Brower Top Hatch Incubator - Instructions don't....

I just bought a Brower Top Hatch Incubator....we set it up, but the instructions don't say where to put the tiny ball bearings. It showed where to put the larger ones . Any help would be much appreciated!!

Quote:
Look at the drawing up in the top-left side of page 3 that shows the red bottom section:
"Into each of the seven post, first install five 1/16" ball bearings (total 35).

Then, install one 3/8" ball bearing over them (total 7)

If your booklet does not show the drawing on page three, and you're still confused, let me know, and I will fax the page to you.


VOICE OF EXPERIENCE
EDIT: BTW, NEVER turn the red section upsidedown for any reason, even accidentally, or you will loose and NEVER find all the tiny little ball bearings. Been there; done that. It's a long wait to get them to send you more, especially if you have eggs waiting. Been there; done that.

HINTS (useful tools)
1.) I had to add water, but the last three days you stop the turner, and you aren't supposed to remove the lid; however, you can twist it, so I attached/taped a straw to the bottom of a small funnel and stuck the straw down through the holes in the top. Pouring from a measuring cup into the funnel/straw worked great for placing a cup of body-temperature, distilled water where it belonged.

2.) I had to roll eight eggs off the center (large end up) because I had placed them there and realized they were stopping the air flow that was coming up. So I used a long chopstick to move them.

3.) Put a small dot of nail polish or whiteout or (?) on the temperature controller knob; with it there, you can see when you have made one complete revolution (= 1 1/2 degrees).

4.) Have a small box to hold a small screw driver for temperature control knob, an extra supply of light bulbs, extra fuse, extra Brower thermometer, extra ball bearings, your homemade funnel/straw, chopstick, etc. Order the extras from Brower.


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Here I have summarized the instructions that come with the newest model of Brower, the THI20.
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Incubating Eggs in a Brower TH120 Incubator

1. Sanitize the incubator
2. Sanitize the eggs before putting in the incubator - Use one ounce of Clorox to two gallons of water. The water should be 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The egg must be cooler than the solution; otherwise contamination can be pulled through the pores of the egg before the agent has a chance to neutralize any pathogens. Submerge the egg for one to three minutes. Allow the egg to air dry; do NOT rub the egg; eggs have a natural cuticle that helps retard contamination. Rubbing removes the cuticle and can actually drive pathogens through the shell.

3. Always start your incubator 3-5 days in advance of setting eggs to make sure that the temperature is stabilized and the machine is running correctly.

4. Adjust the temperature to 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Maintain this temperature during the entire incubation. It’s better to under-heat than overheat.

5. When you are satisfied with the temperature, add about one cup of very warm DISTILLED water to the tray. Pour the water into the groove around the perimeter of the tray and about halfway under the eggs. DO NOT FILL WITH SO MUCH WATER THAT WATER FLOWS INTO THE CENTER TOWER OR CONTROLS. Check and fill water twice a week or as needed. NEVER LET THE WATER RESERVOIR RUN OUT.

6. Add eggs warmed to room temperature, filling one pie section at a time with 4-5 eggs, depending on size. Do not crowd. You do not need to change the temperature of your control; it will adjust automatically according to conditions.

7. THREE DAYS AFTER SETTING THE EGGS, REMOVE ONE VENT PLUG.

8. STOP TURNING THE EGGS THREE DAYS BEFORE THEY ARE DUE TO HATCH. Do this by lifting the tray slightly and rotating the tray so that the motor crank cannot engage the lug/slot on the bottom of the tray. This will prevent turning, but the rack can remain in place.

9. During the last three days of hatch, if water drops form on the cover, remove one vent plug. As chicks emerge, remove one additional plug. If water continues to form, remove additional plugs. Be sure to replace plugs for the next setting of eggs.

10. All chicks that are going to hatch should be out of their shells by the twenty-first to twenty-second day. Chicks can be removed from the incubator when they are completely dry. They may be left in the incubator for up to 24 hours or so. Remove chicks from the incubator just once a day to avoid escape of warm and moist air; however, remember that it is generally best to take the chicks out of the incubator as soon as they are dry. Huh? Avoid chilling wet chicks.

11. Feed and water the chicks as soon as they are removed from the incubator.

WOW joebryant!! Thank you so much for you detailed response!!!

You're welcome, and one other thing. Regardless of what the instructions tell you about numbers of eggs, I've learned not to put four medium size or large size eggs in each of the eight pie-shaped sections; the eggs get stuck, and you're constantly having to open the lid to move them, thus ruining the hatch, i.e., don't put in more than 24 eggs and NEVER open the incubator for any reason, even for "candling". Remember, the machine was made to incubate eggs, YOU weren't. Use a long, plastic chopstic or something similar down through a top hole to move an egg if you absolutely MUST.
The incubator will control the humidity if you add a cup of warm water through the funnel/straw every other days or more; never let the outer edge's water channels go dry. Don't worry about it; trust the incubator because you have no choice.
Use the thermometer that came with the incubator. Get it to 99.5 degrees and forget it. The incubator will keep that temperature. Don't be sticking in digital thermometers; you'll get a different temperature every five minutes depending where you place it, e.g., immediately above the eggs you'll get about ten degrees higher than floor level, i.e., they're useless.
Don't remove the lid for any reason on days 18-22. Don't even consider "helping" an egg hatch, just go ahead and go nuts worrying; the egg/chick will be better off without your assistance. Don't give up on the eggs' hatching until the 24th day. Like people, some chicks are slow.

I really can't thank you enough...this is obviously our first hatch and it helps to have such good advice.

I am a little frustrated now...we are getting 40 eggs and I bought this incubator because of it's capacity. I don't know what to do now...

Quote:
Try 40 eggs. What the heck, I ain't no expert; you might have better luck than what I do. It's your first attempt and your situation might be different than mine. I didn't write those suggestions on a stone. The catch is, when I had 32, I was constantly opening the lid to move the eggs; it's possible that the eggs' very small movements in the incubator might suffice for "turning". I was afraid to chance it. Let me know how it turns out.

I sure will!! Thanks again for your advice....it will help so much. I can't wait to start!!

Just a note of caution. I have had lots of problems with my top hatch piece of junk. I did a performance critique this spring of the top hatch. Do a search of BYC using tackyrama and critique as keywords to find my critique. I did a thorough critique and you may avoid some problems if you read it. To make it short the motor is very weak and will burn out if you don't avoid mistakes. The instructions do not mention the shortcmings but I found out what they are. Check it out.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=177234
Thanks, tackyrama, for a very interesting/informative post.

Guess I bought the wrong incubator.....

I appreciate your post!! I'll read through it and try to avoid problems. Thanks!!