"EGGCUBATOR "SOLD ON EBAY , HAS ANYBODY USED ONE ??? TEMPERATURE ISSUES HELP !!!

[MountainMarans2012]

I purchased a Forced-Air Eggcubator on eBay and and not sure if it is working properly. The temperature is done with Celsius, and when operating I have another thermometer in the machine to check temps. For example I put it at 38.2 C which should be 100.8 F but it reads 96 F on my Thermometer. It is 4 Degree's off and not sure how I should Calibrate it, or if the machine is faulty. It is forced air and not sure if that's why the temperature is different than my Thermometer. I have purchased Eggs on eBay which will be here next week and don't want to kill my unhatched chicks, because not knowing how to operate machine.......Here's the link for Eggcubator on eBay..........

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-AUTOMAT...730?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3aa5094a9a

 

[MountainMarans2012]

I received second Eggcubator I bought on eBay, after first one had heating element problems. I tried the second Eggcubator and had same issues with the heating element....The machine reads one temperature and all my other thermometers are reading a totally different temperatures....I thought maybe I should put some eggs in unit to see if I was wrong, but by 7th day candling all eggs had the blood ring of death. I have sent several responses to seller on eBay and he hasn't responded back in week.....I haven't put my feedback yet for seller....I will give a bad feedback and warn others if he doesn't refund me my $115.00 spent on worthless plastic junk made in China ( Here's my Sign

) I can only blame myself for not checking out reviews on products.BEWARE OF EGGCUBATORS or LOOK A LIKES MADE IN CHINA .....

 

[GeneP]

does any one by chance have a picture of the heating element im thinking of putting my extra little giant element in my chinese incubator does any one think that could work...

Here is a picture of the heating element and heat sink. It is attached to the underside of the lid, above the fan (which is removed in this picture). The fan is mounted on the 4 yellow plastic posts and blows air up through the heat sink plate.

 

[WalnutHill]

How do you determine proper air flow? I mean me, not you. How do I know if I'm getting proper air flow?

Get at least five thermometers and place them side by side for calibration. Leave them to stabilize for an hour or more. Mark them so that they are all in reference to one (I usually choose the middle one)., and place one in each corner of the incubator and one directly under the fan, all on the floor.

Leave for an hour, and gather and adjust the readings. If all corrected temperatures are within a degree, that's good.

Now, if you are using a turner, remove the first turner rail next to the motor if possible (to keep the rails from turning), place the turner in the incubator, plug it in (the turner motor creates a lot of heat) and place your thermometers around or tape/fasten them onto the rails so that they do not interfere with operation if you can't remove the first rail. Again, wait for the turner and thermometers to come up to temperature, at least an hour. And again, gather and adjust the readings.

If there are no hot spots and no cold spots, you are in great shape. Now all you need to do is set the temperature.

More likely, though, you will find the corners cold, next to the turner hot, and random hot or cool spots. You can set the eggs around these hot and cold spots, or rotate them during incubation so that slower developing eggs are moved to warmer spots.

It takes very little air movement to break up the temperature striations, which is the first goal of a circulation fan. Just like a ceiling fan, the lowest setting helps even out room temps. With a 12v computer fan, I use a 6v or 9v power supply so that they turn much more slowly. I'm not using them for cooling or exhaust purposes. If the fan spins too fast, it may also be harder to manage humidity.

 

[WalnutHill]

1. Digital thermometers need to be calibrated, even if factory calibrated. Run the incubator for at least 12 hours before calibration. Place a small cup of sand in the incubator.

2. When calibrating, read the temperature displayed on the incubator thermometer. Then use a thermometer that is known to be accurate. I use a digital medical thermometer. Insert the calibration thermometer into the sand and take a reading. Convert to degrees C if necessary.

3. With reference to the temperature display on the incubator before you opened the lid, adjust the calibration by the number of degrees and tenths so that the "before" temp matches the medical thermometer temp.

4. Repeat the test in a few hours.


So, if the incubator thermometer says 38.2 before you open the lid, and drops to 35 when you use the medical thermometer to measure the temp of the sand, and the medical thermometer says 97F (36.1C), then the incubator calibration is off by 2.1. Adjust the incubator so that the display is down 2.1 from whatever it says at the moment.

Using the sand as a heat sink gives far better results than air temps as it provides an average temperature, or the temperature that the inside of the egg will be. However, as it is a heat sink, it takes time for the sand to adjust to the new average temperature, so wait several hours between passes.

Because I run an incubator for about 6 months a year, I made a silicone "egg" that fits in the egg turner tray, and poked a hole in it so that I can read the temperatures easily. Sand is cheap and reliable, though.

 

[Xmade]

Hello, I try to explain what I do with my incubator, which is not this, but it also forced air. When placing the temperature in the incubator for example 37.7, the temperature at the top of it will be more or less at this point, but in the forced air incubator, the heat is pushed down, the level of egg temperature is higher, 38.8, I use always this temperature in the mine and the hatching rate is around 95%. So use a digital thermometer and measure the temperature in the incubator top and then measures the level of the eggs, as it is here in the picture, if you give a difference of 1.0, 1.2 is fine, if you give a much greater difference as you say 4 is because something is wrong. But if meteres the incubator temperature to 38.2, the level of eggs must be 39.2 or 39.3.
Hope this helps

Sorry for my english, but im portuguese

 

[WalnutHill]

A forced air incubator should read the same above and below the eggs. That's the purpose for the fan. If there are still large temperature gradients, then the incubator design is not too good and it works like a still air.

 

[MountainMarans2012]

The Thermometer I use is a incubator thermometer with humidity as well. I have used that thermometer before in my Still Air Incubator and it worked fine, but I wasn't sure if the Forced Air Incubators registered different on a thermometer, because of the air flow. I emailed the Eggcubator company I bought it from a couple of days ago, and they just sent me a email saying " It sounds like the heating unit is defective. Would you like a replacement or would you like to return the unit for a refund? With Bought eggs on the way, not really wanting to send the only Incubator I have now back....I would like to try to calibrate it before sending it back....

 

[cameronschicks]

I bought one of these eggcubators too and even after calibrating it , I lost 48 eggs. Im in the process of returning the unit. good luck

 

[MountainMarans2012]

I bought one of these eggcubators too and even after calibrating it , I lost 48 eggs. Im in the process of returning the unit. good luck

They sent me another one to replace the first one and it did the same thing...... I found the first Eggcubator was 100.5 F when I set it at 43.0 C, and the second Eggcubator was 100.5 F when I set it at 40.0 C.....I have a few eggs in each one right now to see if they will work , If not I will return to get my money back.....