Built a cabinet incubator...help me regulate temps!

[shelleyd2008]

I built a cabinet incubator out of 3/4" plywood. The outside dimensions are 16" W x 16" L x 36" H. I have the heat element used in the GQF sportsman incubators with this fan I bought from Amazon. I'm using this thermostat , also purchased through Amazon.

I have the fan at the top with the heat element in front of it (fan is blowing from behind the heat element). I'm getting 15 degree variances between the top and bottom shelfs. I put another small desk fan in there to see if that would help but so far it's not made a difference.

Any ideas what else I can do to regulate the heat?

 

[bigdawg]

i dont think your fan is big enough. get the gqf sportsman fan. do you have a false wall in the back to draw the air up from the bottom and out the top. all the way to the top and 6 inches off the bottom. that way the air will rotate in a circle.

 

[knjinnm]

Is the fan on all the time or just when the heat is on?

 

[shelleyd2008]

The fan is on all the time and no it does not have a false back. The fan that comes in the sportsman costs $35-$45, I can't afford that. I'll try the false back and see if that helps, if I can rig it up to have one

 

[knjinnm]

Ok, because of the interior height the fan is not able to blow enough air to circulate the heat. So if you can't install a false back try a piece of ducting to get the air closer to the top. Another solution would be to add bricks to work like a heat sink, check BYC for heat sink ideas.

 

[perrym1962]

Does a sportsman have a false back? I didn't think they did. But I could be wrong, like many times before...

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
I don't think they do, but they are deeper than mine? Could that be an issue? The sportsmans are 30 1/4" deep, I was planning on using the auto-turners in mine so I made it smaller. Of course I didn't take into consideration the thickness of the plywood, so the inside dimensions of my incubator are only 14 1/2" by 14 1/2". The turner is 15 1/2" by 15 1/2".

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
So if I closed off the bottom 2 shelves (there are 5 total), then it should work? I plan on keeping it pretty much full if I can, so it wouldn't need a heat sink then.

Maybe I'll put a light bulb down there if I can figure out where to put one

I should have made it deeper....

 

[valley ranch]

ShellyD, Instead of a false back you could use a section of 3" ABS. A fan can be at the opening of the pipe, use a 90 degree ell if you like. How tall is the bator you've made?

I just read a post, someone is suggesting ducting. I would prefer ducting or pipe to a false back, I have seen some with false backs, that seems like a waste of time and space.

One more thing, I think I would have a fan blowing from the top to bottom.

Richard

 

[shelleyd2008]

The outside dimensions are 16 x 16 x 36. It is made of 3/4" plywood. So inside it's about 34 1/2" tall.