building a incubator from a wine cooler

[yellowherb]

3 hrs soldering a tiny board to get the touch sensors mounted and working. I need a proper soldering iron as the cheapy melted the tip to a large knub after a hour running. (birthday soon hint, hint yellowherb)

learn something new. If you need to see a invisible infa red light just use a digital camera and they will glow blue.

really wish I had started this 10 years ago when I could see with out glasses.

I did offer to buy you one Thursday gpop1
Wharz my incubator? I need to hatch some eggz

maybe I should get you a bigger wine cooler for your birthday...

 

[gpop1]

I did offer to buy you one Thursday gpop1
Wharz my incubator? I need to hatch some eggz

maybe I should get you a bigger wine cooler for your birthday...

im already scared that you can get 300 quail in this one.

 

[gpop1]

I don't normally show my work and how I have to remake parts lol.




lcd and button being bench burnt (e,g left on for hour to make sure my circuits don't fail)



notice the I/r lights are visible in the pics as small blue lights. In real life you can not see them (handy way to test your remote control)



trying to get the scale right on a piece of paper that will be a picture under the glass



first picture failed as the holes are slightly out and the I/r keys read the paper.......real close to working
this will be photo paper once we get the size correct and work out a way to punch the holes as im really bad at following the line with a knife. (yellowherb is doing the graphics and stuff as I have no artistic skill and I don't understand psp)




plastic is cut the wrongs size so that will be fixed correctly. At the moment im just using it to test the code which seems to be working. The plastic makes the buttons work better as they need a little space to see the reflection.


normally I would just show a finished display like I did the egg turner but I thought it would be nice to show all the trys some of this stuff takes.

 

[wynn4578]

This is far beyond what I was imagining doing with the Pi. Great job!

 

[gpop1]

This is far beyond what I was imagining doing with the Pi. Great job!

This is way less than you could do with a Pi. I would be looking at touch screen interface with preloaded graphics from a memory card (like a smart phone interface).

The arduino seemed easier as the inputs and outputs are already set up on the board and you can do a lot with very limited coding skills.

 

[gpop1]

during the last few days I have managed to get the arduino, relays, lcd, mounted and a whole bunch of wires landed. I also managed to burn the table cloth with a soldering iron so as punishment yellowherb (de-wife) dragged home another wine cooler that she picked up for $15 at a charity store. So I guess she wants that wired as a hatcher and stacked on top of this one. I have all the parts and the arduino can run 2 with out a problem but the one she bought is 1" wider so that's going to look odd on top of this one. Probably just add some plugs so I can connect the 2 together when needed then they can go on a bench side by side.

I have to kinda agree from past experience that you can build a incubator that holds 40 turkey eggs but having the room to hatch 40 turkeys you really do require 3 times the space.


well back to testing.......been some colorful language so far followed by face planting the desk when I realize what ive done wrong. nothing has blown up or died yet.(not counting the table cloth....lol)

will post some pictures when I get a chance.

 

[wynn4578]

That's pretty good. I have the majority of my parts in to build my control box (non-arduido/pi) but I still haven't managed to locate a suitable wine cooler yet.

 

[gpop1]

That's pretty good. I have the majority of my parts in to build my control box (non-arduido/pi) but I still haven't managed to locate a suitable wine cooler yet.

you could try posting a wanted add on craiglist for a non working wine cooler, wine chiller, mini fridge. I really wanted a large dual zone cooler but project cash is tight. I might have spent $120 total and that's including the coolers and a large pile of components. Once I finish I plan to back engineer the design and post a electrical diagram and parts list. I think the parts used on this one will come in around $50 plus the cost of the cooler. One of the rules of this project was to use parts that anyone could buy and no special software was required. There are times I wish I could ignore that rule and just use the industrial plc rack I bought of ebay a few years back when I was learning plc ladder logic then I could just write a graphic interface on the computer and have total control. The rack is bigger than the wine cooler so hiding the electrical could be a problem ....... lol

 

[wynn4578]

Sounds like I should have went straight to the Arduino. I haven't kept tabs but I will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 for components and hopefully $50ish for the cooler. I posted a wanted on craigslist and got 1 response but when I sent a follow-up to come check it out and possibly pick it up I never got a reply back. At this point I'll just keep digging until I find one. I'm not going to be ready to build for about another month right now anyway. I'm getting pressure from the boss to wrap up some of my other projects first. lol.

 

[gpop1]

automated a lot of things tonight.

The aluminum I used to make the turner is a real heat sink. Shes a lot slower at heating up now but I guess once all that junk heats up it will balance out.

Turner motor coupling has to be remade and the fixed shaft needs a flat spot so I will try to make one tomorrow. (brass just doesn't hold the set screws tight on a round shaft)

turner motor cut out. I tested the relays and had power. removed the turner and the motor was cool so I removed the motor to test and it worked fine. re-installed and tested and it works fine.......dam gremlins....going to have to search to find the problem. I must admit I was cycling the turner a lot while testing the code.

plan to side load one shelf with chicken eggs to see if the motor has enough go to turn a out of balance tray once I install the new coupling. This is still plan A I have a motor that can turn the whole incubator but that's 110v so im hoping I don't have to go with plan B.

opened up the incubator she dragged home yesterday. Its older and looks to be a easier fix as the power supply is basic and she only wants temp control and humidity displayed. I might just knock up a control box and duct tape it to the top as she wants something by next weekend.lol