting until the element cooled. That was my reason for going digital. The programmable (PID) temp controller is a smart controller. It cuts in and out as the temp starts rising so it comes up in a controlled manner and once it gets close to my set value, 99.5, it basically cuts off and lets the temp keep rising as it knows where the temp will end up based on it's having learned the performance of the element and if it stops or goes down it kicks in a little to get it up to temp. This process keeps your element, if it still has heat radiation after the power to it is off, from continuing to increase the temp beyond your desired temp. Hope that made sense.
You can use the ceramic cones but if you are using a wafer thermostat I would probably use something different. Back in the 90's I did make an incubator, out of a fridge, using a wafer thermostat and the ceramic cone. At that time I wasn't using the temp probe connected to a computer to tell me exactly what was going on inside. I hatched tons of chicks, I'm talking thousands. So it will work but your results may vary and if you're setup to accurately monitor your temps you'll probably find it overheats a fair bit and your temp swings are probably going to be fairly large. Going digital you can keep it within .1 above or below your desired temp, if your cabinet is insulated in some manner. The more insulation, the tighter the control will be.

Didn't mean to hijack, just passing along some of my 'learned the hard way' and over long periods of time knowledge.

Dave

 

[Sally Sunshine]

ADDING for @sonderah

Anything he can do you can do better if you put your mind to it. Almost everything you need to know in life as far as physical capabilities is online in some sort of form, all you need to do is research for better understanding and have the willpower to follow through. You can make a great team in the future if you take the lead and move onward. My husband is NOT a go getter by any means, TV is his "thang", that said, he still cannot sit by idle and watch me do anything constructive, well besides house work! ughhhhhhhh


So onward and build it......

ps... plus you have all of us to help too!

 

[chicken pickin]

Sally, Sally, Sally!!

Its working, my cooler-bator is actually working!!! I think about seven chicks have hatched so far. Thanks so much for the articles on hatching and DIY stuff.

Note to self: Sally is awesome.

Yay! Congrats!!!

Note to everyone: Sally is awesome

 

[ozexpat]

I am going to attempt to build a cabinet bator out of this old electric smoker. I've stripped it down to the box. Thought about usin two bulbs for heat and digital control. My question is would a fan from an old space heater be too much. I have a couple different ones or should I stick with computer fan? 30" tall 15 wide 13" deep.

It depends on the size of the fan in the space heater. You could certainly try it as long as you have a way to get the heat to the bottom of the cabinet and let it rise passively

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: Not really, how many chicks do you wish at a shot?

Not all many at any one time, just several due every few days. kinda more like a steady hatch.
Scott
a full tray hatching a week? or two trays? then you will only need to do this size cooler, it works well, what you can do is start with tray on the bottom say week one tray, then day 7 candle move to middle area, add the new tray of eggs to the bottom, then always add new eggs to the bottom and move up as the weeks go, makes sense, three weeks three trays. it worked well at the last of my incubation when I was stopping actually! then off to the hatcher! one bator one hatcher!

 

[Latestarter]

The time will come Deb!

Just keep on dreaming, and planning, and revising planning, and preparing... You'll be ready when the time comes! You're working toward it and that's the most important thing! When you give up, that's all she wrote!