New and Improved Homemade Incubator Testing: Results

[Olive Hill]

Get a dimmer switch for the light bulb (cut the cord on the light in half and wire it right in) you can use the 60 watt bulb and just play with the dimmer until you get it to hold at the appropriate temp. Works like a charm.

And to ease the wiring, just buy a few wiring nuts. You stick the bare ends of the wires you want to join into the cup-like wiring nut and twist. Done.

 

[walkswithdog]

My thoughts are you need to get a water heater lower thermostat, and TRY. Eight bucks and some effort. Cowboy up... Of course it's weird and kinda scary the first time you try anything new, especially with electricity. Plug it all into a bathroom circuit with a GFI, once you get it wired, if you're scared, then it goes pop and off if you have it backwards. No big deal.

It's not rocket science, I promise and not all electricians or contractors are geniuses. Takes a bit of work and practice. Wire the light to the thermostat - plug in. No pop is a good sign. Worry about holes and permanent placement after you test it.

Set the temp as low as it will go. Now wad it all in the incubator, plug it in and close the lid. The light should shut off at some point, click.

Take it out and figure out where you want the thermostat - should be close to the bulb but not right next to it at first. Then do your holes and rewire it in place or just duct tape the darn thing so you can evaluate position and change it if you have to.

Run it, adjust your thermostat until your temps keep a temp of 102 at the top of the eggs - you'll need store bought eggs just to get things set up right. Up and down air temps from there are just air cycling in and out, if you can make a water wiggler/fake egg and have a probe (indoor/outdoor) thermometer to use with it, that's better. Inside the egg the temp should be 99.5-100.5. If you can only read an air thermometer on top of the eggs, you want the shortest temp swing possible above and below 102. Use jars with water, sealed, in that one corner to keep temps as stable as possible.

Yeah it's a bit scary. It's still worth it. And going for it is just a matter of persistence. Have one of your folks there for back up or a friend, when doing wiring the first time. It helps to know someone else can call for help if you manage to totally screw up. It's not likely but it might help you try.

Do not let this stop you. You REALLY CAN do it. And once you get some practice it's pretty easy.

 

[Kittymomma]

Listen to WWD!

Quitting can get to be a habit. You will feel SOOO good when you get done. It probably won't be perfect the first time or even the second, but you'll have learned a lot.

You might start out by printing WWD's post so you can look at it while you're staring at all those little parts.

Also, the folks at most hardware stores are pretty helpful so talk to them when you go in to get the wiring nuts and dimmer switch.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[77horses]

Thanks wwd and everyone else.

I know that I shouldn't give up on the bator, and I'm not going to. I'm going to keep trying to fix it and if all else fails, I will use it as a hatcher/brooder box and get an incubator for my birthday.

I have 4 eggs from our chickens waiting on me; I have until this Sat. and Sunday before it's too late(it will be a week without being incubated by then, and after a week of no heat, I've been told that it's too late). So I can keep them with no heat for as long as a week and still incubate them, but after a week they are no good.


I was hoping that after I made some air holes, changed the light bulb, changed the humidity method, etc. I would be able to start it up and put the eggs in it with little to no problems.

I asked my mom if she knows a lot about wiring and she said that she does;

I never knew that! She never really did anything with wiring and I didn't think she would have any experience with it. So I can get a PC fan from somewhere(not sure where) and my dad knows about how to wire those up too. So my checklist for this week is:

-PC fan
-thermostat (water heater lower thermostat, is that correct?)
-lamp kit
-Walkswithdog's advice!

Hopefully I will be able to get these on time. If not, it's not that big of a deal because they are from our own chickens and they are just test eggs. But I was hoping for these test eggs to be the first to hatch in the bator.

Thanks again so much for the advice; I will try harder to get this bator working right without tossing it out the window.

 

[Kittymomma]

Ask your mom about checking on Craigs List for the parts you need. I bet you can get a fan for free and maybe some of the other stuff too. Does your feed store have a bulletin board? Maybe you could post your wanted list and offer to exchange farm chores, lawn mowing etc..... Check with your mom first.

I don't want my suggestions to get either of us in trouble.

 

[77horses]

Quote:
I looked on craigslist for a PC fan. They had no results.

But that's a good idea with the bulletin board.

 

[77horses]

I found a lot of stuff on eBay.

Everything except for a lamp kit(they do have lamp kits on there but I can get one at wal-mart)

P.S. this website is also very helpful:
http://suburbansustainability.com/tag/incubator/

 

[jnkir7]

i used a aquarium heater thermastat works great

 

[Kittymomma]

I looked on craigslist for a PC fan. They had no results.

I was thinking more of posting an ad in the computer section saying that you were looking for one. As I re-read my post I can see I wasn't very clear though. I hope the feed store thing works for you.​

 

[77horses]

Quote:
I was thinking more of posting an ad in the computer section saying that you were looking for one. As I re-read my post I can see I wasn't very clear though. I hope the feed store thing works for you.

Oh OK thanks!

I asked my mom about getting the PC fan and thermostat on eBay and I would pay her back.