building my own incubator! PIC heavy! ** Update More Pics ***

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
Tight? as in not well ventilated? Ventilation is key.

Here's my house thermostat an relay setup.

Here's a small incubator that uses a house thermostat only to run a 12V light in a completely 12V incubator

They have to be tilted slightly to work.

 

[midget_farms]

Thanks for the vent info - I will drill some holes & experiment a little.

Now - for the update.

Today I added a 12v fan from my old computer + I installed a house thermostat & relay to control the temp better. I also completed the rest of the incubator. Technically it should be ready to use.

This is the fan from my old PC - very dusty but still works.

Here is another pic of how it is set up.

This is the thermostat set up with both lights & the fan.

This is the back side of the incubator - I have 2 cords to plug in.
The first is the 12v converter - it runs power to the fan & thermostat

The second is 120v - it runs power to the two lights through the relay.

Basically the thermostat turns on the relay which sends power to the lights.

Close up of the wires - The 12v positive goes to the first connector & negative to the second connector.
Then the fan attaches to the same connectors + & -

The thermostat is connected to connector 1 & then the relay. The relay is then connected back to the second connector.

Then the 120v only the positive cord was cut & connected to the remaining poles on the relay & then both lights are plugged into that cord.

This way - the fan is always on
The thermostat controls the lights.

I have not yet played with humidity - that will be next.

Hope this helps - I need to start selling plan on eBay!!!

 

[midget_farms]

I forgot to add the last picture.

So far I have a total of $51.04 invested & I can set 8 dozen eggs in the incubator!!!!

I expect that will take a lot of water!

 

[xyresicchick]

very interesting! i made my own incubator as well using an old aquarium. i've had two seperate hatches in it but i decided that its just not as good as i'd hoped it would work so i asked my boyfriend for a new incubator for christmas

let us all know how well your hatching goes with this one!

what breeds will you be hatching?

 

[midget_farms]

Quote:
I currently have buff orpingtons, aracauna, white crested polish & a couple of silkies.

I honestly have no idea what will come out of the eggs though - as they are all free range & intermix. Who knows which rooster has bred with which hen!

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
hi,
Consider changing the plywood out to something perforated and cut holes in the bottom of the egg cartons for better air and humidity circulation.

Joe

 

[midget_farms]

Quote:
hi,
Consider changing the plywood out to something perforated and cut holes in the bottom of the egg cartons for better air and humidity circulation.

Joe

Thanks Joe.

I debated using plywood or just building a frame & covering with chicken wire. I have plenty of that laying around.

Update - I ran it for several hours yesterday - I found that the wimpy 25 watt bulbs are not hot enough to bring this hoss up to temp. I changed one to a 50w flood bulb ( not perminant but what I had w/i reach ) and it moved up nicely. I plan to replace the two 25's with 2 60's. In the orignial plan I wasn't going to use a thermostat or open the lid so the thought was the 25's would be enough.

I also found that the thermo kicks off at 100.2* & on again @ 97.2 - 3 degrees is too much if you ask me so I'm going to adjust it some.

My thermostat has an adjustable ring right in the middle. I put it all the way to one side - now I will try all the way to the other & see if that is closer or farther apart between triggering.

If not - 100.2 + 97.2 = 197.4 / 2 = 98.7 average temp (cycle takes about 5 mins to heat & another 5 to cool as it sits). I could turn it up just a tiny bit & it should work fine but my storey's guide said 103* is lethal in a forced air unit so I'd rather leave it where it is & get the thermo to kick on sooner.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

I cut that adjuster out of mine an wired around it to get the best sensitivity. You can also take the cover off an/or even stick a fan plowing across it to make it react faster. Got my 12V incubator +/+.1 degree that way.

 

[midget_farms]

Quote:
Thx for the advice - how do you wire around the adjuster to improve sensitivity? Can you give directions & pics? Sounds like a good thing to know.

The fan is blowing bottom to top under the thermostat.

 

[thunderwagn]

Midget farms, fantastic job. Love looking at DIY like this. I wish I would have seen it sooner, but looks like you have your power issue resolved nicely now. I just thought since you had a computer fan, that you might also have an old computer laying around. Thought I would mention that you can use an old power supply out of the computer to power the fan. I used to fly radio control helicopters, and we always used old computer power supplies rigged to run 12v to connect our batter chargers too. They are nice and quit and dont get hot either. Just a thought in case you ever need it.
Another option is most people have old cell phone chargers laying around these days or know someone who does. Anyways most of these are 12v also.