Bator temp variation...

[Karrie13]

I have a Little Giant 10200 circulated air incubator with an egg turner that I got for Christmas. Before I set my eggs yesterday, I had it running for a week getting the temperature regulated and it sat running for 2 days without any temp adjustments. I thought I had it set right but now I have noticed a variation in temperatrue from one side of the incubator to the other. I thought it might be the thermometer so I moved the thermometer to the other side and it is showing a 2 degree difference. I do have 3 different thermometers in there to get a better idea on the temp.

Any ideas on what could cause it? Is it because it is a styrofoam incubater the edges don’t meet perfectly? I now have a towl folded on the cooler side along the seam which seems to be helping.

 

[seminolewind]

Hi, I think all them styrofoam incubators have pockets of different air temps even with the fan. On one of my bators, I used to put a piece of bubble wrap loosely over it, and it stablized the temps. I think the temps are the most variable because of the window. That has no insulation.

 

[Ban seabhag]

Okay now I'm going to try the bubble wrap thing. My three therms are about 1.5 degrees apart, and they are good ones. i never thought of that. Thanks

 

[Karrie13]

Well, I have covered the one side that I have a cooler temperature but it still wont come up. It is strange. The left side is 2.8 degrees different than the right side. I have four thermometers in there now and moved them all around so I know it is a true variance. The right side is right at 100 but the left side is 97.2 with the middle at 99.5. The bator is full of eggs and this is currently day 3. I don't have any styrofoam but I used a bathtowel. I have the sides and top covered including the left side window. Any idea? I don't want to ruin this hatch.

 

[farmin'chick]

You didn't say if you're using a turner or not -- not that that matters a lot, but if you move the eggs to different positions in the incubator, it might help them keep the right average temp.

 

[Karrie13]

Good point. I will move them around in the morning. That will hopefully help out some. I expect to have more room in there after my first candling and if that is a fact then hopfully be able to stay away from that section all together. Yes I am using a turner.

 

[sian]

I keep hearing issues about LG bators. I've had no luck with mine so far, so hubby bought a fan, but I haven't tried it with the fan and turner yet.

A word from experience - if you open the bator make sure you close it down properly. I cooked my last batch by turning up the temp to get to 102, then hubby noticed it wasn't closed tight on his way to work, "helpfully" closed it and my son called me after he got home from school to tell me it was up to 110. Sadness.

Hovabator is a bit more expensive but I really wish I had stuck with Hovabator. It's much easier to be sure you have the lid closed. I will not buy an LG again, even if it works with the fan :-(

 

[lemurchaser]

I'm having the same problem. I'm currently messing with the fan placement to see if that helps. I'll let you know what I find. Eggs are waiting to go in, but I'm going to get this right first.

Just a thought, you could rotate the base (or top) of the incubator every 8 hours, so the eggs don't stay in the cold or hot spot for too long.

 

[Karrie13]

I rotated the lid this morning to see what would happen and it did seem to help! The same corner is still a little cooler but not as cool. I have temps going from 99.8 to 97. There must be something off about the one corner. I did do a spot candle of 3 or 4 eggs and in some I could see development but the ones in the corner, I didn't see anything. I think it is just to cool. I had thought there was something wrong with the heating element that was on that side but since I rotated the lid the right side is still maintaing the 99.8 temperature. So it has to just be that corner.