Need advice on my homemade incubator.

[Pokesallet]

Hello Ive been raising road island reds for about 2 years now and find it a fulfilling hobby. We have had very good luck with them laying and now im interested in hatching their eggs. I found some plans for a homemade incubator on google at this site and decided to join up so I could ask for some advise. The only problem Ive had so far is the thermostat. The one Ive got is for a water heater and cuts off when it should but doesnt cut back on until the temp has dropped to about 93 degrees. Is my thermostat just not sensitive enough or is there something else I could be doing wrong. Im useing a styrofoam cooler and 25 watt light bulb as my heat source.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
The problem is the 25 watt bulb and the cooler, IMO. perhaps a higher watt bulb and about 7 rolls of duck tape should get you fixed up and running.

AL

 

[Pokesallet]

Quote:
The problem is the 25 watt bulb and the cooler, IMO. perhaps a higher watt bulb and about 7 rolls of duck tape should get you fixed up and running.

AL

Im going to try a 40 watt bulb. If the cooler is the problem what do you recommend using instead. Shouldnt the thermostat kick the light on when temp gets below the setting that cut it off or is there some sort of delay.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Water heater thermostats are not very sensitive. But here's how to make them work. You first need to set the thermostat to come on at 99*F. Don't worry about it getting hot yet. Once the thermostat is coming on at 99 then you want to move the light an thermostat closer together. The thermostat will still kick on at 99*F but as you get them closer together the radiant heat off the light will kick the thermostat off sooner. Once they are close enough it should stay between 99 an 100. So now your using the thermostat kick on temp as your temperature control an the kick off temp only as a heat cycle timer.

 

[Surehatch]

Quote:
The problem is the 25 watt bulb and the cooler, IMO. perhaps a higher watt bulb and about 7 rolls of duck tape should get you fixed up and running.

AL

Im going to try a 40 watt bulb. If the cooler is the problem what do you recommend using instead. Shouldnt the thermostat kick the light on when temp gets below the setting that cut it off or is there some sort of delay.

Try a lower wattage

 

[al6517]

If you have some kind of a heat sink like a water wiggler that will help as the temp inside the egg won't change as much as the ambient temp. Also in my water heater thermostat I mounted it with some rubber spacers behind it so that there is better airflow to the regulator which is located on the back, I do agree that the water heater thermostat is not the best but it can be adjusted to be just fine. Take a peek at my sig line for some ideas.

AL