How long do you let your incubator heat up/stablize?

[debilorrah]

I don't do it all because it all changes again once you set the eggs. I make my adjustments about 8 hours after setting them.

 

[dretd]

Quote:
I would go for a week of two, until you are convinced you understand whats going on with thte temps. The longer the better, and collect data. I would also put some infertile eggs in there from the store so the thermal mass will mimic up and running conditions and you can position your thermometer on top of the eggs like they recommend for stills.

I have 4 extremely accurate (about $300 worth of scientific equipment thanks to my hubby) thermometers daisy chained together around my eggs (4-6 inches apart-not really a big 'bator) plus a digital with hygrometer (least accurate), a glass fish tank one (pretty accurate but lags several minutes), and a kitchen dial for testing meat (surprisingly accurate but hard to read the tiny tick marks). The scientific digital ones vary from 98.7 to 101.3 (last reading) depending on where in the incubator they are positioned. So for me, I have cooler/warmer spots within my incubator. And thats with a fan. I have been rotating my eggs periodically from outside to inside to try to compensate for the temperature gradient.

My point is, all of the thermometers may be accurate or not. If it were me, I would place all of the thermometers stacked/clustered as close together as possible and wait a couple of hours. Then go back and see how the temps relate to one another. If they are similar, then you know you have a temperature gradient and accurate thermometers. If they are different, then you know they are off. Now the trick is going to be deciding which thermometer has the correct reading. My guess is that the aquarium ones will be pretty close. If you still have concerns, I would go back to the fish store and compare all the thermometers they have and buy a couple of them that have the same reading so they correspond to each other.

 

[redhd077]

Quote:
I would go for a week of two, until you are convinced you understand whats going on with thte temps. The longer the better, and collect data. I would also put some infertile eggs in there from the store so the thermal mass will mimic up and running conditions and you can position your thermometer on top of the eggs like they recommend for stills.

I have 4 extremely accurate (about $300 worth of scientific equipment thanks to my hubby) thermometers daisy chained together around my eggs (4-6 inches apart-not really a big 'bator) plus a digital with hygrometer (least accurate), a glass fish tank one (pretty accurate but lags several minutes), and a kitchen dial for testing meat (surprisingly accurate but hard to read the tiny tick marks). The scientific digital ones vary from 98.7 to 101.3 (last reading) depending on where in the incubator they are positioned. So for me, I have cooler/warmer spots within my incubator. And thats with a fan. I have been rotating my eggs periodically from outside to inside to try to compensate for the temperature gradient.

My point is, all of the thermometers may be accurate or not. If it were me, I would place all of the thermometers stacked/clustered as close together as possible and wait a couple of hours. Then go back and see how the temps relate to one another. If they are similar, then you know you have a temperature gradient and accurate thermometers. If they are different, then you know they are off. Now the trick is going to be deciding which thermometer has the correct reading. My guess is that the aquarium ones will be pretty close. If you still have concerns, I would go back to the fish store and compare all the thermometers they have and buy a couple of them that have the same reading so they correspond to each other.

Thanks for all the info!!

 

[Tuffoldhen]

24 hours .