Brinsea Octagon 20 - feedback on it?

[Wynette]

Yikes....thanks for the feedback!! Good info. to know before I start.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
We have an octagon 40 and I don't like it.

You have to pull out the egg trays to add water
the temp will swing with changes in room temp
replacement parts are very expensive, you can't just replace the heating element you have to replace the whole top cover for example.
for the price you pay it's very cheaply made, plastic top cover, molded foam plastic base.

Steve in NC

My temp in the incubator stays at a constant temp, it never fluctuates with the room temp like the foam models do. I think it is very very well made. I dont think it is cheaply made at all. It is the best incubator I have ever had.

 

[Wynette]

Interesting. Well, this is why I posted the question, because I was curious about what other folks would say. Thanks!

 

[Renegade]

I've got an Octagon 40 and love it. I have never had any fluctuation in temp. it's been rock steady. You don't need to take the tray out to add water. I just use a syringe (no needle). It only takes a second to do so the temp stays good. I've used this alot in the last year and a half and always gotten close to 100% hatch rate.

Donna

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
Me two I also have had a couple 100% hatch rates using this.

 

[Wynette]

Okay, my Octagon friends...got my bator last night. Tell me about the wire things that are the egg dividers...they look like bent coat hangers. I just can't see it...first of all, WHY is one end open and the other not? And...I tried them out last night, and in order to get them tight enough to hold the egg fat end up so it wouldn't move when the bator tipped, it was pretty tight against the egg. Is this normal, or am I placing the eggs in wrong or something? It seemed so tight that I was worried it would break the egg!

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I have the octagon 40, and the dividers are plastic and they just slide right in to the grooves. They arent wire.

 

[Wynette]

Oh. These thingamajigs are wire, like the thickness of a coat hanger, and they are bent at one end....hard to explain. Okay, it's like the shape of a rectangle, with the short ends being maybe only a inch and the length being the entire length of the basket they fit into. But, the wires are separates at one end. I'm wondering what that is for?

With the plastic dividers, do you push them up against the eggs pretty firmly?

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
We have an octagon 40 and I don't like it.

You have to pull out the egg trays to add water
the temp will swing with changes in room temp
replacement parts are very expensive, you can't just replace the heating element you have to replace the whole top cover for example.
for the price you pay it's very cheaply made, plastic top cover, molded foam plastic base.

Steve in NC

Yes you do have to pull out the trays to add water. So what?
The trays themselves can be a challenge because of the dividers
but it's still no big deal. I use egg cartons in my trays anyways.

Mine stays rocks solid with temp.

The replacement parts this is somewhat true. Some of the parts
can be expensive. The swing arm for my turner was only $18 with
shipping.

The plastic base is delicate. It's still a lot stronger than a styro and
a new bas is $40. I haven't had to replace mine.

I love my Brinsea Oct40. It's not cheap but it's not expensive in
camparison to Brinsea's higher end bators.

I was going to get the RCom but am very happy I got the Oct instead.

At this point if I was going to buy another $500 bator I'd step up
to the new sportsman.

The new Oct 20 digital with humidity model makes me drool too but
it's too small for a hatchaddict like me.

 

[Wynette]

Thanks, PC - I always love reading your posts (I lurk more than I post), even the serious ones!