A question about egg turner operation and speed?!?!

[kornbr3d]

I'm in the middle of my incubator build and my ADHD is getting the best of me(I tend to overthink and overanalyze a LOT), so have some questions about egg turning.

I have a 1.5rp/m motor that'll be controlled by a PID Incubator Controller and two limit switches to stop it on each angle.

I fully understand the settings, installation and wiring. I think my problem has been that I'm misconstruing the functions of two different common types of incubator turning methods, the GQF style cabinet and rack incubators which rock from left to right, and the Hovabator pan style rotating incubators that slowly turn 360° every four hours.

MAIN QUESTION:

1: Does it matter how long it takes the tray to turn from the left 45° angle to the right 45° angle?

I get that I am don't want my eggs catapulted out of the trays, but before actually getting the motor and controller in my hand I was thinking that it would make the rotation in small steps or be controlled at a really low rate of speed via PWM because I've had the Hovabator 1/240rpm in my mind all along. After getting the motor and reading that the speed could not be lowered I realized that I've been mixing two concepts all along, or so I think?

Now I think I'm catching on to the fact that the turner moves from one side to the other at whatever speed is set by both the drive gear and the final gear?

Is that the correct assessment?

So my PID Controller applies power to the one coil and starts turning to the left at whatever speed is set by the gears or control arms, and once it hits the switch the power is cut to the motor(wires are still HOT), and then when the PID applies power to the other coil it does the opposite as before?

Please let me know if I'm understanding this correctly now.

Thanks in advance,

Kornbr3d

 

[Patiocoturnix]

I'm in the middle of my incubator build and my ADHD is getting the best of me(I tend to overthink and overanalyze a LOT), so have some questions about egg turning.

I have a 1.5rp/m motor that'll be controlled by a PID Incubator Controller and two limit switches to stop it on each angle.

I fully understand the settings, installation and wiring. I think my problem has been that I'm misconstruing the functions of two different common types of incubator turning methods, the GQF style cabinet and rack incubators which rock from left to right, and the Hovabator pan style rotating incubators that slowly turn 360° every four hours.

MAIN QUESTION:

1: Does it matter how long it takes the tray to turn from the left 45° angle to the right 45° angle?

I get that I am don't want my eggs catapulted out of the trays, but before actually getting the motor and controller in my hand I was thinking that it would make the rotation in small steps or be controlled at a really low rate of speed via PWM because I've had the Hovabator 1/240rpm in my mind all along. After getting the motor and reading that the speed could not be lowered I realized that I've been mixing two concepts all along, or so I think?

Now I think I'm catching on to the fact that the turner moves from one side to the other at whatever speed is set by both the drive gear and the final gear?

Is that the correct assessment?

So my PID Controller applies power to the one coil and starts turning to the left at whatever speed is set by the gears or control arms, and once it hits the switch the power is cut to the motor(wires are still HOT), and then when the PID applies power to the other coil it does the opposite as before?

Please let me know if I'm understanding this correctly now.

Thanks in advance,

Kornbr3d

I really hope someone who has experience building incubators will hop on and help you but I understand your struggle with ADHD and over thinking almost everything it helps sometimes but other times it doesn’t lol. I hope you’re able to get your incubator up and running and get some good hatches out of it.

 

[Tstraub]

I’m not very experienced but I did build a homemade incubator and successfully hatched some eggs in it. I spent hours trying to figure out questions similar to yours and never really came up with a definitive answer. Eventually I came to the conclusion that it must not matter that much because if it did the information would be easier to find

I believe that the most important part is that they get turned at least 3 times a day and not always in the same direction. Eventually I decided to simply hand turn my eggs. It gave me an excuse to get my hands in there and feel like I was part of the process. My incubator project was more of a just for fun sort of thing and I found I was spending too much time on the research and not enough time on the fun part.

Anyway people have been incubating eggs for a long time sometimes using very crude processes and been successful. If you really need to get every last bit out of your hatch rate I hope you find the answer your looking for. But for me it was easier in the long run to just set a few more eggs and accept that they won’t all hatch

Good luck with your build I would love to see any pictures that you care to share. I was a diy guy long before I was a chicken guy and still like the pictures of the equipment more than the chickens. But the chickens are definitely growing on me.