A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[dheltzel]

You can also shop at http://www.gqfmfg.com/cabinet-model-parts/ since they are the original manufacturer.

I tried replacing the door gasket with the stuff you can buy at the hardware store or lumberyard but it is not anywhere near as dense as the gasket you can get that is actually made for the incubator.

What is the point of the gasket? There are big ventilation holes cut into the back, why not close those some if there is air seeping around the door? Call it extra ventilation.

Personally, in this age of inexpensive solid state electronics, I'm done with wafer thermostats. It would be trivial to convert over to a solid state PID controller for less money. The one I have even has an alarm built in if the temp should vary too far. I bought 2 of these, one for the incubator and one for the hatcher I'm building next.

Link: http://amzn.com/B015G25HNQ

It's even cheaper on eBay (about $23, I think) if you aren't in a hurry (it comes by boat from China).

 

[OneMountainAcres]

What is the point of the gasket? There are big ventilation holes cut into the back, why not close those some if there is air seeping around the door? Call it extra ventilation.

Personally, in this age of inexpensive solid state electronics, I'm done with wafer thermostats. It would be trivial to convert over to a solid state PID controller for less money. The one I have even has an alarm built in if the temp should vary too far. I bought 2 of these, one for the incubator and one for the hatcher I'm building next.

Link: http://amzn.com/B015G25HNQ

It's even cheaper on eBay (about $23, I think) if you aren't in a hurry (it comes by boat from China).

If I had a clue how to change out the wafers, I would happily change them for an electronic thermostat. I can't stand the wafers but have no clue how to switch them.

 

[R2elk]

What is the point of the gasket? There are big ventilation holes cut into the back, why not close those some if there is air seeping around the door? Call it extra ventilation.

Personally, in this age of inexpensive solid state electronics, I'm done with wafer thermostats. It would be trivial to convert over to a solid state PID controller for less money. The one I have even has an alarm built in if the temp should vary too far. I bought 2 of these, one for the incubator and one for the hatcher I'm building next.

Link: http://amzn.com/B015G25HNQ

It's even cheaper on eBay (about $23, I think) if you aren't in a hurry (it comes by boat from China).

The ventilation holes are a known amount and can be controlled. They also are placed in position to help control the path of circulation in the incubator. Lack of a door gasket can cause an unknown amount of air leakage and greatly disrupt the desired path of circulation causing severe cold spots.

There are a lot of PID controllers available. Most of the really cheap ones are designed to only control within +/- 1°C. Just be careful which one you get.

 

[R2elk]

If I had a clue how to change out the wafers, I would happily change them for an electronic thermostat. I can't stand the wafers but have no clue how to switch them.

The electronic thermostat that GQF sells comes with good directions on how to use it to replace the wafer. You will still have drift and depending on which of the electronic thermostats you choose, it can be very touchy to adjust since a tiny turn can make a large adjustment.

If you get the proper digital PID controller (much cheaper than the Spyder), it will work much better than the wafers or electronic thermostats available.

 

[dheltzel]

The ventilation holes are a known amount and can be controlled. They also are placed in position to help control the path of circulation in the incubator. Lack of a door gasket can cause an unknown amount of air leakage and greatly disrupt the desired path of circulation causing severe cold spots.

There are a lot of PID controllers available. Most of the really cheap ones are designed to only control within +/- 1°C. Just be careful which one you get.

The gaskets are cheap enough if you get them as part of an order with other things. I'm leaving it off my build because I have to account for a number of differences from the "stock" setup of a Sportsman anyway.

I looked at a bunch of options and was planning to go with a proportional controller from Incubator Warehouse for $99. I also looked at the Herpstats and the "original equipment" digital controller from GQF, but eventually decided a true PID was worth getting. I'm a computer professional and not put off by having to program a controller. I was not looking for ease of install, but this one certainly is trivial to use. There are youtube videos showing how the program the temp setting, and they use a plugin lamp as the heat source to demonstrate it. I did the same and it let me figure out that I wanted certain values to be a lot higher to get a faster response in the heating element.

This one is switchable between F and C and controls down to .1 degree. I use F because it is familiar to me, but it also offers finer control (a single degree in F is less difference than in C). The PID functionality means I can adjust it's response to get it to keep the temp very close to the target. I use an STC-1000 on my hatcher, and while "good enough" for a hatcher, the sensor temp fluctuates pretty substantially as it overshoots the target, both high and low. While this is probably not noticable inside the eggs, for about the same cost I can almost eliminate that, even if just in the air stream. A potentially adverse side effect of this is that the heating element cycles on and off a lot more. That's really bad if using a light bulb or anything else with a limited duty cycle. I don't think this is an issue with a cartridge heater like those used in printers (what I have) or with the springlike resistive wires used in the Sportsmans.

Of course much of this is theoretical until I actually put it to use hatching eggs. My goal tonight is to get the heating element and PID controller operating, as least enough to prove they turn on and make the appropriate noises.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I may look into switching the wafers out then as a next fall/winter project once hatching wins down for the year. Since I'm excited to use this and have already started this year, I'm going to try to work with the wafers for now. I downloaded the manual for this incubator and read the first few pages. I now know why there are two wafers lol. I took out the front one and I'm working on calibrating the back one now. I may switch out the front one with the newer one that I have in my hatcher. If all goes well, it's possible that I may set some eggs tonight. The water reservoir that mine came with seems to be keeping the humidity between 25-27%. It's definitely not the origional that it came with but it's keeping it roughly where I like it so it'll work for now. I might go cut a hole in a bucket later for the auto water thing. I just have to make sure I don't grab one of hubby's wine buckets.

