Cleaning an old hovabator

[Mikeeeeeeeeee]

I got the 15 dollar hovabator holding a nice steady 100 degrees.
Cost me a $6.99 wafer for the thermostat.
I'm adding a fan also. Fan was free. It runs off of 24V, but I have a transformer.

I'm ready to hatch, with the exception of one thing.
I need to clean the bottom part of the bator. Apparently they never used a liner in it.
I can make my own liner. Not worried about that.

I just need to know what is going to clean and sterilize that foam.

Thanks in advance. This is a great forum. I'm a moderator of the religious section on a harley forum that has 50,000+ members. I know what it takes behind the scenes to do this and make it work. You guys are doing a great job.

 

[skeeter9]

I have an old Hovabator that I got used and it was pretty grungy when I got it. I used a mild bleach water solution and a soft rag, then let it sit for a little while before rinsing it. Then I let it sit in the sun all day. It still doesn't look perfect, but I do this same routine every time I use it, so I know it's "decontaminated".

Good luck with your hatching!!!!

 

[Ms. Lewis Rich]

I use OdoBan you can buy it at any Sams club it worked great for my dog kennel and now for the chickens smells nice too. ! gallon makes 32 gallons about 9.99 and you get a spray bottle also.

 

[Akane]

Soak it. Take off the heating element, dump the styrofoam in a bathtub or other large container of water with some bleach. Scrub it the next day with a sponge. Rinse, rinse, rinse, and leave to air dry. Wipe down with vinegar, leave to air dry. Should be pretty clean and completely disinfected after that.

 

[Mikeeeeeeeeee]

I was talking to people at the chicken auction tonight, and some said clorox, and one guy said no way to clorox. He must not have rinsed enough cause he said that his first batch after that all died before he could get them in the brooder.

 

[CindyS]

I have used pure clorox on mine and it does not hurt anything, just rinse and set out in the sun for a day. You need to be careful when scrubbing the styrofoam if you make it rough it is harder to clean the next time.

 

[Akane]

You have to let it dry. I keep saying it but it's the major thing you learn when cleaning fish tank equipment. Any bleach could kill fish and sometimes you just can't rinse things well enough but if you let it dry bleach turns to a harmless salt. Same with vinegar except it evaporates completely. You have to let things dry 100%. Also the vinegar is very acidic and bleach is very alkaline. They neutralize each other and again make salt. Thus the final wipe with vinegar and then let the vinegar evaporate before use. On my incubator I just use vinegar without the bleach but on a used incubator I think a bleach soak is a good idea.

If the eggs hatched I doubt the bleach killed the chicks. If it was that strong to last all 3 weeks of incubating I would think it would have built up and killed the eggs before they hatched.

 

[Mikeeeeeeeeee]

Quote:
I think you are right on that.