Incubator project critics advice wanted!!

[Hydro50]

I am building a incubator out if a old clothes dryer, it sucks air right under door in front and blows it in the back ,i plan oh tipping it upside and mounting it on legs at angle so whole unit is sloped..30- 45 degree angle
air will then intake near the top and in the back near the bottom,,the back of the drum is full of holes so should difuse the incomeing air...What wouold be the best angle?? i will drive the drum with a small gear reducing dc motor coupled to a timer
i would like to turn the drum 1/4 turn every 15 minutes this will change angle of egg. rotate embryo in shell and pass egg thro any hot-cold spots in drum... im hopeing heat is very uniform in drum with the cross flo of air... 1 guestion....is this too often to turn the eggs.. would like to use this board to run temp and humidity control.. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270285035585&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
and be able to run from computer...thought a old vaporizer ducted into heat chamber would work.. mayby too complex..and for the next project.. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280472086690&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT...this controler looks easier..Who out there has
built a incubator that runs from computer...what did u use for controller, relays,heat untits ect?? right now im just adding bearings to drum so it rotates freely mounted on its back..and can handle the weight of eggs.. ordered 12 green hatching trays off ebay...will mount these near outer edge of drum...in 2 layers...might be room for 1 or more layers later.. Be my critics...shoot my ideas full of holes....

 

[Penturner]

Pictures or drawing would help visualize what you are talking about. What speed is the rotation going to be. I would think the dryer drum will move to fast even for a 1/4 turn.
As for air circulation. even though a dryer drum has lots of holes, that has more to do with air getting in and out of it through it's full rotation. not necessarily that air is dispersed evenly. think only a few holes actually passing air at any given time rather than all holes at the same time. You will want to verify that or you could end up with very hot spots.
Also filling the drum with eggs is going to change the air flow considerably. You may not only need to turn the drum but move eggs from the center to the outer edges to get them exposed to warmer or cooler spots. Turning frequency is anything from once every three hours to only 3 times a day or once every 8 hours. I think it is fairly common thought that the more the better but some eggs are more sensitive to being moved etc so you might want to be able adjust that feature. For example pheasant eggs or Serama eggs do not seem to ship as well as other eggs do, they do not tolerate even being picked up and moved to an incubator very well. eggs of this nature you may want to have turning only every 8 hour, will small eggs like Bantams or even quail will be more sensitive to temperature differences so you would want to be closer to the every 3 hours. In short there is no magic formula for all eggs. Dryers are also not all that well insulated. that is why they feel so warm when they are running. I suspect it would be a pretty expensive machine to operate without figuring out a way to keep the heat in it. remember they are made to let that heat out along with the moisture it absorbed, basically they are a machine designed to make hot dry air and spit it through the tumbler and back out. An incubator is a machine that is supposed to make warm wet air and keep it. That is about it for just off the top of my head. Keep posting as to your progress.

 

[Hydro50]

Thank you for your responce.... very good points for consideration.... The drive i am mounting to drum is 60-1 gear reducer i have used these on other things i have built...i use a rheostat from graingers that slows it way down...with small pully on drive ...going around big dryer drum belt...should move drum very slow and be somewhat adjustable.. would actually be easier to gear it down more and have it run continious than mess with the timer but think incremental turning is better...thought i would try and make it turn it the 1/4 turn in 10-15 seconds....agreed on the air blowing through holes not totally difusing....maybe louvered floor vents in drum screwed over the holes would help kick the air to outer edge.. needs more thought and trial run...will mount trays with this in mind to leave more room for additional baffles if necissary .. agreed on needing insulation... 1" pink board and spray foam on cracks is the plan.....things im not sure yet are type of fan in ducting, heat box ? this will need to be slow gentle air movement,,type of heating element,,,,,how am i going to get proper fresh air in and out....
again thanks for your time...this is exactly what i need stimulate my brain.... keep it comeing..
Why Am i Doing this?? Do i Need more chickens?? Why dont i just go buy a incubator??do i need anymore projects??
Only answer i can come up with is I AM NUTS!!!


will post pics soon

 

[muddstopper]

I am haveing a hard time visualizing the whole dryer concept. A dryer drum makes a huge rotation. How do you plan on keeping the eggs in the drum without them just rolling around bumping into each other.

The controller is another issue all to gether. I suppose if you have the electronics skills, it can be made to work, altho I dont see how a thermo/humidistat of that size and cost can be much good at doing what it will be required to do for hatching eggs.. Most of the thermostats made for computers and servers probably wont have the accurracy you will need for incubating the eggs. Reminds me of using a hotwater heater thermostat, yes it is adjustable for the proper temp ranges, but isnt very accurate in hold that steady temp that is needed. Just because a thermostat is temperature adjustable from 0degrees to 100 degrees doesnt mean that it will hold a specific set temperature. The hysterisis from off to on could be several degrees and without proper air flow and proper sizeing of the heating element, it could allow temp overshoots and undershoots of several more degrees. Also, just because it says humidity controller, you will need some sort of humiity source that the controller can control. This usually means some sort of fogger that can spray a fine water mist into the air flow to increase humidity. This device too will have to be sized to fit your incubator volume and air flow.

Now on the other hand, if you do decide to build your dryer incubator and that controller works as it should, there are a lot of people here that would be very interested in a temp/humidity controller at the $49 price range.

 

[greathorse]

seems to me the only thing the dryer give you is a box. It seems like there are a lot of places you could find a box that would be less complicated to work with. Makes no sense to me.

Seems to me all those eggs tumbling around in there for 21 days could affect your hatchability. LOL