For what it's worth, my 2 cents...
Never had much trouble with spillage (like someone mentioned back there, feeders must be hanged at chickens backs height), but I had with wild birds (namely a flock of wild turtledoves) that ate more than the chickens...
After trying a different number of...
That humidity controller looks nice and, I believe, should be accurate... Not that humidity control needs to be that precise (to the unit) in incubation, imho... And remember, that's a switch AND (not like the one I used) it has humidity % display...
Btw, you can find similar units slightly...
You're welcome!
Ohh... Thats a (much) better switch than the one I used... Mine was something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Humidity-sensitive-Switches-Humidity-Modules-Controller/dp/B00SMGVAXA/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1440776988&sr=1-4&keywords=Humidity+sensitive+switch
If you can...
Hi mirandaleecon,
Yes, I did build this (basically just for test purposes) exactly as I described above... Conclusion: It would work fine, except for a "small" detail ...
You need an electronic switch that activates the relay when the humidity lowers, so it turns the humidifier fan on... The...
Hi,
In theory, there´s a 50/50 chance of the motor starting the correct way (or the wrong way ) after each set time... Personally, I've set my timer to activate 8 x day... So, even if it fails half the times, it still turns the eggs 4 x day... From my experience, that's enough.
Cheers
Hi sweetbanana,
I didn't do a video of the problem that occurs from using an unpredictable motor (direction of rotation wise), but let me try to explain...
Please see my 2nd video: (http://vid1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/Daedalus62/Chickens/Vira%20Ovos/MOV01504_zpsqtseuihp.mp4)...
So...
Avoid this problem by splitting your heat source... Say you have a single 60W bulb... Replace it with 2 x 25W bulbs, connected in parallel... In the event one goes out, the good one keeps the temperature up... No more worries.
Cheers
Really really nice project!!!... And you have my full attention, so please keep us posted on your progress!!
I'm also planning on an Arduino controlled unit... Have all the bits 'n pieces to start learning Arduino, just can't find the time to...
Like you peltier approach... Clearly I'm...
Nice build, Chris... Hope the hatches go well!
If you're adding a tray for the equipment, keep it above the eggs!!... You don't want it all dirty with egg goo, blood, bits of shell, etc, when the chicks hatch.
How do you plan egg turning?
Cheers
Do you have some kind of thermostat in there or just the heat lamp?... If you have, what kind and where's the sensor (or the thermostat itself) placed?...
If you don't have a thermostat, and you're hoping to keep a stable temperature just by opening or closing the lid, I would say that's a...
BTW... Out of that 28 eggs test batch you see on my 1st post, I got 20 chicks this weekend...
Of the remaining 8... 4 non-fertile, 1 stinker (removed at day 14) and 3 don't-know-what-happened... Might do an egg-topsy on these 3...
Cheers
Notice, like I mentioned before, that the wall socket timer has to be modified... Basically, replace the original single contact/circuit micro-switch that you find inside, with a double contact/circuit one...
I redrew my original circuit drawing, to include the terminal block you see in the...
Hi fatcatx,
Thanks!!
Yes, my fan must be one of those more common (cheap) ones, it was salvaged from an old scrap PC.
I'm incubating at 50% humidity, 70% on lockdown... The method I use (saw it here on BYC, somewhere)... I replaced those plastic boxes you see on my pictures, with a couple...
Hi fatcatx,
The general idea of the fan is (just) to keep an even temperature in all the areas of the incubator... Read upper and lower areas, corners, etc... So, you don't need much air displacement in a small incubator... I believe the 1200-1500rpm (are these the more common ones?) is more...
Hi wynn4578,
Read in your other thread, you're planning on using raspberry pi as an incubator controller... How about running stepper-motor(s) on your egg turner(s)?...
Please stop me if I'm saying something dumb , but...
Being able to control timming, speed, direction and angle of...
Nice one!!... Really like you design and plans... Keep us posted on your progress, please!!
A couple of, I hope helpful, thoughts...
Personally, I would make that back duct wider... Or (more difficult) make 2 ducts?... And so setting more apart both fans, light bulbs and air return holes...
Well...I guess no harm in taking out your hygrometer for a few hours to run a calibration test... Humidity % is not going to change abruptly, if you keep the conditions inside your incubator unchanged.
Cheers
That's a tough one... We know eggs loose 13/15% of they're weight over the 21 days incubation period... How much (or even how) that translates into humidity percentage in the air...
To calibrate your hygrometer (or just know the reading deviation if it's non-adjustable), do the salt-and-water...
I've made a candler with a bunch of white LEDs that works great... Could be wrong but, imho it´s not the color that matters so much, it's the light intensity/brightness...
Either way you go, get a bright one... Brown eggs are a pain to candle!!
Good hatch!!
Thanks!!... I try to keep things simple yet efficient.
You're welcome!!... If you build something like this, try finding a motor that always runs in the same direction (not like mine!). Keep us posted.
...
Thinking about it ... I believe I can work around this problem caused by the...