Cheap incubator not holding constant temp

[MysteryChicken]

I have added some water to the bottom tray, it has a polystyrene case for insulation. Thing is as soon as I press the button to stop it beeping it just starts going down but doesn't seem to stop. Until the alarm goes off at 36.9 C and I press the button again. How am I going to sleep tonight?

I had the same problem with my incubator when first starting out. But I realized it was the temperature not holding, so I added a towel on top, to keep heat consistent.

 

[als77]

Most cheap (i.e chinese) incubators comes with styrofoam - have you thrown that away? Many of them NEEDS to be in that styrofoam (just make sure the vent-holes aren't covered), especially if you aren't incubating inside your house.

 

[Heboghens]

Yes it is a cheap one from China and yes it is still in the polystyrene, which I think is what you call styrofoam. About an hour ago it actually went up to 42C without the alarm going off. But in general what it seems to be doing is constantly fluctuating between 37 and 39. When it reaches 39 it stops heating until it goes down to 37 and then turns the heat back on. Is this usual? can chicks grow under these conditions?

 

[Heboghens]

Most cheap (i.e chinese) incubators comes with styrofoam - have you thrown that away? Many of them NEEDS to be in that styrofoam (just make sure the vent-holes aren't covered), especially if you aren't incubating inside your house.

Can't actually find vent holes. Oh dear it's a real piece of cronk

 

[als77]

Yes it is a cheap one from China and yes it is still in the polystyrene, which I think is what you call styrofoam. About an hour ago it actually went up to 42C without the alarm going off. But in general what it seems to be doing is constantly fluctuating between 37 and 39. When it reaches 39 it stops heating until it goes down to 37 and then turns the heat back on. Is this usual? can chicks grow under these conditions?

Yes, the insulation-thingie

I'm a noob, but my cheap chinese one fluctates with +/- 0.5 degree C so your one sounds on the wobly side to me. There isn't a setting you can change for it? It surely should not allow itself to go as high as 42

Maybe you could keep a (closed) bottle or container filled with luke-warm water (37.5 or the temp you're aiming at) as a battery to even out the swings? (not sure how well it will work if your incubator is set to kick in at 37 and stop only at 39, but if it tries to start before 37 and stop before 39 then it might help???)

 

[JaeG]

How long have the eggs been in? If it's not that long (less than 8-12 hours) they may still be heating through completely so I'm wondering if your incubator is trying to cope with that.

It's the core temperature of the egg that matters as under a hen eggs are not at a constant temperature. Those to the outside are slightly cooler than those in the middle and that's a lot of the reason why a hen constantly rotates and rearranges them. My cheap incubator can fluctuate between 37.4-38.8 and I've never had any issues hatching out happy, healthy babies (it's years old now). I keep it wrapped in a blanket if the room is cool, but have to unwrap it when the temperature of the room goes up. Mine only has a dial for the temperature (which is incorrect so I rely on my independent thermometer) - nothing else fancy so I'm not sure what to do about the alarm.

A hygrometer is a good idea if you can order one from somewhere. It isn't as essential as temperature but it's good to work out what humidity gives you the best result. My water wells are too large for the beginning of incubation so I only put a little shot glass of water in the incubator to start with if I need to increase the humidity (if the incubator is quite full I don't need to do this). I keep mine around 25-30% for chickens, but different environments can require different levels.

 

[Heboghens]

Thank you all so much, really appreciate your advice - temp has been up to 42C at least a couple of times, and the eggs have been in for more than 24 hours now, we still haven't managed to stabalise it. Perhaps we should throw in the towel.

 

[als77]

Throw in the towel? Only to cover the bator I hope

How long does it stay at 42C? And does it still spike to 42C? How close to the top of the eggs is the sensor? As JaeG pointed out - it is the egg temperature we're aiming for, not the bator itself - so if the 42C-spikes are short then maybe it's OK? (at least if the bator stops that behaviour now)

 

[Heboghens]

I did take the temp of the eggs this morning, one of them was at 40C. I'm not really sure how long it has been at a high temp. it is up and down all the time still.
You do give me some hope, I thought I'd just ruined all the eggs. I'm thinking if we manage to stabilise it now, it might already be too late, and we'll wait for 3 weeks in vain.

 

[Heboghens]

I'll let you know...