old hatchrite incubator

[rhoda_bruce]

I'm going to take a chance that the right person reads this. My mom has this huge Hatchrite incubator. It must be 5X5X4ft ht. She says its completely shot and needs a new computer. I am wondering if any of you know about a replacement computer. She isn't very optimistic about it. I am thinking on either getting that one some replacement parts or just using the body and starting over as though I am making a homemade job like if I wanted to convert an old refrigerator or going ahead and converting an old refrigerator or making a cabinet out of something that can take the moisture. Its a long shot on the Hatchrite, but it doesn't hurt to ask. I'm sure it can hold several hundred eggs.
Still, my dad says he is willing to help convert a small refrigerator from the parts I have on an old styrofoam incubator and little fan; which husband does have a broken fridge at work, so I have choices.
And, of course, if the replacement parts cost more than converting the fridge.....guess what...I'm going with the fridge.

 

[Buckguy20]

check with chiclooker, he is a top notch incubator man.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

thankyou. I was beginning to think no one had ever heard of it. Dad said the company is shut down.

 

[greathorse]

I have no idea and did a bit of a search and didnt find much. There is a person in Minnesota that knows everything there is to know about all incubators. Sunny creek farms i beleive.

Good luck It does sound huge. You will likely be much better off firing up something much smaller. It seems like a bator of that size would hatch a few thousand eggs.??

 

[dbcooper02]

Sure its big and would hold a ton of eggs if you wanted, but who says you have to fill it up. I would look at it like this. The hatchrite has a suitable cabinet designed to incubate eggs. It probably has the heating aparatus, vents, and circulating fan in working order. Maybe egg trays or turner arrangement. So what did the computer do? I think it probably maintained the temperature and humidity and maybe regulated the turner. So you could introduce a wafer or electronic thermostat to control the temp. Manually maintain the humidity with water pans and hygrometer, and hook up the turner to some sort of timer arrangement. This would give you a workable incubator large enough to satisfy any level of hatching addiction. In my opinion way more practical than starting with a fridge and trying to work everything out.
db

 

[greathorse]

Yes I agree if the computer deal is not deal breaker and the element and fan situation is not too costly or too complicated. I do agree that if you have a cabinet all good to go it is a good thing. I think these things were quite pricey when they were new

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Quote:
Is this person on the forum? I will message and see and then look with a web-search.......thanks.
This is a little scary for me, but fortunately husband sounds more optimistic than I feel. But like my grandma always says,"the only ones that make mistakes, are the ones that do things."
One way or the other, I feel we will either fix the hatchrite, rig up the refrigerator with the incubator parts and a fan or both.

 

[greathorse]

No I am pretty sure he is not on this forum. He is an older gentleman with a gruff style that will help you if you have as much information about your bator as possible.

He repairs and sells from big to small

http://www.ifi-us.com/sunnycreekfarms.htm

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I have added it to my favorites.....thanks. I think I will start by getting that monster here so I can see exactly what it does and doesn't do. My sister gave me the closest hint.....she said the alarms kept going off.

 

[skydvrz]

Quote:
Have you had any luck with the Hatchrite? I bought an Hatchrite MP-83 a couple months ago and have been refurbishing it myself. (I am a techie). I have it working pretty well and am incubating a bunch of Muscovy duck eggs in it now.

I replaced the missing computer on mine. The guy I bought it from had tossed it. All you need is the Hatchrite software and a program called DosBox. It lets you run old DOS programs on a modern Windows computer. The Hatchrite software won't run by itself. I am using an old junk Dell computer that my workplace phased out.

Next you need an RS485 converter to hook up the Hatchrite to the computer. I bought mine on the Internet for about 60 bucks. It plugs into a USB port on your computer. There are some other steps you need to take to get everything configured, so let me know if you need help.

Mine had a partially fried motherboard, missing humidifier, no belts and no computer. Its been a fun project though, and even with all the parts it has still been cheaper than buying a new GQF.

Best regards,

Kevin G. McCoy