Controlling temp fluctuations?

[Colie <3]

A top hatch is my other incubator. It doesn't flucuate badly in my experience but my room is pretty stable temp wise also always in the 70's. I did however just drop the lid and smash three eggs

What sort of thermometer are you using with your top hatch? I tried putting an egg o' meter in there to double check since I have the original thermometer and an extra LG thermometer in there. IMO egg o' meter is a piece of junk! Temps were almost over 102 and stupid egg only reading 98.9 by the time I gave up and pulled it and turned the dial back where I had it. Can't wait till my spot check thermometer shows up so I can get an accurate reading

 

[beesong]

Interesting -- I have the Spot Check AND the Egg-O-Meter and much prefer the latter. I also like it that it keeps a record of max/min temp inside the egg. Very helpful for keeping tabs on things. I do like the Spot Check, but not as much. The batteries in the Egg-O-Meter also last LOTS longer and are standard size (AAA) so much cheaper to replace. When you get your Spot Check, post the temp comparison -- that should be good info to have.

 

[beesong]

By the way, how long was the Egg-O-Meter in there before you decided to pull it out? It does take a long time to heat up the interior of the "egg" and stabilize, just as it does with real eggs.

 

[Colie <3]

It was in there about 16 hours before I made the call to pull it. I figured if my thermometers were both really off that much I'd rather confirm it with the spot check instead of cooking them by going by a possibly inaccurate egg o' meter. I should get the spot check today or tomorrow I'll post what it reads when it shows up. I'm interested to see the comparison as well. I'm thinking a couple of days underheated slightly is better than majorly overheated...

 

[aceoftrumps]

As I posted about a month and a half ago, I have a LG still air bator. I'm a retiree from a chemical plant and for years all we heard from upper management and engineers is, make what you have work. Sooooo....

I put decorative stones I got at the dollar store in the empty spaces surrounding the water channels to act as heat sinks. And it works! For this hatch, the temp has been rock steady. As for the humidity, I leave one plug out and fill the water channels...during the 18 days, only filled them one more time...then filled them and soaked 4 sponges in the outside channels for lockdown. Humidity steady at 65%.

All hatched and no shrinkwrapped.

I've read all kinds of good tips on this great website and try the ones I think will work. Such as using cheese cloth over the wire bottom for lockdown. Sure helps in clean up.

Curt

 

[Colie <3]

Hmm I have some decorative stones that seem like they'll do the trick I'm gonna add those tonite see if it helps. Do you know any tricks to getting the water in the actual water channel and not in the parts that have the holes?? lol It's so hard to see!

 

[_Randall_]

Quote:
I fully belive in heat-sinks. They are there to help sustain a "would be" rapid temp drop from the time the heating element is idle (off), and it becomes active again which by the way is dependent on a "reliable" thermostat. BUT, climate control in the room the bator is in has to be contolled somewhat. If not, all the heat-sinks you can cram in the bator may not be enough to "sustain" that "ultimate" temp, hence controlling the wide fluctuations.

 

[Suechick]

2nd on the heat sinks!! I put in several containers of water with lids that are removable. They hold on to a lot of heat and stabilize fluctuations, then when it's time for lock down I can open them up, add sponges and voila, instant humidity.

 

[FrizzleFreak]

Thanks for all the help! I'm especially glad that others are getting the info they need too

Naturally, as soon as I complained about it, the problem mysteriously stopped. Literally, as soon as I posted this, I noticed that the temp was down to 100.3, and it really hasn't varied too much since then. I'm planning on candling tomorrow, so fingers crossed!
So, if I were to get my hands on a computer fan, what kind of installation would be involved? Just sort of setting it in there and plugging it in, or affixing it to the wall of the incubator, or what?
BTW, in previous hatches I have used water balloons as heat sinks. I didn't think I'd have that problem with this incubator, as the last one was 10 years old and this one is brand new.

 

[Coldweatherbirds]

I keep the room my still-air LG is in at 65-F exactly. When the room dropped a few degrees last week b/c furnace was off, the incubator dropped too because these incubators make a set amount of heat and do NOT self adjust to ANY fluctuation in the environment. Some people adjust the incubator frequently as their room temp changes a couple degrees, but the dials are so finicky and over-react that I would be afraid to try this! I agree that a heat sink would help with temporary minor temp drops. I don't have a heat sink, I think I will next time. I do have 34 eggs in there which should act as a heat sink themselves! I wouldn't add a fan mid-incubation, you'd have to readjust all over again and that would be hard on the eggs I'd think. But that's just me thinking, I am not experienced at all! LoL. Good luck!