Chic Chick 'Bator *UPDATED*

[MissPrissy]

Make sure you are reading the right temps. The probe will be the "OUT" temp. The "IN" temp is the reading from the thermometer body.

 

[daycaremom]

Yea, the probe says 97.9, the other says 96.6 and my other digital thermometer says 97.2.

 

[MissPrissy]

Your temps need to come up 100. It needs to run several hours to stabilize.

 

[daycaremom]

I haven't had it on that long, so I'm working up to it. I'll wait and see how it works. I tried the baggie thing to simulate the water wiggler before I found this thread, but it leaked all over. If the cubes don't work, I will try the baggie again in a yogurt container. I'm determined I am going to get this going! Thanks.

 

[LocoPollo]

My temp is ranging from 101 to 84 (. I haven't been able to run it long but i will overnight. I put a bottle of water in there and the fan is blowing. Hopefully it will be a shorter temp range by tomorrow.

 

[AimsChickies]

Hello everyone. Saw this post and I HAD to try it. I love projects! So i have it mostly together but wanted to ask a quesiton, what wattage bulb do you recommend? I see a bunch of different watts throughout the post and was going to try to use some 40 watt bulbs i have around here, would that work?

 

[MissPrissy]

Aims - you have to figure out what works for you. A 40 watt can be too hot for some us and a 25 watt to cool.

The trick with this thing is MAKING it work for your environment.

 

[LocoPollo]

I can't seem to be able to keep the temp at a steady level. 101 - 84 is as good as I can get it. I don't know what else I can do. Oh well, It was fun trying!

 

[MissPrissy]

Don't give up so easily. This works. Lots of people have built them and have great hatches.

You may need a heat sink. You may need to reposition your thermostat - make sure it is NOT flush against the wall. You may need to try different bulbs. Temps are more stable when you have a fan to move the air across your water source.

 

[LocoPollo]

I was wondering about using corn as a heat sink. Every now and again I heard of people putting bags of corn in the microwave to use as a heat pad. I was just thinking that maybe that would be a good little bed for the eggs while being a bit of a heat sink. I am also gonna look into a different thermostat. There is a digital one for 40 dollars that may be more sensitive. We'll see.