Little Giant 9300 New Design with Digital Controls

[docmilligan]

I am new hear but I was in the market for an incubator and was really leaning towards the Little Giant 9200 into which I figured I would install a fan kit to make sure I had good air circulation...then I came across the 9300 which is a new design with digital controls...they also changed the heating element. It is now mounted where the fan kit used to go...it is wires wrapped around a box into which I assume you could put a fan...it looks like it is designed for that....I purchased it and figured I could get the fan kit separately. Couldn't find it so I contacted Miller and they said they won't be available until fall....so I need to rig up a fan....

I found an old video card fan which I was able to mount on the heating box...I couldn't use the connector the control box has for a fan as it seemed to interfere with the digital control unit (it kept blinking)...so I attached a 12V power supply to the fan and it seems to work well...I have the fan blowing down through the heating box...my only concern is that I've read somewhere online that if the fan is too powerful (which I don't believe it is)...it can cause issues with your hatching....I've read some posts on the boards here describing how others have just used normal computer fans as I did and have great results...should I be concerned?....I am monitoring the temp and humidity with a separate digital sensor (good thing I did because it is reading about three degrees off from where the digital control on the incubator is reading.

I've posted a picture of the box from the incubator....the heating box is shown at the bottom of the box as the optional forced fan unit (I assume the unit is just a new heating box with a fan on the inside based upon the picture.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[bamadude]

I just bought the same thing. Im new to incubation. Im saving up eggs to put in next week. Let me know how it works out for u

 

[docmilligan]

So far it seems to be working fine. But I am monitoring....When I first installed the fan I had all of the water channels in the bottom of the incubator filled with water (as per the directions)....When I installed the fan I found the humidity jumped up to 80%. I kept watching and making minor adjustments. I ended up pouring out all of the water and putting water in two of the channels as a test....I left it that way overnight and found the humidity at about 58% this morning. Might be I just need water in one channel...I am going to keep watching and I will continue posting with results. Some of this might be attributed to the fact that we generally have pretty high humidity in South Texas anyway...One thing I DID find interesting is that without the fan the humidity was fine...I can definitely see that the fan makes a difference....I will try and post a picture of my rig in case there is anyone else considering this model.

I also purchased a digital thermometer and Humidity Gage from Incubator Warehouse...one of those that has a probe that goes into the incubator. Glad I did....I found the temperature on the digital sensor appears to be about three degrees off (low) so when it was reading 99degrees it was actually about 102.

 

[bamadude]

Ive ordered the brinsea spot check thermometer. I would love some pics of how u installed the fan

 

[only1bgirl]

I just got the 9300 too, my understanding is that it has the fan installed, ordered it off of eBay maybe the person I bought it from installed it? The box looks exactly the same as yours. Wondering how this model is working out for you?

 

[bamadude]

I bought mine at tractor supply. It does not have a fan from the factory. Im still on day 20 but have had 3 hatch so far. This is my first hatch but this bator seems idiot proof. I know the digital thermostat temp is off. I recommend getting the brinsea spot check bc its dead on for $20. The temps are really steady even when i open it. It takes maybe 5 mins to get back up to 100. After tomorrow i can get a better idea of hatch rate %.

 

[Dragons4u]

I contacted them about getting the digital temp controller to put on my 9200, but they said they can't do that because it won't work with the 9200 heating element at all.

 

[only1bgirl]

I have two digital thermometers one with a hydrometer and my bulb candy thermometer in it, LOL! Directions said hydrometer was not very accurate out of the range of 60-80 this is true under 60 it read about 5% low. The temperature appears to be accurate if the probe is closer to the wall than heating element. Added eggs three hours ago and temp is stable now. Keep updating please about your hatch, exciting, good luck!
I ordered the 9300 with fan from Coopsnmore on EBay with shipping under $90
Just saw someone sell the older model on Craigslist for $40, they sell fast if you want to upgrade. I tried to get parts from Miller too.

 

[docmilligan]

I purchased mine at Amazon...I was a little disappointed to find that they don't sell a fan kit yet but being a geek I have all sorts of parts around the house. I took the fan off an old video card and mounted it on the heating element (the new design has a "cubed" heating element where the fan unit mounted in the old design. It seems like it is working fine...I did get two digital units to check the temps and humidity. The digital readings on the incubator are definitely off...the temp reading is 1.5 o 2 degrees off...the humidity is way off 10+ percent off so I am glad I purchased the external thermometers. I too find the temp stabilizes rather quickly when I've had the cover off to turn the eggs.

I can't really say how it is working as I am only on day 16 for the peafowl eggs I have in it. We'll know in about two more weeks...hopefully I will have some peafowl chicks hatched out then. Purchased the eggs on ebay...I am probably going to order the egg turner and try some chicken, duck or guinea eggs next.

 

[only1bgirl]

Was temp off on the + or minus side? Left mine set at 99.5 and it keeps shutting off at 99.1, just bumped it up to 99.7 and I'm going to watch it more today to see if it levels out. Good luck with the pea fowl! I'm trying to hatch Silkie chicken eggs they were shipped too from Florida to Oregon they were here within four days of being set. PO wasn't messing around. This is my third batch of shipped eggs, first in a real incubator, I'll update around 7 days when I candle.