I'm Building an Incubator - please don't bother asking permission to laugh at me

[DwayneNLiz]

So I have been hemming and hawing about this for awhile. I am sure my friends over at

INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! Come hatch, learn, Chat! ​

are sick of hearing about it. I was borrowing an incubator from my neighbor for the Spring HAL and hatched out a measly 7 eggs out of 42, daycare had another 12 set, and they hatched none. I was supposed to give the bator back after that but kept it for an extra 4 weeks and threw some polish eggs and joined the May HAL. None hatched. Luckily by being involved with this Hatchalong I was able to enter the contests associated with it and won some incubator parts.

Thanks to @Sally Sunshine for the ongoing encouragement, and to @Chaos18 for those pieces he donated I am building an incubator.

What have i gotten myself into

This will take awhile, I am a PROcrastinator to say the least. I also don't have a lot of down time to devote to it. It will take many evenings, weekends and even more adult beverages. We will see.



So here it is so far:

pieces from Chaos, thanks Chaos

and my progress so far, lol






So I have most of the pieces. Th turner arrived from Hong Kong, need to figure out how to put it together.
I need to find an AC adapter, and buy two 40w light bulbs. Someone is giving me some plexiglass for the lid
I can't find my soldering iron so will need to get another one of those as well

​

luckily i broke one of the coolers a few years ago and my hubby refuses to throw it away, i have commandeered it for this project yay me!

I'm already overwhelmed​

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Quote: Mine didn't want more than one. Now I have a second one I'm tweaking and a third I haven't gotten to yet.

If you really dont want to buy a new cooler, just raise the turner a bit, and put them on the bottom rear, but VERY important to think about air flow and where you think it will be best to promote that flow so that the lights dont get hot spots on the eggs.


the fan has two jobs not just one. preventing hot spots and circulating.

I found a tape measure!

But better yet I bought 2 more when I was gone on Saturday!

So here goes....

Here's a few pics of my first incubator and a few measurements in case ANY of this can help.

#1

#1) It has a false floor of 2 baking racks with 1 1/2 sheets of perforated, plastic crafting canvas so the chicks can't fall through to the bottom.
Doesn't look real fancy but it does work.

.
I only use the McCain's cake tray now to fill for humidity. The round plastic container grew stuff.

#2

#2) My fan is a very unconventional fan for incubators, but it's what I was able to get at the time.
It's a 6" table fan from Walmart.
The idea was to have it blow across the lights to circulate the heat clockwise and have the wafer at the end of the heated air stream.
There is a large hole behind the fan and a decent sized one where the tubing feeds through the back.
Both were made for access holes for other configurations I was initially considering and I left them in for fresh air exchanges.
(I also have four pen sized holes in the lid)

The tubing's X'd because I'm not using it now. The bottom pan is moved to the left side as the red arrow suggests.
This is exactly how I am using this incubator at this moment.
The only issue I've come across is that the fan blows cooler air beneath it and under the front of the fan.
Initially I didn't have eggs underneath so it wasn't an issue. However I do put eggs under now.
I've solved this (I believe, still under observation) by fitting a layer of tin foil under the fan to protect the eggs.
I can't use a turner because the incubator's way too small. Instead I have been learning to stack the eggs to extremes.

#3

#3) This is how I just had my incubator stacked with four levels of eggs.
The part I want to point out is the space from the left light's filament to the white thermometer laying below...there is a space of approximately 3 inches.
At 25 watts, the left light emits enough heat to affect the thermometer below by about a degree even with the fan blowing directly on the light.
I'm a bit surprised by this.
The eggs and chicks on the bottom level are another 1.5 inches lower and I don't see the temp fluctuations by the lights being on when the thermometers on the eggs.

I wanted to note this since you mentioned you're using 40 watt bulbs and they'll be hotter.
Also configuring this way with the wafer on the side means it's quite a ways from are quite a ways from the light sockets.



#4



#4) The above incubator is (still) a work in progress. I'm planning on configuring this one with the fan blowing straight up on the lights, just like it looks.
The lights inside were sagging, but the heat did not melt the plastic led or anywhere close to it.
The lights were 60 or 100 watt.
The fan is a cyclone and moves much more air than I need to and most likely much more than the computer fans do.
I don't know what if a lesser stream of air would be too hot for the plastic lid.
But both sides maintained a constant exact temperature for an hour once I got the temp set.
I taped strips of paper towel (couldn't find my string) to see the airflow, in case anyone's wondering...lol.
At this point I'm planning to configure the last styrobator (which is the same as my first one) with the fan blowing upwards to the lid just like #4 pic.

With your computer fan you could put simple brackets and place the fan anywhere you want blowing the air across or upwards from the eggs.
Actual incubators blow upwards on the lid so the air circulates across the heating elements and down the sides I believe? It looks that way to me.
(If this is incorrect, someone correct me please.)


There's so many different ways people have made their incubators. I took what I liked and incorporated it how I thought it could work for me.
Above are only ideas and possible suggestions to tell you the things I found out, since I'm new and learning too...lol.
Make your incubator how you want it. There's different tapes, silicones and other fix it stuff if you decide to change your mind.
That's exactly why I've got some holes in mine...lol!
I start combining tomorrow, so I'll catch up when I can.
Have fun and enjoy your progress!

 

[Urlec]

next contest winner will get the instructions.

 

[MeepBeep]

I am using 40w bulbs so it shouldn't be that bad, and I was going to use a soup/soda can or aluminum foil

Anything will work but don't underestimate the temp of a 40W bulb, surface temp on a 40W bulb is about 250°F, so even several inches away it's a lethal temp eggs if they are exposed to it too long...

 

[DwayneNLiz]

I know, I'm quite the monster, you should hear the lettuce scream...

 

[DwayneNLiz]

Left


Right


Left I'm pretty sure is a pastel(apricot) and right might be blue dusky (ish), lol. I *think* that's the odd blue color we've gotten a couple of. Looks blue dusky but darker shaded.




3



And 4

#3 is a blue fawn and #4 looks like a blue pied,


lastly #5





#5



play time with DD, #5 wasnt out of her egg yet

 

[Chaos18]

Heckler & Koch?

 

[Chaos18]

With them it's easy to order the wrong one. So just remove one of the rails and cut down the sides a little?

 

[DwayneNLiz]

I got lazy last night and had a couple drinks, nothing got done



strange how it doesn't build itself

 

[Sally Sunshine]

If you really dont want to buy a new cooler, just raise the turner a bit, and put them on the bottom rear, but VERY important to think about air flow and where you think it will be best to promote that flow so that the lights dont get hot spots on the eggs.


the fan has two jobs not just one. preventing hot spots and circulating.