anybody using a brower round metal bator?

[millebantam]

I had one of those old galvanized brower 846 incubator given to me recently. It is in excellent shape, and I fired it up the other day. Although it seems to have an abundance of vent holes, this thing holds temp like a rock. I wonder if it's metal construction helps it to keep stable temps? It's amazing! I stuck a dozen of my silkie eggs in it last night just for the heck of it.

Just wondering if anybody else uses them, and how well do they work. They must be ok, they have been in use for at least 70 years or so.

 

[shelleyb1969]

I've got one, and it's awesome. The temps and humidity are super consistent. I don't use mine for hatching, though...just for incubating. I move my eggs into a Hovabator to hatch. My Brower is the most reliable incubator I've got, by far.

 

[cosgrove]

I bought a Brower 845 for 10 bucks at a yard sale. Put a new wafer in it and it works well. I found out recently that that model used two stacked wafers to keep temp fluctuations down.

I built a temperature control system based on the basic stamp microcontroller and a dallas semiconductor thermostat chip. My old 386 laptop now controls the temperature via a computer program I wrote for it.

Temp swings went from 2 degrees to .2 degrees.

The old incubator has a new life.

 

[millebantam]

That's impressive, and way more than I would ever think of doing, lol. I have another one stuffed in a shed somewhere that I never have even plugged in. I think that after using this one, I might want to dust it off and get it up and running too. Just what I need, another bator to fill. Where does the madness end? It's those evil silkies, I know it is.

 

[justusnak]

I have a Brower top hatch...and I LOVE it! It is by far, the most dependable bator I have. I have 2 LG's and a sportsman..and my Brower. The Sportsman is in the barn...one LG is up and running, and the other LG I am going to take apart, and build me a wood bator and use the parts from the LG. I get about 95% and up hatch rates with my Brower.

 

[CountryMama]

I have this and I cannot get it to work. I bought it used. It fired up to 113 degrees and then i turned it down. Since then I haven't gotten any heat out of it. The light clicks off and on if i move the knob.

How do you properly use it? i have no manual

 

[CountryMama]

i think i need a wafer? i turned it all the way up and nothings getting warm

 

[millebantam]

The wafer is easy enough to test. Just run it under hot water, or heat it in a saucepan and check it for expansion. It is also a possibility that the heater element is fried. Parts are available online.

 

[CountryMama]

Well I guess I dont kno what a wafer is LOL.. I thought it had something to do with the spinning thing that twirled when you spun the knob.

Is the heating element cheap to replace? I emailed Brower and I hope they wil help me find parts

 

[Jenski]

cosgrove, welcome to BYC. A computer program to control the temp in your incubator . . . brilliant. I expect many great posts from you on this forum. Please continue to share your inventions!