How do I get my little giant to maintain its temperature?

[chichi56788]

I recently got a little giant incubator which I am in the process of calibrating so it will be ready for my chicken eggs, but I cant get it to a stable temperature of 99.5. How am I suppose to do it?

 

[trilyn]

If you're running it as a still air anything between 99-101 is okay. If you're doing a pc fan thereby turning it into a forced air, 99-100 is fine. Good luck!!

 

[chichi56788]

I have a still air and cant afford a forced air. I cant even get it between 99-101

 

[4-H chicken mom]

What is your room temp? When you are trying to get a still air incubator up to 101-102 degrees and the room temp is in the 60's, you are going to have trouble maintaining a high temp because your air holes are bringing in the room temp and it's has to work to get it back up again. Try covering the bator with a blanket to help with insulating it. Good luck.

 

[seminolewind]

I throw a piece of bubblewrap over the window. That's where the heat is going

 

[chichi56788]

the room is around 74-76 degreese

 

[NateinFL]

Key is to not let the room temp fluctuate. With my experience using a still air Little Giant, for about every 5 degrees the room temp fluctuates, the incubator will fluctuate about a degree.

 

[Bec]

Quote:
You could always add a fan yourself! We did and it only cost us 6$! Computer fans are cheap and you can wire them to an old cell phone charger or something similar. A fan helped mine tremendously! Now I can keep the temp right on 99.6 in my Little Giant!

 

[trilyn]

Quote:
Did you crank it up all the way and let it run for a while full blast? I did that with both of mine and then brought the temp down slowly. Slowly means a tiny adjustment over a half hour period. Also, glue on some knobs on top of the temperature posts. That will help you to make teeny tiny adjustments. Mark a line on the knob also, so you know where you've been and where you're going! lol But seriously, did you also put some weatherstripping or such along the bottom edge of the bator? Take a look at your bator when it's closed and wherever there seems to be a huge gap, place some weatherstripping. I did that on mine and only along the left side on the bottom. Now that sucker is wedged on tight and I feel it helps hold the temps better.

Yep, a pc fan for a couple bucks is a worthwhile investment. My dh hooked ours up to a cellphone charger and it works like a charm. It does help hold the temp and dries the chicks off faster!!

Once you get the temp mastered, then you can move on to humidity. That's fun! NOT! But, a bit of advice is the more surface area you have, the better you'll be able to bring your humidity up for lockdown. I have the humidity between 25-35 percent until lockdown, then crank it too 65-70 percent or more! I use plastic cups cut down to about a half an inch and some pieces of sponge cut up, placed around the bottom. Obviously don't cover up the tiny ventilation holes on the bottom. Make sure when you lay your eggs down for lockdown that you leave some room to be able to add water to the channels, sponges and cups. Aquarium tubing siliconed to a funnel is a great way to add water!

Sorry for all this "advice", but I'm finally having my first successful hatch and this post is helping me do two things, help someone else and forcing me to make notes for the next hatch! lol

Have a fantastic day!!

Also, around full blast the temp should be around 120 degrees. If it doesn't hit that mark, then take it back and get another one! JMO or your thermometer may be off. There are some great thermometers and hygrometers at Petsmart or Petco in the reptile section. They use them for terrariums and also reptile incubators. That's what I finally ended up using and am having much better success with. The hygrometer is a dial type and around 4-6.00 and they calibrate perfectly at 75%. The thermometer is a digital for around 8.00 and work great too!

 

[Peep_Show]

My question is what kind of thermometer are you using? (Check this one first!!!!)

I wouldn't go with a digital Accu-Rite. I finally got it up to 101 after it seemed stuck at 95 forever only to find that the inside temps in my LG was closer to 106!!!! Lesson learned at the expense of two dozen baked eggs....

SO... I reverted back to the flat liquid filled thermometers. I have one set up about even with the bottom of the eggs and one set up to be about even with the tops of the eggs. The one at the top reads 102 and the bottom reads at 100... And now I've got all sorts of shipped eggs developing extraordinarily nicely!

I've got a 20+ y.o. Miller (now LG). The first thing I did when I brought it back into service (besides clean it) was replace the wafer. If you have a used bator and you don't know the age or utility of it, I would suggest spending $7 to refresh the wafer as the inert gas can go wonky.

Next, see if you have air leaks around the edges of the LG. I do this by being in a bright room and running my hand around the outside...If you can see the shadow of your hand at the juncture of top to bottom, you may have leakage. This sometimes can be cured by readjusting the top or weighting the top down. Some folks swear by use of thin weatherstripping, but you need to be really thorough in installing it or you'll have worse air leaks.

Lastly, are you trying to calibrate your LG with the red plugs in or out? Leave them in and don't add any fluid for calibration. Leave them in and add some fluid to bator for Day 1-18. Take one out and fill channel with water for Day 18-Hatch and take other out if humidity is too high. (Humidity is the best thing an Accu-Rite can measure, but even then you should calibrate it -- see other posts on how to do that).

Good luck!