The Brinsea Ovation 56 EX is the best incubator I've used in decades of poultry raising. The Brinsea is rock solid on temperature control. It's excellent on humidity for most of incubation period and decent to good on late stage humidity. The latter is one of those get-to-know the device issues. And the humidity for 7/8th of the process is flawless.
I am in my fifth year of using my Brinsea 56 Ex. So my review is unusual in that it's a rather long-term evaluation. Two maintenance issues are a pain, but only one of them is serious. The more minor issue is the need to replace, every year, the short internal humidity tube that winds around the capstan pump. I get anxious every time, but it's not that big a deal. Especially if you refresh your memory with one of Brinsea's excellent YouTube videos. But I am getting old and don't want to fiddle! And for the price, I wish I didn't have to.
I use this Brinsea how-to, for the Ovation 28 EX model but it's the same as mine:
Which brings me to a cleaning issue and the related serious durability problem. To continue to see through the top, you must clean off the chick down that collects on the inside of the top. Wiping off the down is easy. But doing this requires you to remove six small screws that hold the inner liner below the top. Four of the screws are tiny and do not unscrew easily, even with a small screwdriver I've dedicated to this task.
Furthermore, the screws insert into plastic housings that join the top and the inner liner together. In the fifth year/fifth time I cleaned, two of those housings cracked, one seriously. Probably Brinsea would say it's an over-tightening issue. And it probably is. But it's uber challenging to always stop the screws perfectly. It frustrates me that there aren't small wingnut style bolts or some such instead of these tiny screws. Most of all, there should be a steel sleeve in the plastic for the screws.
This year, my inner liner appears to be sagging in one corner because the screw won't hold in the cracked housing. The key role of the inner liner seems to be to keep chicks away from the fan. But since I hatch in separate baskets or mesh bags, for pedigree purposes, I hope I can remove the inner liner without much consequence. Otherwise, this mostly great, expensive incubator is shot after five uses.
I wonder how other users on here have faced this issue, if they have. Am I alone in finding the tiny screws and this aspect of the design ridiculous? Do you have a better tool or technique for unscrewing and tightening the screws?
I've written Brinsea about this and will report back if I learn anything. Meantime this is a warning to other owners to be careful or you will compromise your incubator's longevity.
I am in my fifth year of using my Brinsea 56 Ex. So my review is unusual in that it's a rather long-term evaluation. Two maintenance issues are a pain, but only one of them is serious. The more minor issue is the need to replace, every year, the short internal humidity tube that winds around the capstan pump. I get anxious every time, but it's not that big a deal. Especially if you refresh your memory with one of Brinsea's excellent YouTube videos. But I am getting old and don't want to fiddle! And for the price, I wish I didn't have to.
I use this Brinsea how-to, for the Ovation 28 EX model but it's the same as mine:
Which brings me to a cleaning issue and the related serious durability problem. To continue to see through the top, you must clean off the chick down that collects on the inside of the top. Wiping off the down is easy. But doing this requires you to remove six small screws that hold the inner liner below the top. Four of the screws are tiny and do not unscrew easily, even with a small screwdriver I've dedicated to this task.
Furthermore, the screws insert into plastic housings that join the top and the inner liner together. In the fifth year/fifth time I cleaned, two of those housings cracked, one seriously. Probably Brinsea would say it's an over-tightening issue. And it probably is. But it's uber challenging to always stop the screws perfectly. It frustrates me that there aren't small wingnut style bolts or some such instead of these tiny screws. Most of all, there should be a steel sleeve in the plastic for the screws.
This year, my inner liner appears to be sagging in one corner because the screw won't hold in the cracked housing. The key role of the inner liner seems to be to keep chicks away from the fan. But since I hatch in separate baskets or mesh bags, for pedigree purposes, I hope I can remove the inner liner without much consequence. Otherwise, this mostly great, expensive incubator is shot after five uses.
I wonder how other users on here have faced this issue, if they have. Am I alone in finding the tiny screws and this aspect of the design ridiculous? Do you have a better tool or technique for unscrewing and tightening the screws?
I've written Brinsea about this and will report back if I learn anything. Meantime this is a warning to other owners to be careful or you will compromise your incubator's longevity.
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