Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[Dragons4u]

My heavily modified LG incubator with digital temp controller and digital controlled humidity pump.

 

[thejaxx]

So I've seen people said to use a PC fan.

I have the newer digital 9300 and have a fan that WILL plug into the adapter port avail on the control board. Issue is it pushes around 20-24 cfm. I've seen some people say 10-14, some say 20, some say they just put the PC fan in.

How much air do I want moving? I know it will cause more EVAP with more air movement and such.

Or should I use a cell phone charger like you've folks show? I have one with a fan already that I use for my yeast starters for brewing. (Darn chickens won't leave me alone on boil day, love the grains)

Just plugged mine in and have it running still air to test the temps and such. Going to do some the mods I see (wash bottles, jars).

 

[gpop1]

So I've seen people said to use a PC fan.

I have the newer digital 9300 and have a fan that WILL plug into the adapter port avail on the control board. Issue is it pushes around 20-24 cfm. I've seen some people say 10-14, some say 20, some say they just put the PC fan in.

How much air do I want moving? I know it will cause more EVAP with more air movement and such.

Or should I use a cell phone charger like you've folks show? I have one with a fan already that I use for my yeast starters for brewing. (Darn chickens won't leave me alone on boil day, love the grains)

Just plugged mine in and have it running still air to test the temps and such. Going to do some the mods I see (wash bottles, jars).

The voltage marked on a fan is considered the maximum voltage when it comes to dc so a 12vdc computer fan will run at what ever the label says at 12v (20-24 cfm) by reducing the voltage you will reduce the speed and cfm. A computer fan running of a 5v cell phone charge will run a lot slower.

slow fans mix air, Fast fans move air.

 

[thejaxx]

Thank you.

 

[thejaxx]

Okay, so I followed many of the tips, but I'm having an issue with temp.

I have the controller set to 101 and this is what I'm getting:







Any ideas? I have eggs that arrived today that are resting right now in basement of about 55f.

 

[cmom]

The temperature doesn't have to be spot on and if the temperature is off a bit, the eggs will hatch a few hours early or late depending if the temp is a bit high or low. Like many of the people here I have hatched thousands of chicks and some were from shipped eggs and I also ship eggs. Shipped eggs are a gamble. Depending on many factors will determine the hatch rate such as how many females in with a male and if they are handled pretty well you may get a decent hatch. I usually put my shipped eggs right into my incubator but don't put the turner on until the next day to give the eggs a chance to settle. Good luck and have fun.

 

[oregonkat]

I just borrowed a Little Giant 5200 with a 6200 auto egg turner and this is going to be my first time incubating eggs (shipped, but hopefully from the same state. Assuming I win the bid.) and I was wondering about the question of temps and altitude. We are at 2800 feet, should I be doing something different with the temps and humidity up here? I have a thermometer/hygrometer to use so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dragons4u]

Okay, so I followed many of the tips, but I'm having an issue with temp. I have the controller set to 101 and this is what I'm getting: Any ideas? I have eggs that arrived today that are resting right now in basement of about 55f.

The type of temperature sensor your controller is using may have issues detecting accurately due to humidity, or the controller itself may not be calibrated properly. The temp controller I'm using is using a thermistor with a 50 millisecond response time. The other one I worked with was using a type K thermocouple, but due to the coating on it developed temperature drift on humidity levels over 50%. Still don't understand why, but have a few ideas about it. Did you try ice bath calibrating it to see what it measured?

 

[Dragons4u]

This is digital though

It keeps spiking today and I don't know what to do.

If the digital thermostat isn't a proportional or PID type, it is using a "bang bang" type relay to switch on and off power to the heater. That means the heater gets the max power whenever it is on, so it will heat up pretty fast. Then after the power turns off it is still emitting the residual heat into the incubator. Sometimes you just have to adjust it so that the temperature between the relay turning on and the max temp it hits after turning off averages out to the incubating temp you want. It is also common for the temp to continue to drop a little bit after the heater first turns on as it takes a few seconds to heat up.
For my "bang bang" relay controller, I had it set to kick on at 37.1 degree C and kick off at 37.4 degree C. The temp after accounting for the cool and max temp hit averaged out to 37.5 degree C. Had a beautiful hatch, but I'm changing to a PID controller to remove that temperature swing and increase stability.

 

[gpop1]

If the digital thermostat isn't a proportional or PID type, it is using a "bang bang" type relay to switch on and off power to the heater. That means the heater gets the max power whenever it is on, so it will heat up pretty fast. Then after the power turns off it is still emitting the residual heat into the incubator. Sometimes you just have to adjust it so that the temperature between the relay turning on and the max temp it hits after turning off averages out to the incubating temp you want. It is also common for the temp to continue to drop a little bit after the heater first turns on as it takes a few seconds to heat up.
For my "bang bang" relay controller, I had it set to kick on at 37.1 degree C and kick off at 37.4 degree C. The temp after accounting for the cool and max temp hit averaged out to 37.5 degree C. Had a beautiful hatch, but I'm changing to a PID controller to remove that temperature swing and increase stability.

Pid is a great idea but you have to be careful with solid state relays. The cheap made in china ones have a bad habit or fusing shut which will cause a temperature run away unless you have a emergency back up to cut power. I found this out the hard way when 2 out of 4 failed on me. Luckily I followed someone else's advice and the normal relay took over and keep the eggs from getting cooked.