Little Giant Incubator Temp Question

[Jrose]

Got my first incubator and set my first round of eggs. I spent the frist day calibrating the incubator. I'm sure there's better ones out there, but this is the ONLY local incubator I could buy, so for my first try it should do SOMETHING for me. It's a still-air, manual turn, styrofoam incubator.

I got it set so the stock thermometer read 99.5 and set my eggs. I've since added thermometers based on others' recommendation for monitoring temps.

Problem; I've got FOUR thermometers in the incubator. One reads 99.5 (the one it came with), one reads 98, one reads 102, and one reads 104. I've tried switching their places to see if it's just hotspot/coldspot, but the same thermometers seem to retain the same discrepancies. How do I know which one to trust? If they're in the 99-104 range, do I really need to worry? Every thermometer is a different brand/kind, 1 is digital, the other 3 are glass.

 

[paddock36]

102 and 104 would be too hot. Could it have anything to do with where your thermometer is sitting? Near a heat vent?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Still air incubators should be used at 101-102 degrees (despite the manufacture instructions.) Not the 99.5 that is recommended for forced air. 104 would definitely be too warm.

Are you taking the temps near the top of the eggs?

If you get a glass of ice and put cold water in it, give it a couple minutes to even out and put the glass thermometers in it and let it read, it should read 32 degrees F. This will let you know if those are accurate. You can compare the glass to the digital once you know you have an accurate one, or how off the glass one is and just adjust for it.

The gages on the cheaper bators are often off, so I wouldn't trust those unless they are checked for accuracy.

 

[jaredthefox]

Still air incubators should be used at 101-102 degrees (despite the manufacture instructions.) Not the 99.5 that is recommended for forced air. 104 would definitely be too warm.

Are you taking the temps near the top of the eggs?

If you get a glass of ice and put cold water in it, give it a couple minutes to even out and put the glass thermometers in it and let it read, it should read 32 degrees F. This will let you know if those are accurate. You can compare the glass to the digital once you know you have an accurate one, or how off the glass one is and just adjust for it.

The gages on the cheaper bators are often off, so I wouldn't trust those unless they are checked for accuracy.

Very good advice

 

[Jrose]

I've tweaked the temp a few times today. The stock thermometer still reads 99.5, even though the temps on all the others have changed. I did figure it out a bit I think, after reading some incubation temp threads and tips on monitoring the temp at different heights around the eggs.

The stock thermometer is on the grate on the bottom and has been reading 99.5 exact.

The digital thermometer reads the highest and is sitting on top of the eggs.

One glass thermometer is very tiny and sitting on the grate and reads the lowest.

The other glass thermometer is a big chunky oversized plastic-case thing, so the glass is actually sitting about 1/4 of the way up the eggs and this one is reading the median temp.

I adjusted the temp and got the grate thermometer to read about 99, the chunky halfway up one to read about 100, and the digital reads 101. Should I increase it just a smidge then? Do I want the grate- the coolest area- to read 99.5 or 101-102?

Thanks for all the input!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

That is why you are getting different temps. In a still air bator there is nothing to circulate the air so the air settles in layers away from the heat source. The recommendation is 101-102 at the top of the egg. So if the temp near the top of the egg is higher than 102 you'll want to lower it. If it is lower than 101 then if you can just slightly "bump" it up that would be good. I am guessing you are probably using a little giant bator? Or similar? If so (especially the LG) can be very touchy, so if you "bump" it slightly, monitor it close for the first 1/2 hour- hour because just a slight adjustment to those bators can cause quite a change in temp.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Very good advice

Thank you.

 

[Jrose]

That is why you are getting different temps. In a still air bator there is nothing to circulate the air so the air settles in layers away from the heat source. The recommendation is 101-102 at the top of the egg. So if the temp near the top of the egg is higher than 102 you'll want to lower it. If it is lower than 101 then if you can just slightly "bump" it up that would be good. I am guessing you are probably using a little giant bator? Or similar? If so (especially the LG) can be very touchy, so if you "bump" it slightly, monitor it close for the first 1/2 hour- hour because just a slight adjustment to those bators can cause quite a change in temp.

Weird, I swear I responded to this!

It's the Little Giant 9200, very basic.

I think I've got it down now; top thermo is reading just a tick over 100 (101/102) , middle termo is reading about 100 on the dot, and the grate thermo is reading 98/99. The stock model is still reading 99.5 I've been checking it feverishly to make sure there's no fluctuations, but all seems well.

When I bought the model I had read online that some folks were upset by the heat loss when opening to turn eggs. A suggestion was to fill the water trays with glass rocks to help retain and radiate heat. I've done this, and there's hardly a few degrees drop after turning and it bounces right back no problem. Fingers crossed there's no complications from here on out!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Weird, I swear I responded to this!

It's the Little Giant 9200, very basic.

I think I've got it down now; top thermo is reading just a tick over 100 (101/102) , middle termo is reading about 100 on the dot, and the grate thermo is reading 98/99. The stock model is still reading 99.5 I've been checking it feverishly to make sure there's no fluctuations, but all seems well.

When I bought the model I had read online that some folks were upset by the heat loss when opening to turn eggs. A suggestion was to fill the water trays with glass rocks to help retain and radiate heat. I've done this, and there's hardly a few degrees drop after turning and it bounces right back no problem. Fingers crossed there's no complications from here on out!

 

[Rosebud12]

Still air incubators should be used at 101-102 degrees (despite the manufacture instructions.) Not the 99.5 that is recommended for forced air. 104 would definitely be too warm.

Are you taking the temps near the top of the eggs?

If you get a glass of ice and put cold water in it, give it a couple minutes to even out and put the glass thermometers in it and let it read, it should read 32 degrees F. This will let you know if those are accurate. You can compare the glass to the digital once you know you have an accurate one, or how off the glass one is and just adjust for it.

The gages on the cheaper bators are often off, so I wouldn't trust those unless they are checked for accuracy.

All the eggs are cold. But the thermostat is reading 104. I felt the heat coils and they are cold probably because the thermostat is reading 104