Hygrometer problems

[kellyatric]

Hi there, I am very new to this but have done lots of research on my first incubation.

I had everything set up correctly before setting the eggs but my hygrometer is saying 70 when there isn't even any water in there. I was going to put a drop of water in there but now I am worried.

Is the hygrometer wrong like I think it is?

Help would much appreciated

 

[yinepu]

sound slike it needs to be calibrated

get a ziploc baggie
a small container like a jar lid or bottle cap
some regular table salt (some people prefer to use kosher salt.. I never saw any difference)
fill the container with salt
add just enough water to give the salt the consistency of wet sand
place the container of wet salt and the hygrometer into the baggie with a little air and seal it closed
wait 24 hours (though I have had accurate tests after 6)

the hygrometer should read 75%

if it doesn't you can adjust it (assuming yours has some sort of adjustment knob) if it doesn't you will have to do a bit of math to get a correct reading

 

[kellyatric]

Thank you for the info...

I have given this a go and I know I haven't done it for the full length of time yet but it is reading 75% so now I am really lost as to why it is reading around 70% in the incubator when there is no water in there.

What do you think I should do to bring it down?

 

[yinepu]

sounds like there is a lot of humidity in the room... unless you have recently cleaned the incubator?.. if you did it may not have gotten completely dry before you set the hygrometer in there

 

[kellyatric]

What would you suggest to bring it down? Or where would a suitable place in the house be to keep the incubator?

 

[Arielle]

Kelly, IMO humidity will fluctuate a bit due to the humidity in the air around us, even in a room. That's why some people can dry incubate because their ambient humidity is just right for incubating eggs.

Here is another method to check humidity, if you are interested. Do you know about the wet bulb thermometer technique? THis seemed easier to me than the calibrating necessary for the hygrometer. Use a 6 inch piece of cotton shoe lace, slip one end up over a glass thermometer ( calibrated ) and tie with floss just above the bulb. Place other end in water. This now measures the humidity in the air by a wet bulb thermometer.

Dry bulb temperature
%RH 99 100 101 102
_____________________
45 80.5 81.3 82.2 83.0
50 82.5 83.3 84.2 85.0
55 84.5 85.3 86.2 87.0
60 86.5 87.3 88.2 89.0
65 88.0 89.0 90.0 91.0
70 89.7 90.7 91.7 92.7
^WET BULB TEMPERATURE^


CRedit: MIssissippi state university. for graph.

 

[kellyatric]

Thank you. Now this may be a really daft question but do I keep the lace in the water the whole time or just to do the measuring. Also, does the thermometer need to be inside the incubator?