DESIGNING AN INCUBATOR

[HickoryHollow]

Last night I put in the shelf under the fan, and made the shelves for the egg turners. The top shelf is 1/4" plywood. The shelves for the turners are small wooden frames with 1/4" hardware cloth stapled over the frames. I also added "Y's" to the bulb sockets and put in 2 more light bulbs. (4 total) By doing this, when the controller turns the lights back on, it comes right back up in temp. With only 2 bulbs, it would drop another degree after turning on before it started climbing again.

Now, 2 more shelves (baskets) for hatchers and I am ready to rock and roll after some testing and tweeking.

Tim

 

[HickoryHollow]

Alrighty then.......all the shelves and "baskets" are finished. I still need to add a couple of vent holes. I also think I am going to rig a funnel over the water pan so it could be fill during lockdown if necessary.

Tim

 

[dragasn]

I'm getting ready to build my first cabinet incubator & had couple questions.
1) everybody puts the lights/heat at the top. Since heat rises why not put heat at bottom with fans on top blowing heat back down?
2) If you raise the humidity level during lock down How can you regulate humidity with some hatching & some in lock down? Or would it be better to build separate lock down?
3) where is best place for the water? Top or bottom?

 

[Daedalus62]

When the eggs hatch, it gets pretty messy (dirty and gooey) in that bottom area... Not so bad with the water tray, but avoid the lamp in that area... Notice how, in (most?) commercial cabinet incubators, these elements are placed above the eggs?...

If you can work around this, no trouble I guess... Also, I believe placing the heat source(s) near the fan(s) (directly in the air flow?), helps in a better heat dispersion... If you're using incandescent bulbs it may even prolong their life, they won't heat up so much.

2 - Different humidity levels in the same unit, sharing the same heat source/air flow?... Not impossible but, tricky one...

3 - Near the heat source (water gets warm faster and holds) and the air flow (air blowing across the water surface, provides for an excellent humidity dispersion and control).

Cheers

 

[WalnutHill]

I'm getting ready to build my first cabinet incubator & had couple questions.
1) everybody puts the lights/heat at the top. Since heat rises why not put heat at bottom with fans on top blowing heat back down?
2) If you raise the humidity level during lock down How can you regulate humidity with some hatching & some in lock down? Or would it be better to build separate lock down?
3) where is best place for the water? Top or bottom?

My homebuilt cabinet incubator uses forced convection heating.

I built an insulated duct, rather than a false back, in my incubator. At the top of the duct is the inlet fan. Directly below the inlet fan is the heating element (I used a 150w ceramic emitter). Then comes 3 feet of ductwork that exits in a 90 degree turn into the cabinet. So the air is pulled in at the top, heated more if need be, and pushed down to the bottom of the cabinet.

Convection allows the warm air to rise through the five wire bottom trays, and in front of and behind them. The humidistat sensor and the thermostat probe are located midway in the cabinet, on a piece of framework supporting the duct.

The entire cabinet is composed of rigid foam insulation panels encasing a lightweight 1" x 2" framework. The trays are mounted on drawer slides. The humidistat powers an aquarium pump in a tub of water in the bottom of the incubator. The aquarium pump aids in evaporation. It is holding a steady 30-35% despite dramatic outdoor temp and humidity swings. Relative humidity is higher at the bottom, right below the hatcher trays, before the air is fully dispersed. The temperature is a rock solid 100.4 with no variation in egg temp in 7 days.

The door is just another slab of foam, with L brackets holding it in place. The bottom two are screwed to the frame so that the foam fits snugly behind them. The top two are loosely attached to the frame through the foam and act like flip latches to catch the top edge of the panels. Since I like to peek, I cut a long, narrow window in the foam door and applied window shrink film to both sides, leaving a nice air gap. I don't measure any difference in temperature in front of the window, nor does the film feel warm on the outside.

I am 7 days in on my first set and couldn't be happier with the performance.

 

[dragasn]

This was my original idea. But debating on switching from wooden shelves to plastic egg trays, to make it smaller & lighter? So I need to move water to top & add a false back or ventilation system? Instead of vent holes

 

[dragasn]

Have to excuse the drawing... I can't draw to save my life lol. & now thinking of using a coolerbater for lock down?

 

[crazyfeathers]

You guys are so smart! I'm not allowed to build things lol per my husband. I just keep the animals fed and pens clean. Hubby just bought me an incubator, probably so I wouldn't ask him to build me one. I'm impressed with all of you and your knowledge in building these incubators. Great job. ps my hatch rate was 100% as well, thank you hubby!

 

[WalnutHill]

Don't worry, my sketch is no better. I gather the air at the top, heat it, and push it through insulated duct to the bottom. There is good airflow at the bottom of the duct from one computer case fan, about 5" diameter. I did not want to subject the eggs or hatchlings to hot, dry air, so the air hits the water pan, assists in evaporation, and reduces airspeed. Convection lifts the warm, moist air through the screened bottom trays.

 

[dragasn]

WalnutHill Thx that's what I was curious about & something like my original idea before got overwhelmed with the set up (my drawing) on the Internet. What is the incubation heated trays? 1 pc fan will push that much air? Wow I was thinking I'd need 2-4.