4 thermometers and they all read a different temp!!

[mtngrl812]

I bought a thermometer from Walmart, the aquarium type, and put it in with the thermo that came with the 'bator. Both read totally different, so I put a digital in; one of those that reads the inside temp and the outside temp. It readers closer to the original that came with the 'bator. Frustrated I put a reptile thermo in also and it reads close to the digital and the original. I got tired of running in and out of the "chicken" room where the 'bator is so I added another thermo with inside and outside, but put the outside reader in the 'bator so I could look at the digital read out in the living room (I still run in and out of the "chicken" room!!)
The thing is they ALL read one or two degrees different. I am so frustrated I have them reading right around 99 - 101 so I am hopefully in the correct range. I have all the thermos sitting on the mesh and except the original, it is sitting on top of the eggs. It is the one that reads 101. Am I doing this right. Last time I incubated eggs I didn't know much and used one thermo and never thought to worry about it not reading correctly and had a wonderful hatch, everything hatched! Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss!

So I have the 1 original
2 digitals, using the outside sensor on one of them
and 1 reptile thermo

I threw out the aquarium thermo, it always read 10 less that everything else. So I assume it must be the truly faulty read.

Also when I turn the eggs it takes hours for the 'bator to resume the proper temp. I am afraid turning eggs 3 times a day will leave the egg temp in constant flux. I try to turn as quickly as I can being very careful, but it still drops the temp quite a bit. Are the eggs possible staying closer to the correct temp and the thermos just drop more?

 

[seminolewind]

I take an average, or the middle temp. How scientific, huh?
99-101 is good for now.
Spend a few bucks and buy a Brinsea glass thermometer, to me it's well worth the money and the most accurate I can find.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Quote:
Okay, deep breath!!! I'd take out the reptile and the digital that you have for inside and out! Your egg temp will always go down a few degrees when you turn eggs and will come back up to normal within a few minutes to an hour. Your worrying yourself to death, don't.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If any of the thermometers can be put in water check them with ice water; 32F. Granted the smaller the scale the more likely it will deviate accuracy 70 degrees from your calibration temp. I bought a $3 outside thermo wich has 6 inches of scale. With ice water it was .5 to 1 degree high and trust that to hold true at 100 F. Also note that you'll have hot and cold spots within your incubator so move the same thermo around to check where they are not reading two different thermos in two different areas at same moment.

 

[mtngrl812]

Thank you for the advice and tips. I shall test the glass thermometer that came with the 'bator in ice water and see what happens and how it reads.
And I shall try to quit worrying myself to death about it....

 

[chickintexas]

Girl, I did the same thing last year! I seriously spent two straight weeks studying thermometers for my homemade hatcher! My Dh thought I had lost my freakin' mind! I can't tell you how many thermometers I had purchased and then returned in total disgust! From the uber expensive digitals to the 2 dollar cheap ones. I found that digital thermometers had too many temp swings. That does not reflect the internal temp of the egg. The best thermometer I bought was a very simple alcohol thermometer that had a hygrometer on it as well. Before testing the thermometer, I tested the hygrometer part and got that one figured out. When I tested the thermometer portion of it, it was more spot on than anything else I had tried.
Good luck and happy hunting. The thermometer part, imho, is the biggest pita!

 

[tigercreek]

you can also check your thermometer by sticking it in your mouth - 98.6? - and in boiling water - 212 - be careful to not let it touch the pot, keep it suspended in the water. .....stan

 

[mtngrl812]

Quote:
Where did you find you thermometer? It would be nice to be able to ready humidity too. (Great! another thing to worry about

) I am still looking for something dependable. I went and bought children's stick on temp readers and put a couple on the egg cartons, then got some that you put under your tongue and put one of those in there on top of the eggs.... I'm just not happy

 

[gallatea]

Quote:
You made the right move. I too bought about 5 - aquarium ones were first to go. I even bought a temple thermometer for a baby - totally doesn't work on the egg surface. I stuck with a spiral metal kind (it expands & contracts with temp (they are usually a big circle for the face part) and a digital. I find the digital's aren't very accurate. Glass ones always reads very low. I'm still in search of something more accurate.

Don't worry too much about turning and loss of temp. The eggs are dense, they are going to retain heat on the inside, the outer shell gets cooled for a few seconds when you open the door - not enough to make a big deal. Decrease in temp is better than a spike - spikes can cause developmental problems like when a mother has a fever. Naturally the mother hen leaves the nest often - and the eggs will cool a lot more than what you are doing. I opened my incubator a lot (quickly) on my first incubation and still got a 75% hatch with a very difficult breed to incubate - just do it fast (open/shut). I found that decreasing my candling obsession increased hatch too. I wanted to do it a lot to get rid of rotten eggs, but probably was overkill. With dark eggs I never candled (because I couldn't see anything anyway) - no rotten (burst) eggs like all the horror stories and way more chicks. Good luck.

 

[Coopa Cabana]

When I started, I had so many thermometers and hygrometers in the bator, I almost didn't have room for the eggs! Not to mention the candy thermometer I was using to get the right temp on water I was adding. I got rid of the ones that always registered the highest and lowest, and now just average the ones that are left.
Depending on whether you have a still-air or forced air, you may find that you have hot/cold spots. Whatever you use, try and keep them at the same level in the bator as the eggs sit.