I made an incubator. Having trouble with temp control.

[Valeriemichelle]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this hatching thing. I made an incubator out of an old plastic cooler. I'm using a PC fan 25 watt bulb and a hot water heater thermostat. The only problem I am having is the temp. The light turns off at about 102 but then doesn't come back on till the temp goes down to about 96.

Can someone please tell me any ways that could lower the temp swings? Without going and buying a wafer thing or whatever. I really can't spend anymore money on this project.

Give me some advice please.

 

[raimnel]

use a 60 w bulb, the light will cycle off and on more often but your temps will range more like 97 - 102 which gave me a good hatch rate last time. Do you have a high low record on ur therm./hygom. I keep that thing in that range. I wouldn't put an egg right by the light. I'm thinking that is why I lost an egg both times. you can see my set up on my BYC pages

 

[Valeriemichelle]

Okay. I will try the 60 watt bulb.

I don't currently have eggs in the bator right now. Just testing it out first. But I won't put them right by the light.

Thank you for the advice!

 

[raimnel]

glad you edited that, I seen ur original then I blinked and it said something different.

 

[Shifty Joe]

Do a search on the BYC forums for a "wafer thermostat". Also bottles of water make great heat syncs that keep the temp level.

 

[catwalk]

I agree with the higher watt bulb. The thermostat will still function the same, but it will cycle faster, giving you a more consistant average temperature. Maybe try a 40 watt first, and see how that does. For comparison, see if you can time how long the light is on/off with the 25w, and see how much differance there is in a higher watt.

 

[Valeriemichelle]

Well, I put in the 60w bulb and it seems to be doing better then the 25w.

If the 60w bulb works good does that mean a higher wattage (like a 75w) would work even better? Or would that just be to much?

 

[raimnel]

you may end up with a blinking light

but it may be to much, to hot anywhere near it.

 

[Valeriemichelle]

Hahaha.

I definitely don't want that. Ill stick to the 60w.

 

[babsbag]

I put an aluminum heat shield between my light and the eggs. It was just a little too warm next to the light, even with a 40w bulb. I also mounted my thermostat about 3/4" above my light and that seemed to help it cycle at a narrower temp range. At about day 7 I added a second fan at the opposite end of the incubator, and at the top, instead of the bottom. That helped the temps stay more even and helped with ventilation, which is critical. I had an excellent hatch.