Is this normal? adjusting water heater thermostat

[jus1jack]

I put this bator together but the thermostat cut in or cut out rate is like 7 to 10 degrees.
The way it's set right now it will come on at 91.2 and off at 101.5. I know that alot are using
this type to control temps. Is 10 degree + - temps ok? I have a small 3" fan it. My humidity
range is 41 to 51 is that to high?

pics here...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=26580-the-sink-a-bator

 

[lovemychicns]

If you take the average of the two temps it's only 96 degrees. Way to low. You want 99.5 no lower. Try and get it as close as possible. I am still working on mine as well. You just add the cycle on temp and the cycle off temp, divide by 2 and that is your average temp. Some one on BYC tought me this but I can't remember who.

Karen

 

[jus1jack]

That makes sense to me. Thanks Karen
So I guess I will need to set my high end at 104.5 or so. Do you think that will work?

 

[rpatton]

i built my incubator with the same and worried about it as well. my temps were 94.6-104.8 on one and 96.3- 103.3 on my other therm. i hatched 27 out of 28. i only opened the door three times in 20 days.

good luck!

 

[jus1jack]

cool guess it will work then thanks

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Move the thermostat closer to the bulbs. Flat side pointed at the bulbs. You want the fan to blow the heat off the bulbs directly on to the thermostat. Then you set up your thermostat to come on at about 98* an off about 110*ish. When the thermostat gets down to 98* an kicks on the bulbs heat the thermostat to 110* very fast becouse there so close an the thermostat kicks back off before the incubator temp goes up more than a degree or 2. Then the thermostat will come back on about 98* again.

 

[PECULIARPETE]

I`ve got 2 units set up with water heater thermostats. In my incubator and just using one bulb. and fan, first i mounted the stat with the sensor side open. what I did was use a 6 inch piece of metal drywall stud and cut out the back. mounted it and set it against the back wall. the fan is above it and my heater is next to it on the same plate. I was using a 25 watt red bulb. but like you I had alot of variance it temp. I changed to a 60 watt I painted red. put a water tray under it and added a wet bulb thermometer thats reading round 90 degrees for humidity 70%. a digital for temp. now I can maintain 99.5- 100 all day long. cycles from 100.5 off to 98 on. the cabinet is made from a wine refridgerator so its well insulated and has a glass door. the red light is easier to look at than white light.
My other unit is my hatcher. dimensions are 32" long x 16" deep x16" tall. the door opens in the front, the stat is 4" down from top and center on back wall, and 2, 60 watt bulbs in ceramic fixtures on each end wired parallel so if 1 bulb goes out the other will stay on. this unit cycles from 101 to 99. my thermometers stay at 100 steady.
one other thing to consider is temps will be different if you bator is empty. eggs start to dehydrate during the incubation process, also all the eggs in there change surface area of the bator. i didn`t say that right, but there is a big difference between empty and full. ya know wut I mean. I would put some practice eggs in to see what it does? And I don`t know how much heat and how fast those enegry saver bulbs generate? I found that the faster you can heat it up the cycle time is shorter. less time for heat to dissapaite. hope this helps? Good Luck. Pete

 

[fishman65]

my incubator is controled by the same crazy water heater thermostat and my swings are 98.8-101.6 but my fake egg temp is steady at 99. i put two one quart ball glass jars with water in them with lids and this helped a lot.
also the temp at the top of the bator where the thermostat is, is about 6 degrees higher than where eggs sit. set first batch of guinea effs today so i got a lot of worrying to do!! 27 more days!!! Yaaa!

 

[EAST TEXAROO]

How is your thermostat mounted? I had weird temp swing at first then read on byc somewhere that its best to mount it away from the wall on a metal bracket. After doing that the temp swing was less that 1 degree. The longer mine runs the better its gettin its at +/- .03 degree. My bator is a mini fridge and is insulated like crazy and I think that has alot to do with temps. Oh yeah I am also running 2 100 watt bulbs off that one thermostat.

 

[jus1jack]

Thanks y'all... I did away with the water heater thermostat maby I got a bad one. The 10 degree varance is in the switch itself don't matter where or how it is mounted fan or no fan. I now have a dimmer switch running it now the air temp @ 100.4 wiggler temp @ 96. Still need to let it run awhile but so far it seems much better...