➡ Quail Hatch Along🥚

[RUNuts]

Thank all of you for confirming. Most incubators are set and forget for the temperature. If the outside conditions change, there may be an adjustment. Usually not.

Calibrating the thermometers are to confirm the thermometer's accuracy and then set the thermostat based on that thermometer.

Individual thermostats may be more or less accurate and the tolerance of the thermostat determines temperature swings. Along with heating element power.

Therefore, the comment I read about the eggs giving off heat should be accounted for in the properly working thermostat.

@Sara L - price has nothing to do with reliability or accuracy. It can be an indicator, but occasionally not. The thermistors are cheap technology, but they can fail.

 

[H@tcher]

Even if I had a set and forget bator, I would still check it everytime I walked by it.

 

[RUNuts]

Even if I had a set and forget bator, I would still check it everytime I walked by it.

All of us would. Human nature and all.

Since this my first time, I'm tracking mine at least twice a day. Now that I figured out the min/max function on the hygrometer/thermometer, I know what happens when I don't walk by. Too much information? Probably. Building confidence? Not until the popcorn pops.

 

[Kiki]

My home made incubator uses an Inkbird thermostat, bought on eBay for about $15. Controls the temp by turning on/off the heating lights. Once you get it calibrated, you don't have to mess with it. It's great . It's probably not as accurate as the $60 one, but it works for me.

This is the brand name I found last night! I was looking at a 40-ish dollar kit. Hmm.

 

[R2elk]

Thank all of you for confirming. Most incubators are set and forget for the temperature. If the outside conditions change, there may be an adjustment. Usually not.

Calibrating the thermometers are to confirm the thermometer's accuracy and then set the thermostat based on that thermometer.

Individual thermostats may be more or less accurate and the tolerance of the thermostat determines temperature swings. Along with heating element power.

Therefore, the comment I read about the eggs giving off heat should be accounted for in the properly working thermostat.

@Sara L - price has nothing to do with reliability or accuracy. It can be an indicator, but occasionally not. The thermistors are cheap technology, but they can fail.

Those using wafer thermostats should always have a spare wafer on hand. The wafers can and do fail catastrophically. You are using them in a hot, humid environment and the bellows part is subject to corrosion. A leak in the bellows causes a complete failure. They are relatively easy to replace and are also not expensive but when you need a replacement you need it right now.

 

[RUNuts]

Have you seen the digital fail? Working with controllers, I see the industry ones fail occasionally too. For control computers, industry guidance is to replace the server class machines every 3 years. Those are the expensive ones. The ones you can't afford to have fail.

Thank you for the warning. Had not considered the single point of failure, but it does make sense. That explains the backup thermostat on the cabinet incubator pictured earlier.

 

[Sara L]

Even if I had a set and forget bator, I would still check it everytime I walked by it.

I still check mine every day, especially since I'm still hand turning 2-3 times per day. The second thermostat I have in the incubator shows the high and low for the past 12 hours, so that helps me know if there was a spike in temperature.

 

[Sara L]

This is the brand name I found last night! I was looking at a 40-ish dollar kit. Hmm.

Mine wasn't a kit, just the thermostat by itself. What's in the kit?

 

[Kiki]

Mine wasn't a kit, just the thermostat by itself. What's in the kit?

https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-100-...ocphy=9027609&hvtargid=pla-623568114607&psc=1

 

[R2elk]

Have you seen the digital fail? Working with controllers, I see the industry ones fail occasionally too. For control computers, industry guidance is to replace the server class machines every 3 years. Those are the expensive ones. The ones you can't afford to have fail.

Thank you for the warning. Had not considered the single point of failure, but it does make sense. That explains the backup thermostat on the cabinet incubator pictured earlier.

I haven't had a digital controller fail but I am sure they can and do fail. I am also sure they do not fail as frequently as the wafers do. Even the solid state part of the controller that works with the wafer can and does fail but it is rare compared to the wafer failures.