Hovabator Fan

[fc]

I ordered a fan for my Hovabator. I'm not completely happy with the Hovabator. The thermostat doesn't regulate temps well enough. If the house gets cold at night, the temp in the Hovabator drops. The thermostat should keep a constant temperature, but doesn't. If the system is to click on at the temp you set it for during the day, it should keep the temp at night with a ten degree drop.

I installed the aftermarket fan after starting eggs this morning. The temp was right around 100 when I left. I came back about an hour later, after the fan was running, and WOWZER, the thermometer read 120 degrees! So warning- don't trust the thermostatic control to keep the temp where you set it, and be aware that a fan could throw your temps really high! Hope my day one eggs survive!

 

[bigdawg]

first off, dont put a great product down because you dont know how to use it. i have excellent hatches with my hovabator. it takes a lot of reading on byc, asking questions, practice, and the bator must be in a room with stable temps. not 70 degrees in the morning and 60 degress at midnight thats one of your problems. next go buy a good thermometer. and most of all, learn how to use your bator before calling it junk.....

 

[Marthab1953]

Quote:
Oh my

I hope your eggs are OK. One of my Incubators is a HovaBator and I have had it a few years and it does fine. Good luck!

 

[fc]

I gave the facts as I saw them, and your scathing rebuke reeks.
The product is relatively inexpensive and has definite limitations. You get what you paid for.
I'm new to this site. If I can expect to get flamed regularly by a chicken know-it-all I won't post.

 

[Mrsfoote]

Look sometimes people word things in a way we found rude but have you ever stopped to think they're probably sick of the same questions by all the newbies...I haven't been on her long and I'be been mad a few times at way someone would say something but I've learned they aren't out to be rude they just aren't going to sugarcoat and tell us what we want to hear they will tell it how it is...maybe we should listen to them. I

I myself are going to be doing a first hatch I just plugged the bator in last night just so I can see and get use to it. Your bator pobably jumped in temp because the fan did its just and circulated the hot air. It may not be the thermostat.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
http://cmfarm.us/stillair.html

 

[ranchhand]

Back on track here..... fc, some of us don't sugarcoat things and can be a bit blunt when it's obvious someone hasn't thoroughly researched their project. I suspect that's what happened here. I have a Hovabator and it's been pretty good for me. But I read all over BYC and the internet in general before I ever started. It's just frustrating to see someone make preventable mistakes.

Adding a fan to a still air incubator really changes the dynamics. It's recommended that ANY incubator be given a couple days to regulate before adding eggs. Adding the eggs will also change the temps, so it's needs to be monitored carefully until it stabilizes. Same with humidity.

I live in SC, too, and I have to keep a very stable room temp in order to hatch well. I also watch humidity like a hawk, it a real PITA here. I try to hatch only when the house is under AC or heat climate control. No open windows or doors. I got a good hygrometer/thermometer combo at Walmart and another from GQF, which makes Hovabator. I use both in every hatch.

Your eggs may well be okay since the heat spike didn't last very long. The inside of the eggs probably didn't go that high, so there is hope. I'd wait until Day 7 and candle. Toss any that start smelling "off" or weeping through the pores.

Good luck with the hatch.

 

[bigdawg]

Quote:
please accept my appologie. i am not an expert. every hatch is a learning experience. my first hatch was a disaster. 8 out of 42 hatched. and then i found byc. all info i have gotten here was helpful. some was very blount, some was sugar coated. i now have one hova 1602 truner amd a fan , a homemade sportsman type and i am fixing to build a cabinet type that will hold 5 gqf turners.will it work. dont know, but i will have to run it for a few days, watch the temp and humidity, do a test run of eggs, and learn what it will take to keep everything steady. the styrofoam bators will and do have great hatches. there is a very long trial and error envoled with hatching any kind of eggs. most of all take daily notes, learn from every hatch, any changes in weather, temp, room temp all can affect the bators. stable room temp is a must. even if you have to put it in a closet. having a fan will improve the hatch rate, you will have to keep a closer eye on the water level. you may have to add water ever three or four days. i can go on and on. most of all, learn from every hatch, it may take several hatches to figure out what works best in your area. good luck and happy hatching. oh, incubating is very addictive...........

 

[fc]

That's okay then. I've been on bulletin boards for all my numerous hobbies over the year, and a lot of sites are very harsh. I have my own bulletin board, and most of the time things are harmonious.

What I was shocked about was how much the temp jumped when I turned on the fan and left for just over an hour. Seems to need about 1 1/2 to two dials less heat to keep up the temp. I just put a combo digital thermometer/humidity device in the incubator. It's going to hold true that you get what you paid for. A commercial chicken raiser my wife knows has an expensive incubator yielding a 90% hatch rate. He strongly advises a fan, so that's why I got one. If the incubator had gotten to temp and held steady with adding eggs I would be on a weekend vacation with my wife. You can't just turn on the Hovabator and go.

Incubating isn't easy, but the good thing is that you aren't importing diseases and parasites that you might get with chicks shipped from someone. Also, you have more choices of chickens when you are buying eggs. It is joy and devastation all at the same time: Joy when you have hatchlings that survive, and devastation when they die or don't hatch. I really grieve when I see little chicks die day one or two. Incubating is the story of life and death. When you first do this you think they're all going to hatch and be okay, but that's not the case.