Newbie Homemade Incubator help?

[Sachasmom]

Hi,

We're building a homemade incubator for my sons 4H fair project, part of his leadership thing is he is going to help the younger kids make an incubator.

So, we're doing a "practice" hatch. I think we have all the supplies: Cooler, PC Fan, Ceiling lamp thing, transformer, water heater thermostat and all the odds and ends (and eggs, of course!)

We've hit a road block though, I cannot figure out how to wire the stuff together! I looked at the pics, but I am just not getting it!

Anyone got some "wiring for dummies" tips?

My lamp thing has the plug on it, do I take that off? Does the fan get wired into everything or is it a seperate plug?


Help???

 

[citalk2much]

Can't help sorry look up miss prissy thread on making one
Did want to say welcome!

 

[Sachasmom]

I did see that thread, hmmmm, what page was wiring on? LOL

I feel stupid since I am just not getting it!

 

[sben451]

This link might be helpful. I used this diagram (from SpeckledHen) for wiring my homemade incubator ( I did omit the night light) and it is working well-- on day two with 27 eggs inside. I did run the incubator for a few days first before putting the eggs in--to get the temperature and humidity adjusted and stabilized.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=43984

 

[sben451]

I also wired the computer fan separately (to the transformer (cell phone charger) ) and plugged it into an outlet. This is because you want the fan to run continuously and not cycle on and off like the light bulb.

 

[Sachasmom]

Well, my husband might understand that!

So, in simple terms, I take apart my light, yes? So the plug part from the light gets wired to the thermostat, then to the light, then to the converter thing, then the fan? Is that right?

To keep the fan on all the time, does it then have to go back to the plug?

And do the eggs go on their side, or can I leave them in the carton? Does that affect the hatch rate?

I wonder how much water equals the correct humidity... Our wall thing says 58% humidity, does that mean not very much water? LOL

Funny how my sons project has Mom doing all the grunt work... How bad could it go, I'm going to try really hard to not set the bator on fire like I did when I hooked up the heat lamp for the brooder last year!

 

[gabrielle1976]

I hope someone can help you out. It sounds so confuseing to me. I think though you wire the fan seprate then the thremastat and heat source , just keep asking questhions though and did you read Miss prissy instuctuions?

 

[sben451]

I hope you can view the picture I posted. I bought a 6 ft. extension cord, kept the plug on one end, cut off the other end. I also cut about 1 ft. off the end and split that into two wires. Wire one of the extension cord wires to the light fixture and the other wire to the thermostat. I used one other piece of wire ( one of the 1 ft. pieces) to wire the light fixture to the second screw on the thermostat. I had read about the thermostat needing to be attached to metal to work better, so mine is attached to a metal electrical box, so that the sensor on the back of the thermostat is next to metal--maybe that helps it register the temp. better?

The wire nuts on the wire taped above the light bulb are for the computer fan which I wired to a cell phone charger cord and plugged in separately.

Hope this helps. I can send more pictures if you need them.

 

[sben451]

I don't mean to be long-winded, but you also asked about the eggs and humidity. I have a rectangular glass dish underneath the light bulb (not too close--don't mix water and electricity) with a sponge in it for humidity. I have a piece of small plastic tubing ( like aquarium tubing) run through the drain plug hole in the cooler (all my wires go through there). I can add water when necessary through the tubing without opening the cooler/bator. You will need a hygrometer to show the humidity readings. WalMart has a Springfield brand therm. and hyg. for under $7.
I have my eggs in a turner that I rigged up to be able to turn from the outside, but most incubators have hardware cloth racks in the bottom and the eggs lie on their sides. Usually they are marked with X on one side and O on the other with a pencil, so you'll know that they all get turned 3 times a day. No turning the last three days. Put down some of that soft grip drawer liner so the chicks will have good footing when they hatch.

 

[Wifezilla]

My fan is wired separate.

For the light bulb, I wired the thermostat to an extension cord and used a socket that the you screw the light in to and just plug in to the extension cord.

Does this make sense....

Just screw light bulb in to the adapter and plug it in to the extension cord end. The adapter is just the right size that going through the side of my old cooler, it acts as the housing and the light doesn't touch the plastic walls.