Incubating eggs to hatch about August 8th

[Alaskan]

Ahhhh! The truth is revealed! I knew there was something fishy when you were talking about how "easy" it is to build your own. Easy for an EE! Maybe you just need to start building and selling your design for those of us with no tech skills.

x2

X3!!!!

 

[MeepBeep]

Ahhhh! The truth is revealed! I knew there was something fishy when you were talking about how "easy" it is to build your own. Easy for an EE! Maybe you just need to start building and selling your design for those of us with no tech skills.

if you are just building a simple one with a mechanical thermostat, it's honestly still quite easy, and hardly requires anything more than basic electrical wiring...

Yeah, building a fully automated one like I plan to do is beyond many, but building a decent basic one like I did for my hatcher was a few hour project that I honestly believe anyone could do with a little patience... And a even though basic it; works quite well...

 

[TeaChick]

@Alaskan : What incubators do you use?

 

[Alaskan]

@Alaskan
: What incubators do you use?

I have a Brinsea 40.

I have no building skills or technical skills...or any skills actually.

 

[TeaChick]

I have a Brinsea 40.

I have no building skills or technical skills...or any skills actually.

You seem to have hatching-egg-acquiring skills.

Thanks for letting me know. =)

ETA: and hatch-a-holic enabling skills.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

You seem to have hatching-egg-acquiring skills.

Thanks for letting me know. =)

ETA: and hatch-a-holic enabling skills.

Argggg!! My emoticons are missing.. (imagine a thumbs up!)

 

[calichicken]

if you are just building a simple one with a mechanical thermostat, it's honestly still quite easy, and hardly requires anything more than basic electrical wiring...

Yeah, building a fully automated one like I plan to do is beyond many, but building a decent basic one like I did for my hatcher was a few hour project that I honestly believe anyone could do with a little patience... And a even though basic it; works quite well...

Lost me at basic electrical wiring...LOL

 

[MeepBeep]

if you are just building a simple one with a mechanical thermostat, it's honestly still quite easy, and hardly requires anything more than basic electrical wiring...


Yeah, building a fully automated one like I plan to do is beyond many, but building a decent basic one like I did for my hatcher was a few hour project that I honestly believe anyone could do with a little patience... And a even though basic it; works quite well...

Lost me at basic electrical wiring...LOL

Well in that case purchasing is probably a better option or find the company of a friend or family member that can help you out...

But, as I said basic wiring... This is how the 'heat' light is hooked up to a water heater thermostat... About $13 in parts at most hardware stores.... I would recommend a fan, and if you don't want to wire the fan up you can simply get a small desktop fan like this... http://www.walmart.com/ip/Optimus-F-4040-4-Personal-Metal-Fan/25209563 and plug it in... Grand total so far about $30, pretty much all that is left is the cooler or some other type of housing to put it all in...

 

[TeaChick]

Argggg!! My emoticons are missing.. (imagine a thumbs up!)

Lost me at basic electrical wiring...LOL

I feel ya!

Well in that case purchasing is probably a better option or find the company of a friend or family member that can help you out...

But, as I said basic wiring... This is how the 'heat' light is hooked up to a water heater thermostat... About $13 in parts at most hardware stores.... I would recommend a fan, and if you don't want to wire the fan up you can simply get a small desktop fan like this... http://www.walmart.com/ip/Optimus-F-4040-4-Personal-Metal-Fan/25209563 and plug it in... Grand total so far about $30, pretty much all that is left is the cooler or some other type of housing to put it all in...

Thank you for posting this.
This is what I already have that I can start with:
This is the most recent picture. The lid is on; the brown is a corregated cardboard divider between the light bulb and where I put the eggs (where the thermometer is).

This shows the wires going into the cooler (and the duct tape I had to use to hold down the wires of the aluminum foil covered rack under the light bulb).

This one is before I "installed" the cardboard divider, but after I placed aluminum foil over the light bulb to help diffuse the heat. It also shows the dimmer switch (and a hatch of eggs that didn't make it b/c the temp isn't steady in there).

This pic shows the cooler-bator the way I got it. Just a light bulb in the end of a cooler with an aluminum foil covered rack made from 1/2 inch welded wire.

I don't have a problem with installing a fan. Is there any other advice you can give me in modifications I could make to this that would help it work better?

ETA: By "work better" I mean hold temperature more evenly, reduce hot spots.
And auto turning and increased capacity would be nice bonuses, after the necessary stuff is taken care of.

Also, I was thinking about moving the light bulb lower in the cooler and raising the rack the eggs sit on. What about that? Do you think it's doable, is it something you would attempt?

 

[MeepBeep]

I hope this image is pretty self explanatory, yeah I know it's rough, did it real quick with the kids hanging on me... Top view looking down and a side view...

Basically you make a box around the fan/light/thermostat, with an opening on each end (screened over) this box has a solid bottom to stop heat from going down, as well as a front wall to stop heat form going forward... What this does is force all the air to blow across the light bulb and also across the thermostat... Ideally the thermostat should be mounted a few inches away from the light, with the bottom metal part of the thermostat facing the light... Fan should run 24/7, if you look at the light blue arrows they show air flow, this will create a constant swirl of air in the incubator and equalize temps throughout, between the fan running 24/7 and the fact the light is in a box, almost all 'hot' spots will be eliminated... Do make sure there is some space around the light, you don't want to start fires, I highly recommend a porcelain light fixture over what you have...

And maybe this will help, this is a picture of my cheap hatcher one night build, it uses basically the same design, but a little fancier basically just knocked together a box around the light/fan/thermo out of sheet metal...