Microbiology incubator

GD91

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Stupid me.... I bidded on Ebay on what I thought was an egg incubator. It's not, its a microbiology incubator & used.
My other 2 incubators are both scrapped, they broke, a brinsea eco at £65 & some chinese import thing that ran at too low a temp at £50.

Apparently this specific type of incubator was used to do something with chemicals & water & nothing would (should) have been placed directly in it. I have bleached the thing. Its part of a test kit apparently.

I've been waiting for ages for it to show up because I had quail eggs sitting on the side that needed incubating ASAP & It was cheap at £20.

But I'm concerned - it is a fan incubator, but I don't think its designed to run with the lid open, but if I shut the lid there is not ventilation. There is a second clear plastic lid over the incubating section. Also the temp at one end (nearest the heat source) reads 43oC whilst the other end furthest from the heat source reads 37.5oC. At the moment its running with the case lid open & the plastic lid on like below:

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I could always drill holes in the lid, but I don't want to damage it incase I need to return it. But even if I get my money back, I'm a long way off being able to afford a new incubator because the egg ones are just so expensive for some reason.
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Apart from the above, its running like an egg incubator.
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DH is more concerned about what might have been kept in it.
 
I wouldn't worry about what was in it. It looks easy to clean. Close it up and see if it can maintain a steady and appropriate temperature. If it has a fan, it should be consistent throughout. If it does that, drill your holes. The holes need to be top and bottom or sides at the bottom if it doesn't sit high enough for air to enter. I use an aquarium air pump to pump air into my incubator.
 
I was a microbiologist for many years at the Cleveland Clinic. Just give the incubator a good cleaning and it will be fine. All of the cultures we grew were sealed in agar plates, so you shouldn't have any worries.
 

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