help! -need ideas--Homemade incubator--not enough humidity

[NiteHawk]

We made a homemade incubator out of an old fridge, and it works, however the hatch rate was poor, probably due to older eggs, and probably not very good air flow, and not so good humidity. I went though and put 4 computer fans in the fridge, and tested it out using a cooking thermometer on all 3 racks and the temperature is now great!
However I am still having problems getting my humidity up. I put a fan on the bottom rack pointing down wards towards the fridge floor,where I had placed a couple of good sized containers with water on the fridge floor. The fan I think is at least an 8 inch fan with decent air flow.
I placed another small fan on the bottom rack beside the other fan- tipped sideways and upwards to suck up any moisture the first fan kicks up which is blowing down on the water containers.
Even with the decent sized water containers, where the hygrometer probe is on the second shelf, I can only get the humidity up to about 37% (It is a digital hygrometer)
With the last hatch I poured a shallow puddle of water right on the fridge floor and soaked sponges to try to get the humidity up even anywhere near where it should have been-- and it was still way too low most of the time, and the sponges were dry in liked a couple hours which meant that I have to open the door and re-wet them, which caused a drop in temperature--- not a good thing..
Something I noticed over and over-- no explanation-- just observation-- was that in the evening when the outside air began to cool- the humidity inside the fridge would drop. weird but true...
The fridge is small, so I don't have space to put water just any old place in there and I don't want water getting splashed on anything electrical why I have the water on the bottom of the fridge.
I would really really like any ideas!!
thanks...

 

[cavemanrich]

Consider a small diameter tubing hose installed thru an opening , or drill one, and add water to the sponges that you had there before. This way you are not opening up the whole incubator, and loosing heat and humidity in the process.
Another thing would be for you to calibrate your hygrometer to make sure it is giving you a correct reading. It may be reading one value , but actual may be very different. Go to Youtube and search for "Calibrating a Hygrometer"
WISHING YOU BEST......................and

 

[NiteHawk]

can you calibrate a digital hygrometer??
Any one out there use a "medical" humidifier??
if so how well do they work? I know some don't put out very much water, and some have a better output...
any thoughts?

 

[cavemanrich]

By calibrate, you determine what the reading your hygrometer is showing, and the actual humidity. If you watched some of those Youtube videos, they explain.
For example;; if your hygrometer shown 50% but you know the actual humidity is 65%. This tells you that when you see 50% or something close to it, the actual humidity is actually 65% or something close to it.
You are using inexpensive meters. If you had LABORATORY PRECISION GRADE instruments, then you would get much more precise readings. Obviously the price would al$o be reflected.
If you have difficulty finding the Youtube vids, I can find them and post them. I'm just not able to search for them now.