Arrrrrgh, LG incubator!! i hate this thing!

[chubbydog811]

I love my LGs...I had a problem for a while...but then learned you're better off letting it spike (within reasonable distance) than to keep screwing with it...between 98 and 100 is normal for mine. If it gets too cold - like around 97 or so, throw a blanket on until the room temp goes up...

Usually the only reason there is a problem with them, is adjusting more than needed...

 

[needtohatch]

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That would do it. Room temps changing more than a few degrees alway mess mine up. But till I can afford a better one I will just have to babysit it. Hubby wont run AC till gets 80 and heat is never set above 65 so room temp can change a lot with warm days and cool nights.

 

[shawnkfl]

my wife keeps our house at 74* all year long. i never thought to tell her to leave it set when she left for work, but i've been trying to get her to turn it up when she leaves for years.....TODAY, she turns it up

 

[DancesWithChickens]

Mines packed away in the basement, i won't use it again. After 4 days of running it and making sure it stay at the temp. it was suppose to be, I put 26 eggs in and waited, It went down and I wait for it to go back up, it did and then it started jumping. Temps up, temps down. On day 8 I candled my eggs, took out 6 six that wasn't doing anything. That night the power went out from a big storm and was out for 16 hours. That was it!!!. Not the LG fault , but just don't want to do it again. It made me sad. So I will wait until one of my hens decides she wants to go broody. If not thats okay too.

 

[deerman]

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She leaves for years, so did mine,but has not returned yet.

 

[swift081702]

This is our first hatch. I purchased a R-Com Mini and a LG (had extra eggs sent and didn't want to waste them). The LG was the only bator I could find locally. Needless to say, I can not get the thing to stabilize (even within a twenty minute window). I ordered a HovaBator 1588 off of eBay and it will be here tomorrow. I'll be transferring all our eggs into the Hovabator and will be returning the LG. I'm tired of staring at my thermometer, my kids think I'm nuts running to the bator every 10 minutes.

 

[WalkingWolf]

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READ the instructions, 20 minutes is no where near long enough to stabilize the LG. Buy a cabinet door pull, drill it out, and put it over the post, or use a dimmer knob. Mark it so you know where you have been. Make VERY VERY MINOR adjustments. When setting up the bator put something in to stabilize temps, even if it is rocks or bricks. I use pint containers filled with sand, also for humidity control too. Always wait at least 2 hours before making any adjustments, and between adjustments, unless the bator goes above desired. Set bator for internal egg temp of 100 in the warmest part of the day, after you reach this LEAVE IT ALONE. If you use a water wiggler for temp measurement set highest temp at 99F, they tend to read lower than actual temps. If you are going to use the therm that came with the unit, test it next to a reliable source to get the variation. Once you have that write the difference on the plastic part of the therm. You are looking for 102 on top of the eggs, but I found both mine to be 2 degrees low, so I it set for 100(102 actual). To get internal temps use a digital with a probe and put the probe in a easter egg filled with sand, it will be dead on. It will fluctuate as temp rises and lowers the same as it does in the eggs.

Now for setting the eggs. Only remove enough stabilizing medium to allow for the room for the eggs and turning. The more medium the less problems, LGs work the best when full. I use the pint containers with sand also use these to control humidity. Add water to one at a time until you reach desired humidity. Be advised to use lukewarm water, and again wait a while for results. If temps vary a lot in your room, then cover the bator at night. Keep away from windows or drafts, all in the directions.

I get 99% hatch rate with my own eggs, if you are not getting 80% with reliable eggs reread the directions and see above hints. Forget Tool Time and the Tim Taylor method to incubating, Research, Read, and Follow.

 

[LoupGarou]

As much as I appreciate all of the information that people have provided in regard to stabilizing the LG, I have to wonder, why should all of that stuff be necessary? I take my Hovabator, place it on the counter, set the thermostat, wait the 24 hour to ensure that it's stabilized, and I'm done. Last time I hatched eggs, I used my LG as the hatcher and my Hovabator to hold the eggs that I was incubating. This time, it will be the other way around until I can afford to buy a second Hovabator. I purchased my LG with my eyes open, knowing the issues that it had, but needed something as a quick and cheap solution. I won't make that mistake a second time.

 

[WalkingWolf]

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Well Maybe it is that the Hova is over 3 times the price. And the cheaper Hova for $70 is the same thing as having a LG, with the same issues. Nothing wrong with the Hova, but I have 3 bators. Now it makes a lot more sense to buy a Dicky than spend $500 on 3 styro bators. I have one Diy and 2 LGs that work fantastic and all for way less than 1 Hova.

If the stability is that much of a issue all one has to due turn the LG therm to the max and use a reptile digital thermostat, and then have perfection and still less than a Hova.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Personally if I wanted to do it right, I would hook up a home climate control thermostat to a cabinet bator. Then the temp could be monitored and controlled using a computer, and accessed from anywhere using VNC. Humidity can be controlled this way too by adding a humidastat and humidifier to the bator. But this would be very expensive.