incubator ideas! post your ideas for home made incubators, whether they work or not~

[kellyn]

 

[kellyn]

anyone know what i did wrong here?

 

[mayberrygirl]

Well, I am curious as to why the heating element is on the door? And you might want to cover those bare wires with some wire nuts or electrical tape.

 

[kellyn]

I did have caps on them, and my heating element is on the door because that's the best place for it to go. I took the caps off to show which wires I messed with. I'll fix it today, evenually, but I wanted some opinions on what wiing I mssed up. That's all. ^w^ but doesn't it look nice? Also, the light is seperate.

 

[mohillbilly]

heating element in wrong place, door doesnt seal , not airtight, fans too small and in wrong place, thermostat in wrong place. check back tomarrow night and i will have pics of mine up.

 

[quintinp]

heating element in wrong place, door doesnt seal , not airtight, fans too small and in wrong place, thermostat in wrong place. check back tomarrow night and i will have pics of mine up.

1.) The wafer thermostat needs to be closer to the heating element. The heating element is in the wrong place.

2.) What about the light bulb, What is it being used for, and is it wired to the thermostat?

3.) If I were you, I would consider not using the heating element, and just using 2 '75' watt light bulbs. The heating element needs to be on the top, possibly the bottom of the incubator

4.) You will also want to move the thermostat within about 4-5 inches of the heating element, if that's the heating element you are going to use.

5.) Have you tested this incubator yet?

6.) You need to get at least a plastic desk fan from the dollar store, those PC fans don't circulate enough air.

7.) Where are the eggs going to rest?

 

[mohillbilly]

1.) The wafer thermostat needs to be closer to the heating element. The heating element is in the wrong place.

2.) What about the light bulb, What is it being used for, and is it wired to the thermostat?

3.) If I were you, I would consider not using the heating element, and just using 2 '75' watt light bulbs. The heating element needs to be on the top, possibly the bottom of the incubator

4.) You will also want to move the thermostat within about 4-5 inches of the heating element, if that's the heating element you are going to use.

5.) Have you tested this incubator yet?

6.) You need to get at least a plastic desk fan from the dollar store, those PC fans don't circulate enough air.

7.) Where are the eggs going to rest?

if you place the heating element in the bottom then place the thermostat in the center of the top it will work perfect..she would still need a bigger fan.

 

[kellyn]

Not quite sure how to multi-quote from a phone, but... th

Mohillbilly: I'm going to have to buy some weather-stripping and a stapler and super glue to keep it on(it peels off after a while, and on the Sportsman incubators it's stapled on) for insulation. I have 3 other small fans, one from the original deal and 2 others I've had for almost a year in it. If I'm able to find a larger, non-bulky fan I'll use that. These fans are strong enough to blow styrafoam pieces on the bottom out the door, so I thought they'd be fine... could I wire the others in somewhere else or closer? Thank-you for the input, I'll put he styrafoam back onto the door when I see where the best place for everything is.

Quintinp:

1) I suppose I could put it onto the back or bottom, but wouldnt it get all nasty if I loose track of time with my eggs or have some early hatchers? I also put wood shavings/chips on the bottm to keep it clean in case an egg breaks or ooses. Wouldn't it burn it?

2) The lightbulb is just for a light when I'm looking in. It was originally my heat source, but it gets waaaay too hot, even with the 25 watt bulb in it.

3) I'm not using lightbulbs because they're too much of a hassle and it shines in my eyes when I sleep. Plus I heard it could mess with the developin g chicks eyes or something... and they burn out after a while. Or lik mohillbilly said one time, could bust.

4) 4-5 inches, huh? Well I figured it'd be a good place to put it, since the eggs will be about that level.

5) The heating and all that works, coz I just hatched a dozen of the liveliest chicks I've ever had with it. But it was in a dresser then. I moved it to this a coupldays ago.

6) easier said than done, because I've yet to find a suitable one.

7) See the wood across the back? Well when I fix everything up, I'm going to put more wood across the front like that and lay my trays over them. There're screws that I can set the ends on so I can turn them. I'm probably not being wery good ad explaining this, but you'll see sooner or later.

Thanks for the tips and input, everything helps.

But no one answered my initial question... what wire did I fail to rewire correctly??? Because the thermostat and cargo light turn on, but the heating element won't heat up. At all. That's my issue. It's not the heating element, because I've tried 2 different ones. Nothing. And I didn't short anything out either...

My gosh, this is one long message...

 

[kellyn]

Triple post... wow... 'hate it when this happens...

 

[kellyn]

Stupid thing... posted 3 times...