incubator ideas! post your ideas for home made incubators, whether they work or not~

[Cpntherfan]

If by expert you mean cause I have been building them for the past 30 years and averaging 99% hatches....then yes I am. Well my advice is don't use light bulbs as your heat source they burn out and you don't notice them and your eggs get too cold..
.The incubators i just lost in the fire, I built 30 years ago and the only thing I ever had to replace was the wafer in the thermostats....
I have seen light bulbs explode when water dripped down on them from too much humidity and yea it destroyed the mans hatch...He came to me to put him a heating element in and take the lights out.

how do you use a heating element? and what kind? stove? waterheater? electrictskillet?

 

[mohillbilly]

I use a wire heating element just like what you find in GQF incubators plus I also have some larger elements that are for commercial hatchery incubators. It just depends on the size of the incubator. they wire in the same as you would a light bulb.

 

[mohillbilly]

If your scavenging your parts the heating element in small hair dryers will work.

 

[kellyn]

If your scavenging your parts the heating element in small hair dryers will work.

That's so cool! Will heating parts from curling/flat irons work too? I heard of someone doing that but having to take them out because it didnt work. There's another heating element that'll work as well, from what I've heard. If you use an aquarium heater for heat, do u have to use water?

 

[BoutrosBoutrosGalusGalus]

If you use an aquarium heater for heat, do u have to use water?

Yeah otherwise it will burn up. It needs the heatsink of the water to operate properly.

 

[mohillbilly]

That's so cool! Will heating parts from curling/flat irons work too? I heard of someone doing that but having to take them out because it didnt work.
There's another heating element that'll work as well, from what I've heard.
If you use an aquarium heater for heat, do u have to use water?

no wrong type of element I can give you a list of every type I have seen used if you are searching for used heating elements

 

[mohillbilly]

That's so cool! Will heating parts from curling/flat irons work too? I heard of someone doing that but having to take them out because it didnt work.
There's another heating element that'll work as well, from what I've heard.
If you use an aquarium heater for heat, do u have to use water?

no wrong type of element I can give you a list of every type I have seen used if you are searching for used heating elements

 

[fried green eggs]

I just built my first Cooler Incubator and got if fine tuned today, I thought ? I am using a wafer thermostat, 2 light bulbs - one 15watts, one 40watts which is closest to a computer fan. It took a bit but I got temp to stay between 99.5 and 100 deg. I bought a Digital Thermometer Hygrometer w/ remote Probe. My house humidity reads 35% but the bator only reads 15%. I added several large jars of water w/ lids off and that raised it some but still below 25%. I then added a rice heat pack which I heated in microwave for a minute or two and humidity shot up to 85% WT.... I opened the lid, turned off the bator and walked away. Bator and rice pack cooled off to room temp and I started it back up. Temp camp back up in 10 minutes or so to 99.5 and humidity reads 55%. Now my question is should I be using 2 - 40 watt light bulbs or should I pull the heating element out of my deceased 5 person Hot Tub? Oh wait, I think it's wired 220 so, scratch that. If light bulbs can explode, what should I use?

 

[mohillbilly]

I just built my first Cooler Incubator and got if fine tuned today, I thought ? I am using a wafer thermostat, 2 light bulbs - one 15watts, one 40watts which is closest to a computer fan. It took a bit but I got temp to stay between 99.5 and 100 deg. I bought a Digital Thermometer Hygrometer w/ remote Probe. My house humidity reads 35% but the bator only reads 15%. I added several large jars of water w/ lids off and that raised it some but still below 25%. I then added a rice heat pack which I heated in microwave for a minute or two and humidity shot up to 85% WT.... I opened the lid, turned off the bator and walked away. Bator and rice pack cooled off to room temp and I started it back up. Temp camp back up in 10 minutes or so to 99.5 and humidity reads 55%. Now my question is should I be using 2 - 40 watt light bulbs or should I pull the heating element out of my deceased 5 person Hot Tub? Oh wait, I think it's wired 220 so, scratch that. If light bulbs can explode, what should I use?

go to a thrift store and get a small hair dryer use the element out of it.. you will also need some small insulators to put it on it will keep your temps more even and build humidity faster.just dont put your thermostat by it

 

[cva34]

go to a thrift store and get a small hair dryer use the element out of it.. you will also need some small insulators to put it on it will keep your temps more even and build humidity faster.just dont put your thermostat by it

Do not know what kinda Hair Dryers were talking about ?.But I looked at My wifes and she got 3 they range from 750W to 1500W.Thats a lot of heat versus a couple of 40W bulbs ...cva34