Building PineBurrowPeeps an incubator for Xmas and I have Questions. 1) In the chic chick bator, do the fans burn out often because it is against the wall and there is no proper air flow for the fan? 2) Some say the water wiggly is the most accurate thermometer holder for temp. inside the egg but won't it not be accurate because of the plastic that is surrounding the thermometer probe as it sits in the water wiggler. The plastic would be a higher temperature than what is inside of the egg? Thank you for your time, Keith.
Keith, The fan must be spaced away from the side of the bator for proper air flow. I can't help you with the temp issue. We are right in the middle of our bator building project and I don't have any practical knowledge.
I have been looking at the pix of the chic chick bator and the fans are against the wall and because there is no airflow, I was wondering if the fans are burning out and if so that is why. Keith
If you put the fan flat ageist the wall the fan can't move air an it will actually spin faster. The two together should shorten its life, by how much I don't know. The fan has to be spaced of the wall at least a little or there's no reason for it being there. You can put a couple washers behind it. You could mount it in the corner. Or you could hang it like a sealing fan using wires.(harder but I think better) I haven't seen any issues with the plastic on the water wiggler. Plastic is an insulator so it does transfer heat slow but it is very thin an the effect is minimal. It would only be noticed if the probe is freshly inserted in it. If it is in there all the time you will get an accurate reading. Everything equalizes. Edited because misspelling some words change the hole paragraph!
Electrically speaking fans are weird. If you reduce the amount of air it can turn it will draw less amperage and will burn out, and if you give it to much air and space it will draw to much amperage and burn out. Since we are talking about a 12 vdc fan you really don't have to worry about it that much. Give it just enough space to draw some air and it is happy, give it lots of space to draw some air and it is happy... put it in the corner, make stand offs or just use some washers. It will work and should not burn out anytime soon. When I am harvesting fans for reuse I look for those with ball beariings. I don't want to worry about my fan in the bator, but it is much less worrisome than the light bulbs that we use. Chris