incubator advice

[white guinea333]

Hi, I am new to BYC and would like to ask an incubator question. My usual homemade incubator is to small for the amount of chicks I need to hatch with it plus it is very prone to major temperature change and loses way to much humidity when I open it. I started building a new incubator that is larger, less prone to temperature change, and will work better. I did however run into one problem when building it with the heating. I want to place two 75 watt light bulbs in it , but I don't whether to connect water heater thermostat to one, both, or neither of the light bulbs. Any suggestions?

 

[blucoondawg]

For what it is worth I have been told that a water heater is not the way to go if you want good hatch rates, apparently they allow for more fluctuation than wafer or digital thermostats, I have not yet built one but that is what I have read in my research. I would want the thermostat to control both bulbs so they both come on when needed that way if one burns out at least you still have one working.

 

[white guinea333]

I read about that, but they said if the water heater thermostat is close to the light bulb it shouldn't fluctuate quite as much. I think I might try using both light bulbs without the water heater thermostat and see what happens, but I may need to add it or decrease the bulb wattage.

 

[blucoondawg]

If you aren't using a thermostat you will need something like a dimmer switch to regulate the current to the light bulbs, that could work, I don't know never read about that method and it's pros/cons.

 

[white guinea333]

I was planning on buying one to see if it would work on keeping the temperature right.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

http://incubatorwarehouse.com/48-watt-incukit-dc.html

These all in one thermostast/heater/fan are a great product. Yes they are a bit pricey but are the dead on with very little temp swing. The cost may be counter productive to why most people build there own... I have two water heaters I'll send you for $5 to cover mailing if you really want to go that route. Just PM me.

Manual turning is all well and good and I did it for years with great success but this past year I got really lazy about it and my first hatch suffered immensely. An auto turner really is a wonderful thing. Our local TSC had them on sale for $40 this spring.

Then there is always eBay or criagslist to find used incubators. For inexpensive incubators I highly recommend Hova Bator. The wafer thermostat is very user friendly and reliable. Any auto turner fits all the styrofoam table top brands of incubators.

Good Luck.

 

[white guinea333]

I really like the incubator I am building and really don't want a new one. The incubator is large enough for three automatic egg turners, but I really don't do alot during the day so I have time to turn them.

The water heater thermostats, thanks for the offer, but I am just going to get one from a friend.

Thanks for all the help guys!