Home made incubator

[crissycriss]

Is the T-stat positioned so that the metal side is facing the bulb? And within 2 inches of the bulb? How high does it get before it turns off? You may just have to tweak the temp on the t-stat.

Yes it is facing silver side out the t-stat is 1-2 inches away from the light.The temp goes up to 100 before it cuts off.I have 4 vent holes,two are covered and taped.I changed my light to a 40watt its keeping it at 100 with all vents open.I will try to get a lower watt bulb in the morning.But the T-stat or light does not come on.Right now its like a still air.

 

[3forfree]

You need to do like silver duck suggested and just play with the thermostat. You don't need another light bulb if the one you have is pushing the temps over 100. When you adjust your thermostat just turn it a very little. then give it time to react to your adjustment.It takes time to get it right but once it's there it usually does a good job. My old bator would be on a roller coaster with the temps going past 100 then drop down to 98 or 97 but after playing with it, it was fine. what you need to worry about is the average temps you have inside your bator and not so much the spikes.good luck

 

[SilverDuck284]

Do you have a method for reading an eggs temp? If not, all you need are these two items to make and egg-o-meter.

Get this at any petsmart, $10-12. Any probe thermometer will work, I just found these cheap and simple. They don't record hi and low, just shows current temp. All you do is put the probe inside the Water Wiggler:

Got mine at a dollar store.

A total cost of less than $15, it will help you understand how the eggs are doing. Air temps change SO much faster than an egg, so even tho your air temp is fluctuating a bit, it takes the eggs a lot longer to cool. They may not even cool more than a degree in the time it takes air to drop 5 degrees, and then the light turns back on and heats everything up again.

 

[3forfree]

I use those temp probes in my fish tanks never thought of using them in the bator, thanks. I get them on ebay for about $4.00 most ship from china but you can find some that ship from the U.S. that's what i do. then you're not waiting 2 weeks to get it delivered.

 

[kapie9969]

I tried the second light idea with a 25 watt bulb,i could never bring the temp. down no matter what i did.I went back to one bulb,no problem.
I have one side of my thermostat almost touching my light.Last time i hatched i put the remote temp sensor in the fold of a sandwich bag with some water in it.Ive been turning my unit off at night since im just trying to calibrate it.And when i start it,it takes an hour to get up to the right temp.

 

[crissycriss]

Thanks for all this great advice i may try moving the t-stat closer to the light.Also want to get that thermometer with the probe thanks.Got a different light so maybe it will do better.

 

[Cajun Chooks]

I'm posting this to try to clear up some information.

I use 2 lights in mine and it works in either a cooler bator of an old fridge/freezer. I have 1 light that is on constantly and 1 connected to the T-stat. The 1 that stays on is a curly Q energy saving florescent bulb, it's a 13 watt. That bulb alone keeps the bator at around 85 degrees without the other light on. The light connected to the T-stat is a normal 40 watt bulb, you may have to use a 60 watt bulb if your bator isn't insulated well. My T-stat is mounted about 2 inches from the light bulb that it's connected to, the other bulb needs to be at least 6 inches away from the T-stat so it won't put any heat on it. The T-stat silver side should be facing the bulb and the little round part in the middle should be centered on the bulb. You do not need the fan blowing across the T-stat, I don't know if it'll work that way. It might cool the T-stat off a little and make it hard to get it adjusted right. I have mine blowing down across the eggs and it maintains a constant temp.

Here's what it should look like, silver side to bulb.


Here's the 1 in my old freezer/bator, the bulbs are spread apart, the fan blows down. Don't worry about those white pieces of metal under the lights, I use those to shield the eggs from radiant heat. The fan is mounted on the piece of the old computer just because it worked out.



I hope this helps.

 

[crissycriss]

cajun chooks thanks for clearing it up.Yes it helped so much.My second light may be to close to the t-stat.Also i just have my t-stat on the cooler wall beside light so i may have to move that as well.Thanks again! Time for some rearanging.

 

[crissycriss]

Ok made the changes.Fingers crossed it will maintain the correct temp for longer now. I am using a 40watt hooked to T-stat a 15 watt that stays on all the time.My fan is a larger box type computer fan. Its pretty heavy so i have it propt against the wall on the floor tillted up toward the top and facing the eggs now. I was using the small computer type fan but 2 of them done burned out (using 12 volt plug)so im using this larger one.Just noticed that my thermometers are now reading seperate temps. So fixing to stick the one reading 10degress lower in some ice water. well of to moniter the temps.

 

[kapie9969]

For you your setup works fine.Your box is huge compared to mine.Im using a small foam cooler. If i move my thermostat away that far my box goes to like 120 plus degrees.I have the thermostat on the lowest setting.
I do learn from others.If i build a large setup i would use a wafer thermostat,right now mine is a hobby thing.Mabe its the amount of holes,i saw a video where some guy had no thermostat! he just had a temperature gauge and kept adding hole in his cooler until the right temperature showed up.I wouldnt do that but it does raise questions about air flow.I have 12 holes in my cooler about the size of the end of my pinkie.I think i have it set up to pull warm air past the eggs on the way out.I have a fan on also.I tried the extra light idea because an back up would be a good idea.
I read anouther site where the guy figured for him one finger width away was the answer.The same site the guy used an hair dryer to heat his unit!Thats the confererate money farm site,good info there.