Hatcher wiring...

[jossanne]

I'm trying to set up a still air hatcher/incubator. I have a ceiling light kit for a 60w bulb and a wafer thermostat and switch. I know nothing about wiring, and haven't found anything on here that helps.

I have an electrical cord with a brown wire (hot), a blue wire (neutral) and a yellow/green wire (earth ground). I have a light with a black wire and a white wire. The thermostat switch has two blue wires.

So I hooked up a blue thermostat wire with a white light wire and a blue cord wire. I connected the other blue thermostat wire with the brown cord wire and the black light wire. I used the little plastic twist-on things to connect the wires.

When I plugged it in, it immediately shot out smoke and fizzing sounds, so I unplugged it. Where did I go wrong? Have I ruined my components? How do I wire them together to make it work?

Thanks!

 

[ozzie]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8510&p=27

Scroll down to post 263 and there's a diagram about how to wire.

good luck and BE CAREFUL - electricity kills. I wouldn't be doing it if you're alone in the house by yourself ie if anything happens, you'll need someone around to call an ambulance.

ozzie

 

[killer]

you may have just burnt your thermostat up.

 

[jossanne]

Quote:
How do I tell?

 

[killer]

you got a ohm meter?

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

This thread has some diagrams...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=151523

 

[jossanne]

No ohm meter. I re-wired it like the diagram in the above link, and nothing happened. I wonder if it's because the thermostat is dead. I tightened the screw until it clicked, and loosened it again and the light never came on.

 

[killer]

switch is bad now you let the magic smoke out of it. it should have came on. you must have wired it where it was a dead short when you plug it up. and it burnt the contacts in the switch.

 

[jossanne]

Quote:
That's what I was afraid of, darn it! At least I'm not too desperate for an incubator yet.