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My Large Home Made Incubator Humidity Trouble

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ericbrbr

ericbrbr

Songster
15 Years
Jun 28, 2008
72
12
104
Tennessee
I have made my bator from a single door fridge. I thought everything out from the turner to the thermometers. It has 4 shelfs with rabbit wired bottoms to allow the air to pass through the eggs. I used 2 bulbs mounted in the freezer forcing air down with a bathroom exhaust fan and back up a false back for circulation I have a large vent on the side with just a 2 inch hole for fresh air. I have one thermometer lead on the top shelf and another on the bottom. It seems to be holding temp well, I am just having trouble getting my humidity up. I am stuck around 25-27%. I have read about the sponges and rags and tried lots of things. I currently have a large pan in the bottom taking up nearly the entire floor, with 2 sponges. I have the pan filled about to the top. Could my 2 inch hole be to much ventilation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated if you see anything that I done wrong on my bator let me know. I feel like I didnt cut any corners some may think $200 is alot for a homemade bator, I see it as about 1/3 of what another cabinet style costs. My bator holds 240 eggs. Thanks
 
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Great design , I really like the "Bator" I really would to build one like that but not as big.
Try putting a container with water up top with the bulbs. The water may not be getting warm enough for sufficient evaporation.

Also could you explain how your egg turner works? What motor did you use, and timing circuit for the rotation of the turner?
 
smile.png
Hi,

Could it be humidity problems because the incubator is not full of eggs? How long have your eggs been inside the incubator - Usually you dont need humidity at the beginning as the eggs need to lose moisture, so the chick has room to grow inside the egg. I dont have a bator, but when I have eggs under my broodies, I only spray lightly with warm water twice a day during the final week so the shell is not too hard for the chick to "pip". (Am probably telling you nothing you already know BUT I am totally impressed with your design, well done).

English Chick
 
Put the water up top with the heating element and your fan. You should get a good rise as the water heats up and the fan starts moving it around. It will start to eveaporate quick. May I suggest a 5 gallon bucket sitting on the top and a tubing through the bator wall to fill the water pan on a gravity system?

Please sho wuss details. How does your turner work?

That is an excellent looking bator!
 
Agree with all the above. The water source needs to be under the heat source for maximum evaporation. In my 48 quart rubbermaid bator I have a dish with water right under the light bulb but if that isn't enough, I then add warm water directly into the bottom of the cooler and it comes up instantly. I think your vent hole is fine...you really need that. I have four 3/4 inch holes in mine. Obviously, vent hole at the top of the bator will release more humidity than ones at the bottom.
 
now I'm not claiming to know anything, But isn't a bathroom exhaust fan awfully strong for circulating the air? I also found there is difference when its full of eggs in maintaining both temp and humidity. I tried the sponge trick with mine and had to cut it in half because it shot up to 92%. When I put a fan in my still air incubator, I had to double the surface area of water, I still haven't figured that one out.
 
Thanks all. I have put a small bowl in the top with a folded up towel and suprisingly it has rose to high 40's. Do i need to take out my pan from the bottom? Also I seen the 5 gallon bucket thing I really want something like that but what keeps it from over spilling? Also my turner is a G.Q.F. I know they may be a little pricy but I think it is well worth the money in the long run. The turner cost me a little over half what I got in the entire thing.($120) I will try to get a pic of the turner mounted. It has a linkage that attaches to the top rack front corner. Also most importantly I have 2 sticks of flat stock aluminum that goes from the bottom shelf to the top attaching all shelves together, you could use wood are whatever in my case I was tight on space. The fridge looks big but actually it is small. This is what makes each shelf move when the turner moves the top shelf it moves all the shelves. This happens everfy 2 hours. It never sits level, it is always on an angle. Thanks again for all the help!
 
I also forgot to mention that I had to block off some of my venthole. Could this be dangerous. Like I said before I have a 2 inch hole in the side of the fridge. It has a flush mount vent over it. I am going to make a door that goes between the vent and fridge to turn and open and close the opening. I know this sounds confusing. Hard to explain, anyhow my question is how do I know how much vent I need right now it has probably a crack about 1/2 inch by 2 inches. Thats seem small for the size of the bator.
 
The fan has a low cfm (cubic feet per minute) I was skeptical at first but it really isnt that strong it circulates well and is very quiet. I know it looks big but it really is a good choice I think. It runs all the time. Thanks
 

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