buliding my first incubator

kman

Chirping
10 Years
Nov 24, 2009
107
0
99
hattiesburg,MS
i am working on my first incubator, i am using an old oven as the can it is going great, queston is do i need a fan in it or is still air just as good, will it need ventalition holes open at all times or will i need a way to close them off(how many would you think for an oven sized bator).
 
that is why i asked i have a small fan used to cool PLC control cabinets, i thank it will be plenty big. i thought about putting two 3/4" holes on each side with a pipe coming out so i could place a cap on if needed so will that be to big or what do you think, o where should the fan be placed on bottom or near the heater

thank you all so much
 
The fan an the vents should work. Placement of the fan really comes down to where an what heater an thermostat you have. I like a sealing fan type setup with the fan an eggs on one side of the incubator an the heater an thermostat on the other.
 
I have to ask what kind of oven? as a house wife and the repairman of the house (I think my husband buys tools because their shiny)! I am wondering what kind of oven? some have a vent built in. if you use a kitchen stove you might want to think about insulation like spray foam. those things are not insulated very well. Or is it a built-in oven type? if it is I am not sure about those

I use a fan at the light to push air across my light bulb on the lower level and then a second fan on the upper back level. the fans run constantly but the bulb is controled by a single element water heater thermostate.
I am trying my second round of hatching. This time I am using a slate roof tile to hold the heat with. it will have the wire rack above that for circulation and small jars of water at the bottom.

I got to thinking of lining the stove with babyfood jars and slate on top. that would be a great heat sink.

if you use the thermostate from a hot water tank mount it on something like washers or nuts that will hold it up away from the surface. you will get a better air temp read on it. Dont forget your hygrometer to measure the humidity..
 
Last edited:
it is the built in kind, it seems to be insulated well it has the white type close to what you would see in a house(but it is not the same different texture to it), as for type of heater it is one that came in a very old incubator(it works) it is about 10" long on the left side has a spring like metal wrapped around porcilen (same for left side) and in the middle has two light sockets for the little bulbs i have in it two red ones i was thinking of mounting the fan to the right of it and behind it. i really have liked the way it has been coming together. anyways for the thermostat i have one that is used once again in things like PLC panels(but not the cooling kind this one is a normal closed for heating instead of normal open) don't know how accurate it will be but i am going to test it to find out (dry run of course). o yeah should the fan be wired into the thermostat ciricut so it only runs when the heater is on or should it be running at all times or on a timmer. sorry just a litte ingnorite of forced air bators, no it has no vents in it that i have come across execpt for the two large holes that the ovens heating elments where in i will be sealing those off thou cause when i put it all back together they would be inacceisable
 
Last edited:
I'm trying to convert my still air bator into a forced air bator but I'm having a hard time getting the temp and humidity even thoughout it. I'm playing around with changing the location of the light bulbs and the fan. Anyone have any secrets they can share?
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom