Hovabator 1583, how do you working this fricking wafer temp thing!?

[Ban seabhag]

Quote:

Haha, nah, I have the 1583, you have the slightly superior 1588 model that has the easy temp control. Mine is this wafer thing and you turn the knobby to mess with the temps. I paid too much for it and its an out of date model, but what can you do! I think it is still going to work great. Opening it up, I was shocked it was styrofoam but they sure do feel sturdy!

That's the one I have (1583) and it took me a while to get that thing adjusted. I had to figure out how it worked first. Its been good since, and I have got another thermostat for it that I intend to put in later. There are eggs in it now. That rooster, by the way, is beautiful.

 

[cluckcluck42]

Quote:

Haha, nah, I have the 1583, you have the slightly superior 1588 model that has the easy temp control. Mine is this wafer thing and you turn the knobby to mess with the temps. I paid too much for it and its an out of date model, but what can you do! I think it is still going to work great. Opening it up, I was shocked it was styrofoam but they sure do feel sturdy!

That's the one I have (1583) and it took me a while to get that thing adjusted. I had to figure out how it worked first. Its been good since, and I have got another thermostat for it that I intend to put in later. There are eggs in it now. That rooster, by the way, is beautiful.

Thank you, I really love my rooster. He is a good boy, takes care of his hens and minds his business when I'm around. You should see his feathers shining in the sun, just wow.

Man I was so lost without this forum, but I think the bator is all good now, I will let it set over night and put the eggs in in the morning. 12 EE eggs and 7 brownies are waiting, dun dun dun!!

 

[cluckcluck42]

Quote:
Me too, I was sure I'd never turn into those crazy chicken people!

I will definitely be posting when its hatch time. I will be too proud and excited not to. Look for the thread title with lots of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'s

 

[cluckcluck42]

Okay so one more question:

I don;'t have a hydrometer, hygometer, whatever, where can I find those>? Do they carry them at Hardware stores or WalMart?? I'm thinking this might be important to have How much are they usually?

And since I dont have one right now, is it possible it is too humid in there? Is this dangerous?? I should be going into town tomorrow to get one.

 

[quailbrain]

You can get them at pet sotres and walmart does usually have them. they are 7-10 dollars .... well here in Oregon. Too much humidity can be bad and the chicks who do hatch can be wet and sticky without drying out properly.

 

[The YardFarmers]

We are borrowing an old hovabator from a neighbor and it had no instructions with it.

Here is a website we found that has instructions for a lot of their models:


https://www.gqfmfg.com/store/front.asp


We bought a thermometer/humidty digital monitor from WalMart. It was in the hardware department with other thermometers, but we did have to ask someone where they were. It was $7.


As old as the borrowed hovabator looks (sides are taped up) it stabilized pretty well. It is very dry here, so I added one channel of water and it has brought the humidy up to 40-50%. Without the water it was 20%. I put 3 duck eggs in on Mon. Yesterday the neighbor brought over an egg turner he had found. The temperature really spiked after we put that in- 101-102 degrees

. We vented is right away, but it may have been that way for an hour or so. I've had to really adjust the temperature control downward, guess the egg turner motor is putting off some heat?

Good luck with project and check out the website. Are you going to candle at 7 days? Let me know what you find!

The Yard Farmers

 

[dovecanyon]

Yes, you need a hygrometer. The humidity level is just as important as the temperature.

 

[Ban seabhag]

This site has been invaluable to me. I feel a lot more confident now about this. That and you can always yell for help!

 

[cluckcluck42]

Now I worry I have it too humid in there, I filled all the channels. Should I remove the water?? I am going to get the hygrometer tomorrow.

Oh my!!

 

[claud]

I have an old model Hovabator with wafer thermostat. It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it and parts are easy to replace and not too expensive. I think they are pretty good bators - the styrofoam serves it's purpose well.

For humidity I've always put a baby food jar of water(or similar sized jar) in the bator at the beginning. That's all the water I have in there until it's hatch time then I increase humidity by putting the water in the trough.
Since you already put the water in the trough I'd let it go - the water evaporates fairly quickly - then you could put less in there if you take my advice. It's kind of keeping an average of humidity over the entire incubation.
I've worked with hygrometer and humidity gauges and figured out that they nearly drive me insane. I haven't measured my humidity in years and things work out fine the way I've been doing it.