 

[dheltzel]

I may look into switching the wafers out then as a next fall/winter project once hatching wins down for the year. Since I'm excited to use this and have already started this year, I'm going to try to work with the wafers for now. I downloaded the manual for this incubator and read the first few pages. I now know why there are two wafers lol. I took out the front one and I'm working on calibrating the back one now. I may switch out the front one with the newer one that I have in my hatcher. If all goes well, it's possible that I may set some eggs tonight. The water reservoir that mine came with seems to be keeping the humidity between 25-27%. It's definitely not the origional that it came with but it's keeping it roughly where I like it so it'll work for now. I might go cut a hole in a bucket later for the auto water thing. I just have to make sure I don't grab one of hubby's wine buckets.

Mine has a bucket and the original pan, but I have all that pulled out and put a very small plastic dish of water it there. I will likely remove that in early spring, the air in the basement being a bit drier in the winter.

If you consider how many millions of chicks have been hatched in Sportsman 1202's with wafer thermostats, it's hard to get too worked up about improving that. I like to tweak stuff, it's fun for me, but I certainly understand the desire to "get hatching ASAP", LOL.

 

[R2elk]

The gaskets are cheap enough if you get them as part of an order with other things. I'm leaving it off my build because I have to account for a number of differences from the "stock" setup of a Sportsman anyway.

I looked at a bunch of options and was planning to go with a proportional controller from Incubator Warehouse for $99. I also looked at the Herpstats and the "original equipment" digital controller from GQF, but eventually decided a true PID was worth getting. I'm a computer professional and not put off by having to program a controller. I was not looking for ease of install, but this one certainly is trivial to use. There are youtube videos showing how the program the temp setting, and they use a plugin lamp as the heat source to demonstrate it. I did the same and it let me figure out that I wanted certain values to be a lot higher to get a faster response in the heating element.

This one is switchable between F and C and controls down to .1 degree. I use F because it is familiar to me, but it also offers finer control (a single degree in F is less difference than in C). The PID functionality means I can adjust it's response to get it to keep the temp very close to the target. I use an STC-1000 on my hatcher, and while "good enough" for a hatcher, the sensor temp fluctuates pretty substantially as it overshoots the target, both high and low. While this is probably not noticable inside the eggs, for about the same cost I can almost eliminate that, even if just in the air stream. A potentially adverse side effect of this is that the heating element cycles on and off a lot more. That's really bad if using a light bulb or anything else with a limited duty cycle. I don't think this is an issue with a cartridge heater like those used in printers (what I have) or with the springlike resistive wires used in the Sportsmans.

Of course much of this is theoretical until I actually put it to use hatching eggs. My goal tonight is to get the heating element and PID controller operating, as least enough to prove they turn on and make the appropriate noises.

The really nice thing about using a PID controller is that there isn't a constant switching on/off of the heating element. It ends up maintaining a relatively constant temperature by outputting a reduced amount of power to the heating element. My Herpstat unit usually runs at anywhere from 45% to 55% output depending on the room temperature.

The problem with the STC-1000 is that it will only control within a +/- range of 1°.

 

[R2elk]

I may look into switching the wafers out then as a next fall/winter project once hatching wins down for the year. Since I'm excited to use this and have already started this year, I'm going to try to work with the wafers for now. I downloaded the manual for this incubator and read the first few pages. I now know why there are two wafers lol. I took out the front one and I'm working on calibrating the back one now. I may switch out the front one with the newer one that I have in my hatcher. If all goes well, it's possible that I may set some eggs tonight. The water reservoir that mine came with seems to be keeping the humidity between 25-27%. It's definitely not the original that it came with but it's keeping it roughly where I like it so it'll work for now. I might go cut a hole in a bucket later for the auto water thing. I just have to make sure I don't grab one of hubby's wine buckets.

The reason the 1202 has 2 wafer thermostats is because the back wafer is the high temperature kill switch. You should set the back wafer at 102°F to prevent overcooking the eggs in case the operating wafer fails.

You really don't want to remove the front wafer unless you are replacing it with either a digital PID controller or an electronic controller. The front wafer is the one you set at the operating temperature of 99.5°F for the forced air incubator that you have.

Here is the manual for the 1202 incubator.

http://www.gqfmfg.com/PDF/1202 1250 Cabinet model instructions.pdf

 

[duluthralphie]

Thanks Again R2elk, I am printing that out.

Does the back "kill" wafer stay in even if I change controllers?


What does PID stand for? Is the herpstat a PID?

I have not looked in depth or studied mine, as my wife has me doing a ton of other worthless stuff around the house. I thought I should do some of them before moving the incubator to the dining room table. It might make things go better for me.


How tight will the herpstat hold the temps? It will use the same element that is in the cabinet now, correct?





Now back to other turkey stuff. While building the "cabinet/shelving" unit my DW wanted I happen to look out the window. All of the turkeys or on the deck. They know I allow it, but would never try it when my wife is home.

I think I owe Coffee an apology. It appears Porter is mildly handicapped in the head. He was trying to sit on the rod iron rail gates on the deck. They kept moving, he would try to balance himself with his wings, and flapping them. This caused the gates to swing more. It was back and forth about a half dozen times before he fell off the gate.

I hope he did not land on his head. He cannot stand to lose more brain cells!


Turkeys are so much more fun to watch than chickens!