I MUST keep costs down on my incubator build. Please help w ideas

[quintinp]

here is mine it is a pretty cool little set-up..... it works for me, i have three other incubators, also, and one of them is also a homemade incubator,,, it is a simple fun project, and only cost me 20.00

here she is... she is a beauty Ehh??? well the temp shown in the picture is what it stays on constantly it fluctuates none at all,,, i got lucky,, or i am just Good Like That

 

[abritton77]

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What is the temperature differential with these? Ive looked online a little and cant find that.

 

[quintinp]

it depends,, i have holes drilled into my wht and it allows airflow to get inside of it quicker, so if I open up my incubator, the wht instantly turns on it is a cool little gadget

 

[bigoledude]

I will also use a hatcher so I can keep adding eggs to the incubator. I think I will try the wafer in the incubator and the "water heater" t-stat in the hatcher.

Several times here, I've read about drilling holes in the water heater thermostat. Exactly where do you drill?

A bathroom vanity cabinet seems like the perfect size for me. Lowe's sells scratched-n-dented stuff.

Suppose I got one of those Water Wiggle things to insert the temp-probe into. Then, adjusted and tweaked on the temp and humidity for, say, a week or two. When I put real eggs in the incubator, would there be a big difference in regard to temperature or humidity regulation, compared to when it had only the Water Wiggle thing in it? Just wondering if real eggs cause a "whole new environment" inside the incubator?

Pascopol; I promise I will run my incubator for a while before trusting my "breeder grade" eggs in it. I will incubate some mutts before trying the good eggs.

jvls1942; The float, I'm assuming, is for the reservoir that is inside the incubator, right? I saw a photo of one over at Cutler Supply and, cannot figure out how it works! Can it be adjusted in order to change levels? If I had a 5-gallon container of water above the incubator, with tubing run to the container inside the incubator, would the float open and close a valve to maintain the "inside" water level, without any action on my part?

rebelcowboysnb: First-off Cowboy, if that is you on the harmonica, you are good! If I couldda played any instrument, it would have been a harmonica. Now chicken stuff. Why not just take the element out of the hair dryer and install it in front of the fan? I spent over an hour at your videos Lil Brother. They explained a ton of things I was desperate to understand!

muddstopper: That email on how to ensure even distribution of air inside the incubator was the best idea I've seen yet and not any more complicated than others. Thank you Mudd. Could you possibly link me to the heating element/strip you recommend, please?

quintinp: Muddstopper gave me an idea. I don't know if he meant gathering scrap metal to fund incubator building but, that's exactly what I'm gonna do with the junk around here! My grandchildren want to make an incubator just like yours. Not that it is child-like in construction but, simple and effective in design. I could not have chosen a better one for them, myself!

4HillsSumatras; Whenever I build my incubator, you will certainly recognize some of your ideas in it.

 

[ThaJuicyJuice]

I use the water heater thermostat to control temps in my home made brooder, but have the wafer in my incubator. The wafer is garbage.. I wish I could get a digital one.

 

[marathonmultiplesmom]

I fiddled around with my water-heater thermostat so much and I finally got it to go on at 97.5 and off at 101.5. I had to experiment with different distances from the light and positions... had to add a ton of heat sinks and that is the best it can do. It was doing a 10 degree shift. I ordered it from ebay and it was sold as being for an incubator and my electrician took a look and told me it was a water heater thermostat. Without all the heat sinks the best I could get it too was 6 degrees variable. I had to leave negative feedback because I saw the sellers' feedback and others said it was not for eggs, I just didn't see bc none were negatives but rather follow-ups. I wish I would have bought the better one. Learn from my mistake. I guess its ok since I am just hatching my own eggs but if you have expensive eggs, you need the more expensive thermostat. The t-stat is important. Good Luck.

 

[muddstopper]

It is possible to build a really nice, wooden cabinet style incubator a lot cheaper than purchaseing a ready made one from one of the manufacturers. Only thing is, some assembly is required, and sometimes you need a few tools to make it all come together.

Here is a list of where to find some of the most commonly needed parts to make your incubator come to life. I figure everybody can find their own source of wood, and it doesnt even need to be wood. Old plastic or metal ice chests, an old wine cooler, discarded kitchen cabinets, Old timey tv cabinet with the guts removed, anyways, you should get the point. For everything else look here.


Complete wafer thermostat
http://www.cutlersupply.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_32&products_id=307
Nichrome wire heat coil
http://www.cutlersupply.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_32&products_id=310
Nichrome wire with the electric fence insulators
http://www.cutlersupply.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_32&products_id=309
110v electric fans,
http://www.surpluscenter.com/sort.asp?catname=electric&keyword=EBFA
Low voltage fans
http://www.surpluscenter.com/sort.asp?catname=electric&keyword=EBFD
Water tray,
http://www.dollartree.com/cleaning-...-Boxes-with-Lids/212c261c261p296342/index.pro
Cheap water can for storing water for your humidity tray.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Arrow-H2O-2.5-Gal-Slimline-Beverage-Dispenser-Blue/15915151
Mini float valves to build a humidity system

Of course there are multiple items that you can subsitute for the items I listed, and probably a hundred other places to find them as well. The places I have listed I have dealt with and have never had a problem. (except for Walmart, its in stock today and discontinued tomorrow)

 

[muddstopper]

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What kind of incubator do you have? Saying a wafer thermostat is garbage is a pretty bold statement. It could be you just need to replace the wafer element, they do go bad from time to time. Both GQF and Dickey still use the wafer thermostats as backup to their electronic thermostats. A water heater thermostat is also a type of wafer thermostat

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
Yea, thats me in my videos. Harmonica is easy to learn. It takes about 10 hours to have it down. They say the only difference between 10 hours an 10 years is the number of songs you've memorized. Thats where my videos come in. Glad I could help you on the other stuff an yes you could pull the heater out of a hair dryer an use just the heater it would just take more work.

 

[Bribaby]

I had the water heater thermostat in mine, and it was never "stable" around noon it got to 102, afternoons was pretty stable at 99-100, and at night it got to 95-96. I had to have a heater on it at night, and a fan on it during the day on the incubator to try and get it to the right temps... so not worth the trouble... I switched it out for the 500R and I'm in heaven!

it's constant 99.5-100 day and night... LOVE IT! also with the water heater thermostat, the top was always 1-2 degrees cooler than the bottom depending on the time of day... with the 500R, temp is stable and constand through out my incubator... (it's a wine cooler, holds about 90 eggs) so deff better to spend a little extra and get something that's going to work right... I got mine off the petsmart website since none of my local petsmart carried it




Quote:
What is the temperature differential with these? Ive looked online a little and cant find that.