Need help with humidity in home made incubator.

[cwjackson65]

New to incubating, have a small tote incubator running good. Decided to scale up and build a cabinet incubator.
Trying to get my humidity up before I put my eggs in. Have a fridge fan for circulation at top and 360w of bulbs for heat. I've put two pans of water at the bottom of the cabinet where the air returns to get circulated. I've tried towels, air bubblers, diy bottle humidifiers, aquarium heaters in the tray thinking water was too cold. I have a Walmart temperature and RH gauge duct taped to the door. No problems getting temp up. Highest I've gotten my humidity to is 24%. If it helps I'm located in West Texas. I'll post some pics in a bit.

 

[cwjackson65]

Will be adding a temp and humidity controller soon.

 

[nuthatched]

Did you seal the wood with anything? Unsealed wood absorbs moisture. Nice Build! Will you add shelves for the eggs?

 

[cwjackson65]

No, wood is not sealed, I had thought that could be a cause as well. Planning on adding shelves later with egg turners when money allows.

 

[cwjackson65]

I've sealed the wood since with foil tape. I've seen elsewhere the need for ventilation to remove co2, so I added 3 3/4" holes by the bulbs and 10 1/4" holes on the bottom of the egg chamber. I've also sealed off the air circulation loop I've had running. I've since opened only a couple of those recirculation holes, and closed of a couple of the 1/4" holes. With a homemade humidifier I can get the rh to 70%, but when I turn on the fan and heat my rh% plummets to around 24%. Either I have heat or humidity, but not both.

 

[jher77]

Putting the water closer to the heat source will increase the humidity and will also increase the rate of evaporation so you have to fill it up more. I'd probably put the water in the light/heat chamber right under the bulbs.

Making the water pan wider (not deeper) will also increase the humidity. Having dividers or mutilple water pans will allow you to dial in how much humidity you get. You'll just have to play around with it until you get what you need. Record your test results and compare.

You will have to have outside ventilation so the eggs can breathe. I don't see the vents in your pics.

Don't seal up the holes in the bottom you made for the air to circulate. You want the air to loop around.