Hova Bator Egg Incubator 1602N with Circulated Air Fan Kit

The temp is hard to control, takes several days to get it right, windows are small, and I've had a higher chance of shrink wrapping in this incubator. My hatch rates haven't been all that great. Not easy to add water to.
I want a better one. It's not terrible but not great either..

This incubator is not trash. But it is not great for the money. I would much rather buy a little giant for the price. On my first hatch one of the chicks bumped the wire the keeps the fan on, and the fan turned off, and temperature dropped to 85 degrees. I had the same problem with all of my hatches except the ones that I did with quail. I also had a problem with mold growing in the incubator below the water trays, and below the incubator because the incubator has holes on the bottom, and water leaked down out of the trays and went below the incubator, witch then mold began to grow underneath of it. I got the model that had the automatic egg turner, and the egg turner made the loud crackling sound.

I have been using this incubator for 3 years and it still works fine and looks great. I get 90% plus hatches. I use an automatic turner and hatch in a separate unit, this keeps my main unit clean. I did replace the thermometer with a digital one. This incubator works as advertised if used correctly.

This incubator will fall apart on you if handled gently. It has poorly made walls that let heat in and out from the outside and only keeps temp at al because it wastes energy. If the temp changes outside in the summer, your eggs will be FRIED real quick. Mine broke after 2 uses, duct taped for the second one. It killed more chickens than it hatched. JUNK

The thermomoter isn't very accurate.
But over all with a different thermometer it works great!

As a general rule I love this incubator. Its a cheap alternative to plastics that cost an arm and a leg. Yes, it requires large amounts of tweaking, but after using GQF I will never look back at Little Giant. The walls are thick providing allowing for more stable temperatures. The top of the incubator is high enough to incubate large eggs, such as goose, easily. The ether wafer style thermostat is a tried and true method to regulate heat effectively. I have hatched over a hundred chicks, of all different species, in this incubator with no major gripes. The only things I would suggest is either disconnecting the fan, or having a second still air incubator on hand for hatch. Also I would recommend purchasing a more reliable thermometer as the one provided is not exceptionally accurate.

I generally hatch all under broody hens but my friend brought this incubator over after she lost 3 batches of hatching eggs that rotted and cooked in the incubator. The problem with hers was the thermometer was off by 5 degrees. That is a LOT when we are talking about hatching eggs. I checked it with an accurate digital thermometer through the vent hole to make sure. I just marked where the temperature should be and adjusted it to that. I rigged a thin tube and syringe to deliver water into the incubator, because opening it set it off for hours. I ran a test run of it empty and made sure I had it down to a science before handed it back for use. It has worked great since. If you're fast, you can add water without a tube. But be FAST and in a heated room-not outside in a barn, shed, or patio. I might get one second hand, but I wouldn't buy one new. Make sure you just double check your temperature and are delicate and this machine is okay.

I will update this as my first trial was just terrible.

Set a bunch of eggs after I tried it out for a couple days to ensure it had good temps. Everything looked OK until I put eggs in.
The humidity gets cooked out so fast you have to open it up every 4 to 6 hours to add water to it unless you waste more money on some automatic watering system.
With all that opening and closing (even if you try to add water through the vent) it cant hold a temperature for a darn. Even with the fan there were distinct temperature layers and vast fluctuations even in the period when it wasn't opened (from 105 at the top to 96 for a low). Horrible performance all around.

I had some very important eggs in there and am extremely dissatisfied with this incubator.
If you have anything you care about my advice is to get a different incubator or build your own. The wafer temperature device is just not quality enough to support the price tag on this company's incubators.

I'll try it once more knowing how bad it is and see if it can deliver a hatch rate, but its by NO means worth the money they ask for it.

Here's an incubator fumbled together for about 40$ US and it works 10x better
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/746703/pink-bike-helmet-babies
Should have brought it home with me...

Sorry but this just isn't worth the price
(the $120 was for the kit that had an installed fan and auto turner)

Super easy to use. Just follow directions and you'll have your eggs hatching for sure.

It was my first time ever: 28 out of 40 eggs were fertile on day 7. Then on hatching day, 2 didn't do anything at all, 2 peeped but didn't make it, and the other 24 all survived!!!

One thing you need to make sure you keep an eye on is the humidity. It does loose it pretty quick, every 3 or 4 days I had to add more water, but I did leave the holes unplugged for better ventilation/oxygen.

LOVE IT!!!