How to use water heater thermostat?

[BGCNVLA]

I can't seem to get holes in mine. This is some hard plastic!

 

[WOT]

Please watch the you tube video at the bottom of the page on the link. The flicker is the stat working. When it is set up perfect the bators I have seen only flicker,provided it is in a room at a constant temp. I plan to start building mine soon and will take pics along the way, using a styrofoam medical cooler 2'*3'*2', my only question will be, is moving a 2"*4" on 2" end back and forth from end to end, twice a day, (simulate turning) enough turning given the 3' length of the box. Eggs will be in trimmed cartons till lockdown. thanks. And to answer drilling, drill stops are avaible at most hardwares. I locked mine on at 1/8" protrusion and worked my way up from there. A drill stop is a steel collar with a set screw that stops your drill at a given depth every time.

 

[Davaroo]

How to use water heater thermostat?

Use it until you get sick of messing with its inconsistencies. Then, spring for a decent wafer switch controller and get to serious business.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

I've brought this up before, but once again, why the heck are folks fiddling with trying to make water heater thermostats work in this application? Wafer type incubator thermostats are commonly available for $20 and work very well. They have been used in incubators since the early 1900's without any problems...

http://www.gqfmfg.com/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=147

 

[Daidohead]

The temp sensors are on the back side of the thermostat. They are designed to pick up the tempureture of the water heater tank. If you just block it away from the wall a little it will pick up on air temp instead of wall temp. They react much faster that way and you arent risking an electrical short by damaging the thermostat. I used two 3/8 nuts to space mine, just put the mounting screw thru the hole in the nut. I went from a 10 degree swing to a 2 degree swing by doing this.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Good question (see my post above...)

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
Good question (see my post above...)

Yeah, you posted as I fetching the link for my post. The answer I got the last time I asked was that the fellow owned an HVAC shop and had a shelf full of thermostats. Fair enough... I wouldn't go out of my way to buy one and try to modify it though.

 

[WOT]

My stat was free as I pulled it from my ruptured water heater before it went to the scrap yard.

 

[Barred Rocker]

Quote:
first it's less than half the price and it does work if you do it right. It was effortless for me and it works like a charm. Yeah it would probably be easier to just go with the wafer type as it's proven and I guess reliable but some of us are tinkerers and just love to do something off the wall and get it to work. If I didn't think it was worth the effort I'd just go buy an incubator already made and go through the motions but I get a real sense of accomplishment when I build something with my own hands and it works.

 

[tn.lou]

I have been using one for three years and have hatched a lot of eggs. The main thing is to mount it away from the wall and close to the heat bulb.I also have a fan in mine that blows directly on it.Once you get the temp set it will not vary more than 1 to 1&1/2 degrees.