Do incubators wear out?

[mtma]

I have been using the same Nature Right 360 over three years for about 10 hatches. When I began I had excellent hatch rates (85-90%), and now am getting about 50% of the fertile eggs to hatch. I have used my eggs, but also bought fertile eggs from local farms to see if that made a difference and it doesn't seem to. With this current hatch (we are on day 18) I put half the eggs in my incubator and the other half in a borrowed Nurture Right 360 and I have had a few more give up development in mine than in my friends'. The only visible difference is there is a bit of rust in mine on the center metal part that spins the turner. Is it normal for incubators to need replaced every so often? Thanks.

 

[mcdze]

id say yes, everything wears .. the sensor will change tolerance, heating element could get less efficient, fan could get weak or dusty, plastic etc mating surfaces could warp and not seal as well .. also, i would imagine quite an interesting crop of micro-organisms could start living in it if its never sanitized .. that said, i blame my rooster lol, his days are numbered ..

 

[mtma]

Thanks! I do sanitize it between hatches, but it's just lagging. My rooster is definitely lazy as well, so I bought fertile eggs this time!

 

[Tired old Rooster]

Like most appliances, parts will wear or completely fail. How long that takes, will depend on the quality of the product, maintenance done etc.