homemade hatcher/brooder construction advice needed

[TheBigRedOne]

i started out with the thermostat as low as it would go ... therein lies my problem with those last few degrees. Should i file down the restrictor ridge on the thermostat housing so that it will turn slightly more down or does anyone know of a less complicated means of lowering temps?

 

[PandoraTaylor]

Try a lower wattage bulb & adjust the spacing between the bulb and the thermostat.

 

[TheBigRedOne]

I have tried moving the thermostat. It started out mounted near the floor at egg level, moved to halfway up the wall, and then finally i put it in a sardine can and mounted it as close to the light bulb as possible. It holds the same range of temperatures (106 to 108) in each different place.

I have not tried the lower wattage bulb yet nor have i tried a different thermometer. I am on my way into town shortly to get some lower watt bulbs and, if there is one at the Dollar Store, a different thermometer.

I am also going to cut a bit off of the restrictor bump on the thermostat where it will turn down slightly more.

Question for today ... Can i incubate goose, chicken, and guinea eggs all at once, or is there a temp difference to contend with??

I have a fan out of a small ceramic space heater in there as well ... minus the heater part, thermostat switch, and on/off switch. Do i need to maybe remove the fan or fix it where it can be turned off/on again??

 

[Daidohead]

Have you tried another thermometer yet ?

 

[TheBigRedOne]

I will have some new thermometers in the morning ... i missed the store tonight. lower wat lights likewise.

 

[babsbag]

I am using a 40 watt bulb in mine. What I find is that I have to adjust the thermostat quite often. It will hold a constant temp for a few days and then start going up, I keep turning it down, and then it starts staying low. Drives me crazy. I have less than a week left on this hatch. If I ever do this again (and I will) I want to buy a different thermostat. It was just an experiment, kinda to prove that it would work, or it wouldn't. The verdict is still out. I don't have any problem getting the temp to go down, or up I just wish they would stay put.

Do you have air vents drilled in your freezer? Maybe drill a few more. I also put another fan in mine and it evened the temps out. At least I have no more hot or cold spots. I am really surprised that you can't get it to go low enough.

Let us know what works for you.

 

[TheBigRedOne]

I have drilled six 1/4th inch (largest drill bit i own) holes in each side, three low for intake and three high for outtake. Plust there is a one inch oval shaped hole that the wiring runs through, and the picture frame access door with a 1X4 frame is not very airtight. The access hole is roughly 5 inches by 5 inches with an 8X10 covering it held shut by pushpins through rings set into the 1X4 frame. The drilling of more vents may be a foregone conclusion simply due to their small size.

The light bulb is a G.E. soft white 52 watt. Our local wal mart does not carry the older syles with nice round wattage figures anymore. All they have now is these energy saver models, case in point i went in search of a 60 watt and ended up with these 52 watt "compares to the light output of a regular 60 watt" things. Also they were out of any kind of theremometer at our local walmart, which is why i am going to the hardware store later this morning.

The guy at the building material where Dad got this hot water heater thermostat said he thought that they only went from 150 degrees to about 225 degrees and could not believe i was going to incubate chickens with it. So needless to say i was impressed by it being as low a temp as it was.

shortly, when it gets light enough to see outside, i am going to go out and file down that ridge on the thermostat so it will turn just a wee bit lower. That will void my warrenty ... but i am pretty sure that the warrenty is a mute point by dint of the fact that i am not using it in a manner consistent with it's labeling.

 

[pdsavage]

what no pics

 

[TheBigRedOne]

Sorry for the no pics thing but i do not own a camera, digital or otherwise. I am going to hire out a set of pictures when i get it finished so i can post them here and put them in with my notes so i can do this again later. When word gets out around town i know several people who will want an incubator or at the very least a dehydrator, which is just an incubator with the water pan removed and several shelfs of flow-through mesh so the air can circulate around the food. Gotta love a small town.

 

[TheBigRedOne]

well i still did not manage to get the thermostat down as low as i thought it needed to be but my Dad and son got impatient and out voted me with the logic of, "if these don't hatch then we will just save two more days worth of eggs later and i will order a replkacement incubator thermostat for you to use." I, seeing a way to obtain a free perfect thermostat here "reluctantly agreed" to let them waste three dozen eggs and 28 days of thier time.

The pictures are posted on FaceBook in this album along with a few oter things so just fast forward to the ones you wish to check out.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54072&id=1033173214