"EGGCUBATOR "SOLD ON EBAY , HAS ANYBODY USED ONE ??? TEMPERATURE ISSUES HELP !!!

[scflock]

Well now the seller on eBay won't get back with me to return my 2 Eggcubators or refund me my money, and when you look up the seller they aren't even on eBay anymore. It's like they flew the coop with everyone's hard earned money. I should have bought a American made incubator. :-(

British, too. They have been doing this a lot longer than we have, and make top of the line incubators. Like I said, Brinsea or RCOM for plastic

 

[WVduckchick]

I have this same incubator. Its not great, but it can be managed, if you want to work with it.
I set my temp at 38.0-38.1. It fluctuates alot (ALOT) and the heater kicks on and off, on and off, about every 3 minutes. So I just try to not over-heat the eggs, and keep an average temp of 99.5. I have 3 extra thermometers, and 2 extra hygrometers. The hygrometer on the unit (mine at least) is useless. I don't even look at it. It basically sits on 20% all the time.
I only add water to one corner square in the base at lockdown, 2 or 3 corners if necessary. I dry incubate until lockdown, occasionally adding a little water to a corner if it dips below 25. I'm in a pretty humid area, so I maintain 30-35 fairly well with no added water.

I also added some insulation around the outside and to the bottom. It has helped to keep the heater from working so hard, and it extended the time between the heater kicking on. I'm still new at hatching, but I did hatch 4 beautiful ducklings last month, and am on Day 13 with 14 lavender orpingtons that look fabulous so far! Pic below of the added insulation.

Also, it seems my lid only fits snug in 1 direction. So watch that on yours too. I stuck a nickel, sometimes 2, under one foot of the thing to keep a good seal. But with this hatch, its sealed good because I got it on right. Actually I would take a nickel out for ventilation.

Next... it only has one hole to add water. I added 3 more (1 on each of the other sides) in the same location as the one it came with. I think it has helped ventilation tremendously. I can plug them if necessary, but I think it needed more vents anyway.

The thermometer sensor on the top of this thing, I also pulled out of the zip-tie and let it dangle down an inch or two. I don't really know if that had any effect, other than making me feel better. As someone said, with the fan, there shouldn't be much temp difference at different heights, but I wanted it to read closer to the top of the eggs.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[narragansett1]

does any one by chance have a picture of the heating element im thinking of putting my extra little giant element in my chinese incubator does any one think that could work...

 

[GeneP]

If you have the Chinese yellow plastic incubator with a sloped control panel, as pictured in the previous post, it uses a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) ceramic heating element. The element looks like this one <http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free...-110V-PTC-Heater-for-crimper/32217646113.html> and is clamped to the aluminum plate which is above the fan. If the Little Giant element is a dark brown/black tube, it may work. You would need to mount it so it will not melt plastic, or burn you or the chicks.

 

[narragansett1]

this is the little giant heating element and thats what i want to put it in...

 

[GeneP]

I could not find any technical information about the LG 7300. The Chinese (HHD manufactured) incubator uses a 12 VDC fan and 110 VAC to the 80 watt heater. The controller can briefly handle more than 80 watts, since the PTC heater draws higher wattage when it is cold. I found that the incubator has a lot of heat loss through the plastic and needs at least 50 watts of heating to maintain 100 'F in a 65'F room, even when it is in the Styrofoam bottom. If the LG heater is less than 80 watts, it may not be able to maintain incubation temperature.

 

[PapaRitz]

99.5 F. = 37.5 C

I am using two 9 Egg Incubators / Hatcher with the same digital settings. I set limits to 37.2 L. - - - 37.8 H. They work very well
It's wise to invest in a probe type thermometer / humidity gage. After verifying the reliability of the Chinese 9 egg - we use it in our cabinet bator.

 

[PapaRitz]

Sorry to hear about the heat loss and demanding wattage to operate your bator.

 

[narragansett1]

I could not find any technical information about the LG 7300. The Chinese (HHD manufactured) incubator uses a 12 VDC fan and 110 VAC to the 80 watt heater. The controller can briefly handle more than 80 watts, since the PTC heater draws higher wattage when it is cold. I found that the incubator has a lot of heat loss through the plastic and needs at least 50 watts of heating to maintain 100 'F in a 65'F room, even when it is in the Styrofoam bottom. If the LG heater is less than 80 watts, it may not be able to maintain incubation temperature.

so can i safely hook it up and find out if any thing it wont be enough oh and the box thats in the pic is the fan kit heater its all one piece that you put in i took out the original heater that came with the still air unit..

 

[GeneP]

so can i safely hook it up and find out if any thing it wont be enough oh and the box thats in the pic is the fan kit heater its all one piece that you put in i took out the original heater that came with the still air unit..

Go ahead and try it.