can i just use a small fan from a store

[silkie freak 22]

i want to use a fan in my incubator but i cant seem to get ahold of an incubator fan. i have a little giant with an egg turner and i wanted to know if i could just buy a small fan from the store and us it instead.

 

[silkie freak 22]

come on anyone

 

[jbowen9]

you can use a computer fan or just a small electronic fan you just need air movement

 

[thechickenchick]

Quote:
This is what my DH did. He purchased a computer fan from radio shack.

 

[silkie freak 22]

how do i install it to the incubator?

 

[Chotii]

First, get a 12 volt power pack - mine came off an old baby monitor, but any 'power cube' that plugs into a wall to provide power to an electric device, that says 12 V on the back, will work. To install it, poke a tiny hole in the 'bator to run the cord through from the power pack, then split the two halves of that wire apart, about 3" long. Strip the ends of those wires, about 1/2" long each.

I got a little square PC fan (about 3-4" square), used, from PC Recycle, but they're easy to get and they don't cost much. The fan comes pre-wired with two tiny wires, red and black. I used a hot glue gun to attach square Lego pieces to the corners of my fan, to make it stand out a little distance from the wall.

Plug the power pack into the wall, and then CAREFULLY touch the two bare ends from the power-pack wires to the bare ends of the fan wires. Do NOT touch yourself with these, it wouldn't be a good outcome.

If the fan doesn't spin, touch the wires the other way around. One of the two ways will work. When you find which way works, unplug the power pack and twist the wires together. red to one end of the power-pack wire, black to the other. Plug in to test the fan. If it works, unplug, and cover the bare wire with snippets of electrical tape, or use very small twist-on wire-nuts. If it doesn't work, switch the wires. Always make sure the bare wires are covered when you're done.

I first used Gorilla Tape to fasten my fan to the wall. It fell off after a couple of weeks. I'm using Duct Tape now, but it's mostly resting on top of a bit of the hardware cloth that protects chicks from the light bulb, but am probably going to wind up using pieces of sturdy wire eventually (when I don't have eggs in there).

 

[walkswithdog]

Clear 100% silicone is safe for use in bators and is a good enough adhesive to hold on a PC fan - you either have to have the lid off and upside down til it dries or tape it til it dries there.

Silicone won't react to the heat and moisture of the incubator and it helps a tiny bit with vibration.

When you add any fan you have to recalibrate the thermostat setting. Motion = kinetic energy = heat. Circulation and the tiny change in heat addition will change the way the bator works.

Blow air up and away from eggs, not down onto them. You can also point the air toward a side if the thermostat is on the side. Just not toward the eggs.

My homemade was big enough I used two, one up, one to the side. But it's not needed in little foam ones.