My uncle has given me 3 nearly new Little Giant Foam Bators. I have been using his Janoel JN8-48 Automatic Incubator and LOVE it but I dont have the money to buy one of those just yet so I thought I would either modify one or two of the little giants to be more reliable or possibly use parts from them to build a cabinet type incubator out of a mini fridge or something. Which route would you go?
I would go mini fridge. Multiple reasons. 1) More fun 2) More reliable (even though the LG absolutely stinks, maybe a diff. bator would be better. I also say add the Janoel JN8-48 parts to it if they work so well. Sacrifice 4 bators for a SuperBator) 3) Holds more eggs (mini fridge vs LG. Easy math ) 4) Since it's homemade and cool, you can name it SuperBator (or something like that) I would use the mini fridge for the body, and use the LG for heating elements to accompany the new size, and the included thermometers. Then the Janoel for its automaticity and parts. It's a bator! It's a hatcher! It's SUPERBATOR!
Quote:I think the main reason they are so unreliable and hard to deal with is the parts themself, cheap, built shoddy and assembled poorly, in China. Now I also think you don't really have much to loose by trying to canablize them and make a better one from scratch, maybe keeping it small and simple will be a good start, that way you won't spend allot on building a larger one that will require better more reliable parts. If your handy with your hands give it a try, I would however caution against using any high dollar hatching egg's in them until you know it's up to snuff and feel comfortable that you can get a good hatch, after all they are still LG parts and we all know the deal there, and don't go back with a styrofoam body. Good luck and let us know how it works out, I am pulling for you.
As I look online I think I found a better alternative, on eBay they have a setup from incubator warehouse that is a digital thermometer with a built in fan and 225 watt heat element for $99.99 Maybe I could just sell the 3 foam a bators for some extra cash and buy that setup then build one into a mini fridge and use it as the heating element and thermometer, that way I can just use my two LG turners in it by either utilizing its shelves or building some in and maybe even get a third tray in there as well as a hatching tray in the bottom, sounds like an easier plan than trying to turn three cheap things into one expensive thing lol
I found what your talking about on their website yesterday. I'll be ordering one very soon, they look super simple to set up and sooooo much cheaper than even a second hand cabinet.
Definitely, they said they have the same heating type element as the Sportsman type cabinets, I think I will either utilize a dorm size fridge or build a cabinet grade plywood setup with silver foam board insulation on the walls to help insulate even more. It would definitely take some thought out of how to set it up, seems like an awesome deal. To those of you who are reading this and trying to figure out what I am talking about, this is the link. I DID NOT BUY ONE AND AM NOT RECOMMENDING THEM, this is simply what I am interested in buying and it seems like a good solid setup. I have not purchased from Incubator Warehouse either so order at your own risk but I know alot of you have ordered from them and had good results http://incubatorwarehouse.com/egg-i...incubator-parts/225-watt-cabinet-incukit.html
I just looked on there and they have a 150w model as well for $50, I wonder if it would be a huge improvement over the setup that comes standard on the foam incubators? If thats the case and you could turn a $40 LG incubator into a great incubator for an extra $50 then thats not bad at all. I still think that building a bigger one is a better option though
