Hovabator 1602N question

[silkies4penny]

I for the life of me cannot keep this bator temp steady. it is a still air with an egg turner. I maintain around 101, but I have dips at night down to 99, sometimes 98. and I have spikes of upward of 104. I have run two batches of eggs, the first batch I only had one hatch and it was deformed and culled. the second batch got cooked at 104 on day 15 and they all died. I have tried moving it into a different room. The room it is in now is a constant 70 in my house, and I am still having the temp issue. Is it a faulty thermostat or am I an idiot? or both? lol.....

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

Was this incubator used prior to you getting it? If so, you may want to spray inside the motor with air to get any dust that may have collected due to previous hatches. Besides keeping the incubator at room temperature, you also have to make sure those mechanisms stay in tip top shape.

 

[silkies4penny]

It was brand sankin new when I bought it. its had two batches in it.

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

Wow, I have no idea why it can't hold its temperature. I have heard that still air can have hot and cooler spots, but that doesn't seem right. Maybe someone else on here has tried this model and can tell whether that is typical or a faulty one.

 

[TBTT]

Try replacing the wafer on the thermostat. Sometimes they go bad soon. Like a $7 fix.

 

[[email protected]]

Try getting a pc fan and putting it in it, i have a power source fan and it lined right up with those 4 vent holes on the top, still varies but not as much. I couldn't even get mine past 97 with out the fan (even with a constant room temp).

 

[silkies4penny]

thanks, will try a fan fix first

 

[mandelyn]

I have the exact same one. I've found the location of the incubator in the house to be very important. I tried the basement, steady but too cold. Kitchen was too drafty. Bathroom was drafty and too cold. Now I have it on the corner of the dining table, into the corner of a room, well away from air currents or drafts of any kind. It went from crazy readings to rock solid operation like I'm used to.

I also put a bath towel around the side that faces the room, to protect the back end from any drafts. I left a little path between the wall and the table so that I can get to it.

Seriously though, I tried every spot in this house that had access to power. My last resort was to set it up inside a wooden box to protect it from these drafty windows. I don't start replacing parts until I rule out environment. It's supposed to have a room temperature of 70-ish degrees for the best operation, but in the winter, we're at 60-62. So I tried every location I could, 3 days in one spot to check, before sticking eggs in.

At my dad's house, I had the same type of incubator. In January, it was so cold and drafty, no spot in the house safe. I had the whole incubator covered in towels with only a bit of the top exposed so that I could still check it.

I first noticed the issue when ever the heat kicked on, I got a spike. When it was off and the air changed, I got a dip. Up and down, up and down. Until I switched it to the spot that had the most "dead" air.

 

[[email protected]]

i only get these if i use a probe thermometer, it is a lot more stable if you put in the whole thing in and read from indoor temperature.

I first noticed the issue when ever the heat kicked on, I got a spike. When it was off and the air changed, I got a dip. Up and down, up and down. Until I switched it to the spot that had the most "dead" air.

 

[[email protected]]

Hear are some pics of my fan, i just used a power source fan and hoked it up to a 12v source I had in the house (i put alligator clips on it so i could turn it off when I open the incubator),i used 2 long deck screws, but you could use long skinny bolts with nuts, also I have rubber things under the screws to keep it quiet (I only had 2 so that's why i only used 2 screws and covered up the other 2 with tape so heat wouldn't be blown out) . Remember to have the fan blowing up so it doesn't blow on the eggs and dry them out