Heating wafer dying?

[Blisschick]

I've had some not so great hatches lately, some of which I'm thinking is one of my roo's fault, but I have been noticing that I'm having some temp issues with my incubator. I have it in my living room, which is the most temp stable room in the house. I have two thermometers and a hygrometer in with the turner, both sitting on top of the eggs. It seems like it takes the incubator forever to heat up, and when it gets up to temp, it's fairly stable, but it's hard to get it to stay up where it needs to be. I've also noticed that I'm having issues with keeping the humidity up.

I saw that my wafer had some chick fuzz on it, so I took it out and cleaned it gently with a toothbrush. I saw that it has some spots on it that look like the sealant on the top and bottom is flaking off (I thought it was rust at first). Do I need to be concerned about the sealant? Could the chick fuzz have been interfering with the wafer heating properly? How long can I expect one to last? I've had this incubator for three years now, but I don't use it but maybe 6 mos. out of the year.

 

[ginasmarans]

If you are speaking of the wafer thermastat,I'd chunk it and get a new one. They are fickle things and often go out. I change mine if the temps fluctuate much. We have central air and heating,so our house temp is pretty stable.

 

[Blisschick]

Yeah, that's what I meant, the wafer thermostat...

I've been pricing them. I may end up buying online if the feedstore is too expensive.

 

[CindyS]

Getting a new wafer is a good idea, although if they are leaking, they will not expand and shut the heat off properly and the incubator will over heat. while you have the wafer out, check the little trip swich, you can find it by running your finger on the little metal plate where you take the wafer out, it will click when you push on it. Sometimes these get gummed up with gook and are not as sensitive as they should be.

 

[chickenfanatic]

id get a new one going out or not cant hurt to make sure and be on the safe side

 

[Blisschick]

The trip switch is fine. Nothing stuck in it.

I put the wafer back in and cranked up the 'bator, and it seems to be holding the temp better, but the humidity is still being a pain in the butt. I didn't see the wafer leaking at all, but I do think the coating of fuzz may have been causing a slight fluctuation in it. I use a can of compressed air to try and keep my fan and the inner parts clean, because that chick fuzz ends up coating everything.

I'm beginning to think that maybe I have some air leakage around the windows, because they're just popped in, not sealed or anything, so maybe my humidity is escaping through the edges. I think I'm going to try putting some Elmer's glue around them instead of sealant to avoid any harmful fumes. We'll see if that helps.

Edited to say...I've always thought that maybe I should have a spare wafer for back-up, just in case. I would recommend it to anyone.