Can't stabilize Brower incubator

[hypnofrogstevie]

oh I have a brower top hatch. its the ugly one thats gray and looks like a mixing bowl

 

[jimnjay]

If you have the Top Hatch by Brower, you might wrap the tub in Bubble wrap. I never experienced that type of temperature swing. Are you changing the setting when you see it go high or low? You need only make the very smallest possible turn to chane the temp. The thermostat in the Brower Top Hatch is electronic not a wafer. If you have a new unit call the Brower people # is on the instruction sheet or you can google it and contact them directly. They are very nice people and can help you with your problem.

 

[banter]

This morning the bulb burned out in my Top Hatch Brower incubator. It uses a 60 watt candelabra base and luckily I had another. When I changed the bulb it didn't work at all!
I moved the eggs to a cooler and dismantled the incubator. Inside was nicely provided a new fuse. I replaced the fuse and reassembled, and it's working fine. I'm waiting for the temp to stabilize now before I replace the eggs (which are on a towel covered heating pad)
If anyone needs tech help/instructions with their Brower the site is:
http://www.browerequip.com/products/brower/top-hatch/tophatch.pdf

Now I'm happily waiting for the power to go off (HAHA) since I' in the middle of an ice storm.
MY POOR EGGS!
Chris F in Maine

 

[banter]

My incubator is slowly coming up to temp so I think the fuse/bulb were the problems. Actually, I'm having better luck with the heating pad and cooler lol! The eggs have been holding at exactly 99.5 for almost two hours!

 

[Mrs MIA]

...and your eggs should be just fine. I hatched a couple of chicks under a hen this past November, when it was staying in the 20s at night (~45-48°F in the coop). Halfway through it she decided to take a long break to get some food, and one of the other hens decided to take over the nest to lay an egg. By the time I came out to check on her, she had chosen another nest (with a different egg) to sit on, and the eggs had cooled down to about 45°F. They were like that for less than an hour, but they were definitely COLD to the touch. I put her back on them, and caged her up, and they hatched just fine on day 21.

So I have every hope that your babies will hatch just fine, too.

 

[banter]

Thanks for the info! I didn't realize the eggs could drop that low and still be OK. The Brower is only up to 89 degrees. I think I'm going to have to fiddle allot with the thermostat. The
heating pad is working perfectly-still 99.5!
Chris F in Maine

 

[Mrs MIA]

Believe me, I panicked, and cried, and asked everyone I knew what to do. They said put the eggs back under the hen, pen her up so she can't leave except when you tell her to

, and hope for the best. It might have slowed the process down a bit, but as long as it doesn't freeze it should be ok. You just don't want to "cook" them... that'll kill'em for sure.

Good luck! I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

 

[seminolewind]

Hi, I believe the bulb is either a 25 or 40 watt bulb. It's very low.
I had excellent results by bubble wrapping the sides, and laying a piece loosely over the top. My temps never fluctuated. I do like it.

 

[banter]

The instructions for this incubator specifically lists a 60 watt. I went back and checked again
Thanks for the input!