homemade incubator questions

[Cpntherfan]

I made a Cooler Bater and used the hot water heater thermastat.I drilled the holes and all but still got high variance. But I can keep a small pill bottle filled with water warm and hold 100 degrees. should i worry about the variance if the inside of the eggs hold the same temp?

 

[nurse_turtle]

As long as the temp changes don't last very long, it may be ok. The temp of the air takes quite a while to change the temp inside the egg. When you speak of the pill bottle, do you have a thermometer probe in there?

 

[Cpntherfan]

yes sorry, i forgot to say i have i probe in the pill bottle of water and another one in the cooler just to monitor the temps.

 

[quintinp]

I have a few suggestions on your incubator. (I have done the thermostat modification too.)

First: The back side of your thermostat should be within 1 1/2 inch away from the bulb.
Second: The light bulb wattage DOES matter. I use 60-75 watt light bulb in my cooler incubator
Third and last: The fan should be placed in a certain way.

I have some pictures for Ya.

In this picture you can see that the thermostat is within an inch and a half of the bulb.



Notice the placement of the fan to the light bulb, and the thermostat. It should be this way. The fan should face the light bulb, and the thermostat, but it shouldn't be in any other order. Your fan needs to face the bulb and the thermostat, NOT towards the eggs.




Hope this helps!

Ask any questions, I enjoy helping with homemade incubators.

 

[Cpntherfan]

ok i moved my bulb 1 and a half from the thermostat and spaced the fan further out from the cooler wall. Now my i can get it to kick off at 102 and kick back on at 99. Is that workable?

 

[Cpntherfan]

and it seems to be holding steady.

 

[Cpntherfan]

so far after going into lock down thurs nite my homemade bator has hatched 9 out of 25 eggs one has died and 3 are for sure not fertile!

 

[quintinp]

I am sorry that I never replied earlier than lockdown. Good luck. If I were to have answered a little sooner, I would say to adjust the thermostat down a bit, because 98 to 101 is do able. It averages out at 99.5. I wouldn't fret about temperatures now though.

By the way, your 99 to 102 temperature reading, Is that air temperature, or pill bottle filled with water temperature.