cheap made in china 48 egg incubator known problems

[gpop1]

if you have a cheap yellow top plastic base incubator that died or is un-stable to the point it can not be trusted can you please tell me what the problem is.

I have one and the heater died around day 10. Now fixing the incubator would be simple and the parts are cheap but that's no fun so im thinking of selling the turner on ebay and using the controls (upgrading a few parts) and using the interface for a cabinet incubator.

I don't want to go to the hassle if the digital interface is a known problem. Things like temp/humidity readings being off is not a problem as I can add a way to calibrate.

 

[yellowherb]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-has-anybody-used-one-temperature-issues-help
this is a thread about the "eggcubator" which I think is the same one we have that gpop1 is referring to.

 

[gpop1]

replaced the heater in the incubator as one turned up in the post. Ive ordered so much electrical stuff from china im not sure if I ordered this or if its a replacement under the warrantee.
While playing with it I discovered that the board has a spot for a second fan so I played with adding a fan to different areas in the hood to see what difference the temperature read. The temperature average was around 4.5 degrees F low compared to the display but it was that stable at that in 5 different areas. I pulled the temp sensor and tested on the bench and found the temp sensor was about 0.3 F low. I decided that the temperature sensor was reading the temperature of the heated air before it had chance to mix with the rest of the air so I placed a piece of plastic about 2" square between the temperature sensor and the mesh of the top. 5 tests later the temperature sensor now reads 0.1 to 0.4 degrees difference from my test unit when placed in the base in 5 different places. That's as good as I would expect out of a expensive incubator. I have not removed the extra fan yet to test if just the piece of plastic would work with out the additional airflow.

humidity sensor is a pain. Its seems like a well made sensor that tests well on the bench but doesn't seem to work well in the incubator. The incubator has a very poor seal between the top and bottom so my test sensor in the bottom is reading the water vapor that is being stripped from the top of the water while the incubator is reading the humidity after the air has already passed the bad seal and is being returned to the incubator after heating. In a 5 point test my tester varies from 60-63 placed in the base(all channels have water in them).
Raised up a few inchs from the base the humidity drops nearly 20 percent. panel on incubator reads 21% (my house humidity is around 25-28). Im going to try some foam 1/4" door seal which has one sticky side to see if I can reduce the loss between the top/bottom gap. then repeat the test.

Still not sure what im doing with this incubator so im just playing.

 

[Pollies Hall fowl]

To reset the incubator press the green and red reset button and the black one. Hold them down.