HELP temp fluctuations ok??

[Jenifer72]

I have been trying out my incubator for a couple days now....the temps for the most part are pretty good 99.6 .....BUT sometimes I check it and it's 98 and sometimes 100....does it need to be more accurate than this or is it ok.....now I need to figure out how to maintain my humidity. eggs will be here in a couple days!

 

[FenDruadin]

What kind of incubator do you have? Are you sure it's your incubator and not your thermometer fluctuating? The cheap thermometer that comes with most units is almost useless, and low batteries in even a good thermometer can lead to wonky readings. Try an acu-rite from Walmart--they're very good--put very fresh batteries in it and test your bator again. It's likely to help.

 

[Jenifer72]

Quote:
I have a Brower top hatch...I have a springfield something or other from walmart for a thermometer/ humidity was $6.xx. My battery wasnt brand new tho...Ill try that. If it were truley fluctuating that much would it cause a problem?

(ive never hatched before!)

 

[mayberrygirl]

I just bought the spring field and having troubles - humidity on mine is off by 15 and the temp is off by (looks to be) 2 *

 

[chickintexas]

I'm taking my Springfield back today. I almost bought the Acu-right when I picked up the Springfield.

From what I've heard, the Acu-right is much better than the other one. I've had some really odd readings including the thermometer getting up to 100.2 then going back down a couple of degrees before it shoots back up. It'll eventually level out but I can't stand how it flies all over the place before it does level.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Quote:
I have a Brower top hatch...I have a springfield something or other from walmart for a thermometer/ humidity was $6.xx. My battery wasnt brand new tho...Ill try that. If it were truley fluctuating that much would it cause a problem?

(ive never hatched before!)

I also have a new Top-Hatch and it is experiencing a much wider range of temps than your's is. Even after creating a "tea-cozy" for it. I have three different thermometers in there, all reading different temps. This is a very agonizing incubation period. If any hatch, I hope they are not deformed from heat spikes.

 

[FenDruadin]

I have NO experience with the Brower, so I can't help you there. I do know that I have always had trouble with thermometers all reading differently--it's very frustrating at first. I finally broke down and spent $20 on a milk thermometer from Hoegger Supply that measures air, liquid, or food with a gauranteed accuracy to 1/10 of a degree. It has been awesome! They don't carry the exact model any more, but I suspect the model they've replaced it with is just as good:

http://hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=3271&cat=0&page=1

I love it because I can stick the probe in the ventilation hole and turn it on and it's easy to read because the read-out is right there in front of me (no peering into a dark incubator or trying to aim my flashlight just right to view the temp reading). I still keep my old Acu-rite in there, and it's pretty good, but not quite as good, and it tends to go wonky when the batteries run low. I haven't had to replace the batteries yet in my Hoegger thermometer, but when it begins to give weird readings I certainly will.

Anyway, good luck. It's frustrating trying to figure everything out at first, but the nice thing is that eggs tend to be fairly resilient--you'll probably be all right in the end.

Good luck.

 

[raimnel]

My acu-right says my 'bators high lows are 97-100/102 dumb thing. but I get chicks 14 out of 22 last time. and Not sure what I'll get this time?!

 

[Jenifer72]

I also have 3 thermometers in mine...all showing different. I've decided to go with the mercury one that came with the incubator and it's right on. I never realized that thermometers ccould be off by so much. What a rip off!