Incubator project

[thebirdguy]

Well, I bought a brand new little giant still air incubator off of craigslist a couple of months ago and the plan was to buy a forced air kit, a turner and egg racks and I'd be in business.. I searched all over the internet and the cheapest I could find everything with shipping was over 80 bucks!

However, in the course of my searching, I stumbled upon BYC and just happened to see a recent forum post about someone who had build their own incubator..

I did a search on the forum for all the threads having to do with building our own incubator and WOW!! What a bunch of creative people we have here!!

So I was inspired... I listed my little giant on ebay and posted a want ad on craigslist for a non working office size fridge. Within a day, I had an offer for a nice little fridge.

I bought a thermostat and hygrometer on ebay that should be arriving any day... got a power strip with built in digital timer at Lowes, ordered flexwatt, tore an old computer apart for a couple of fans and stripped the fridge down to the bare bones..

Now I can start putting it all together. I think I have my rack system and trays figured out-- just got to build them. Once I get them built I can try out my idea for an automatic turner. This is going to be a little different than all the incubators I read about on the forum.. We'll have see if my ideas work out... I wanted to share my little project with everyone at BYC since it's your fault I'm doing it anyway.. besides.. my family thinks I'm nutz

I'll post pictures as I finish each component and will keep a running commentary on my page.

I'm shooting to have this finished by Christmas... Wish me luck!!

 

[wolftracks]

Good luck!

Wish I had the room for one that size.

Maybe someday.

 

[BirdBrain]

Looks like a great start!!

 

[alexjbyl]

Hi ,

good luck with your first incubator. For that size of incubator I willl suggest that you use one microwave oven fan. It generates secondary heat also. I found that the computer fans are not moving enough air. I will one day want to try a self turner but by turning manually i can monitor the enviroment regurlarly.

Alex

 

[LaurenM23]

Fantastic! Will you be adding in any sort of viewing window? If you are going with an auto-turner, you shouldn't need to open too often. When you do, though, such a large opening might make the temp and humidity fluctuate quite a bit. Might be nice to see inside?

 

[Seeing Silkies]

You can do it, This is the best place to get all the info you need. Good luck & please keep us updated with pic's... I posted mine Because thats what help me build mine seeing and reading of how others did it. Best site ever. In the end it will cost you less then to buy one & the feeling of I made it

 

[thebirdguy]

Yes, I am planning on a viewing window in the door.. I just need to figure out the best way to cut the hole..

I'll be picking up some supplies later today so I should have some updated pictures later this week to show progress.

 

[thebirdguy]

Well, I've made some progress... I have cut a hole in the door and installed a plexiglass window, sealed and trimmed it. I ended up flipping the fridge upside down so that I could put it on wheels and so I could use where the compressor used to be as a shelf for my thermostat etc.

On the inside, I have the racks all installed, a small fan installed (probably need a bigger one but we'll see), the thermostat connected and I have my FlexWatt installed. I have a foot of the 11 inch wide tape but it didn't put out quite enough heat for the space.. only got up to 95 degrees and dropped to 90 last night when the house temperature went down for the night.. So I added a small light bulb tonight which I had planned to do for a light source anyway, just connected this one through the thermostat with the Flexwatt.

So far everything is looking good... The thermostat is kicking off at 37.5 degrees celsius and back on at 37.2. I'm going to run it for the next day or two and experiment with humidity and temperature while I wait for my motor to arrive for the turner.. should be here anyday.

All I have left to build is the turner and the trays.. Hopefully I can get those finished by Christmas as I already have some eggs lined up for a test run from a lady selling organic free range eggs here on craigslist...

We're getting closer!!

 

[Seeing Silkies]

LOOKING Good

 

[Fishman43]

Updates please