humidity??????????

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
Overnight is good. Tap water shouldn't really be an issue and table salt should be good enough.

I don't think the microwave will work very well being as it is not airtight enough. Any plastic bag that you can see through would work as long as you can seal it tight with a rubber band, knot, string, or something else. An old bread bag, for instance, would work fine. Or, you could use a large jar with a tight fitting lid. The hygrometer and wet salt simply need to be in an airtight environment for the test to work correctly.

Ed

 

[nyksducks]

funny you should say that, ive put the cup and meter inside an old pasta storage jar, which i think is air tight and then put it all inside the microwave just as a back up!!!

nykxx

 

[holachicka]

How about a large tupperware container? Be certain it is air tight though, as I have a couple that are not!

Oh! sorry, I just saw you found something...

(edited for stupidity)

 

[SarahIrl]

Mine is a dial one, like a barometer or compass to look at. The instructions said to wrap it in a damp cloth for 15 mins, and set it to 98%. Seems o be working ok, although I have dodgy humidity spots in my forced air incubator as the water well is on one side of the box. Going to add an extra tray (chinese carton) on floor under eggs for hatching.

 

[nyksducks]

well i just checked the results of the salt water test and it was showing 60%!!!!! no wonder my humidity was low!!!! just had a fiddle with the screw on the back but by the time i worked out that it was the adjusting screw (and not just one holding it all together) the needle had dropped some what. so i guess ill have to do it all over again.

nykxx

 

[rancher hicks]

I have never hatched duck eggs. However I use the vent holes to add water with an eyedropper. I left the area nearest the vent hole open. There are two areas for water and it' spreads on it's own.
The point being:
You can always add more water but you can't take it out. Get the humidity to high and your, well you know.
You can gradually increase the humidity. Makes it easier to raise it just a few %'s at a time and you can stop when you've reached the maximum %.

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
Before you try the test again you might want to go ahead and adjust the needle up by roughly 20% of whatever reading it is presently giving you....for example, if it is reading 30% sitting outside the jar then adjust the needle to read 36%...if it's showing 40% adjust it to read 48%, etc.,. You could probably stand to even it adjust it by 25% of it current reading...where (for example) you would change 30% to 38%, 40% to 50%, etc.,. This should get the end results of the wet salt test to be closer to the target 75%.

Hope I didn't state that too confusingly.

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
But, adding water to the channels only makes the water deeper, it doesn't increase the surface area of the water (which directly contributes to the humidity). I mentioned in a thread a month or so ago about placing a tray in the bottom of an incubator that was slightly sloped...by gradually adding water the actual water surface could be more varied and more control of the humidity could be had. You could actually go so far to run some tests and eventually mark the bottom of the tray for different humidity ranges....fill to this line for the 30% range, this line for the 40% range, etc.,.

As for removing the water.... Couldn't you run some aquarium air tubing down through one of the vents and down to the bottom for adding water with a syringe? If it was positioned correctly with the end of the tube fairly flush against the bottom then you could draw some of the water out with the syringe if you added too much.

If all else fails you could open the incubator up and soak some of the water up with a bath towel (flannel), ...if it's so humid in there that some water needs to be removed then it should not hurt to open the incubator up, should it?

I agree that a gradual approach is good.

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[rancher hicks]

One I just finished a hatch and had no trouble raising the humidity with the eye dropper. There are two wells and they spread the water fine.
Two you don't want to open the incubator during lockdown. That would reduce the temp inside and endanger the hatch.
Three another thing I do is insert the vent plug or remove it to help adjust the temp or humidity. You have to find the method you like and works for you.

 

[nyksducks]

WOW!!! if i have now set my hygrometer correctly, my humidity was on nearly 80%!!!!!

ok lay it on me, is there any chance of them surviving that?

im testing again so what is better? guess a reasonable level or take out all the water and start again tomorrow after the deciding test?

nykxx