I have a Little Giant incubator I'm borrowing, and it doesn't have a fan. I set eggs a week ago with three probe thermometers in there, in different parts of the incubator, and I was having wild hot and cold spots. One BYC user recommended getting a mini handheld fan, so I did, and it helped significantly! Here's what it looks like and how it's positioned:
The picture is from before I set the eggs. Subsequently I ended up flipping the fan so it's facing the other way, with its handle towards the turner's motor, so the head is more centered along that wall of the incubator. That helped even further, and evened out the readings between the three probes. The fan is set to low (it has three settings).
So my question is this: do you see any red flags with this at lockdown? Is it a problem that it's blowing directly across the eggs? There are 41 eggs currently in the turner, but I'm going to take half of them out in a couple of days because of infertility and blood rings. Not sure how many will be left by lockdown, but it won't be as packed as it is now. And with the turner gone, I'll have enough room to put the fan down on its back so it's blowing up, and not at the eggs. Will that help? Where on the floor should I put it? Maybe in the center, with the eggs around it, blowing up? I've read that proper incubator fans are built so that they don't blow directly on the eggs, but I can't find any specific information or guidance on how to position DIY fans. I don't want to turn the fan off at lockdown because that will create hot and cold spots again, but I also don't want to jeopardize my hatch with it either... Any input will be appreciated!
The picture is from before I set the eggs. Subsequently I ended up flipping the fan so it's facing the other way, with its handle towards the turner's motor, so the head is more centered along that wall of the incubator. That helped even further, and evened out the readings between the three probes. The fan is set to low (it has three settings).
So my question is this: do you see any red flags with this at lockdown? Is it a problem that it's blowing directly across the eggs? There are 41 eggs currently in the turner, but I'm going to take half of them out in a couple of days because of infertility and blood rings. Not sure how many will be left by lockdown, but it won't be as packed as it is now. And with the turner gone, I'll have enough room to put the fan down on its back so it's blowing up, and not at the eggs. Will that help? Where on the floor should I put it? Maybe in the center, with the eggs around it, blowing up? I've read that proper incubator fans are built so that they don't blow directly on the eggs, but I can't find any specific information or guidance on how to position DIY fans. I don't want to turn the fan off at lockdown because that will create hot and cold spots again, but I also don't want to jeopardize my hatch with it either... Any input will be appreciated!