Newbie to hatching- a theoretical question

[prncssprplfrog]

I'm having trouble getting my cooler-bator's thermostat to even out. I'm having temp swings from 96-103. I've got some eggs in there, but have very little hope of them hatching now.

My question:
Theoretically- If I can get the air temp to stabilize, shouldn't the internal egg temp = the air temp? I made up my own egg thermometer by taking a reptile probe thermometer, putting it in a blown out bantam egg full of gel, & sealing it up.
Right now the Egg temp is 91.3, while the 3 (yes three) different thermometers say:108 (above light- next to eggs digital) , 99 (right above eggs- manual therm) & 108 (digital inder egg tray-next to light)... I do not have a fan set up yet as I really don't know where to get one- so it's still air...Pictures to follow soon hopefully. Humidity is around 33%.

I was told to worry about the internal egg temp (rightly so), but don't want to ignore the "air" temp when it seems so high.

I followed this person's advice tonight, but may drill more holes into the thermostat because I'm still getting temp swings. I have a feeling that I wouldn't get temp swings if I had a fan.... My cooler is a smaller one (around 11X13X12) What size fan should I get?



This is all very aggravating.

 

[Ban seabhag]

What kind of incubator do you have? Some of them (if they have large windows for viewing) seem to swing a lot. Is it in a room that has a pretty constant temperature?
That temp seems pretty wildly diverse between the 3 thermometers. I use 3 also, but they aren't usually that far apart. If it's 99 or so by the eggs you are pretty close. 108 elsewhere is certainly high. Is it a still air?

 

[tammyd57]

I took a fan out of an old computer to use in my cooler-bator.
Did you get stable temps before you put eggs in it?
Also if you mount the thermostat with some space between it and the wall of the cooler it should work better.

 

[prncssprplfrog]

Well, I made my own incubator out of a reptile heat mat, a reostat conctroler & a medicine cooler. When I had stable temps (swing of 99-102) I put some of my eggs in as an experiment. With the eggs in, the temp became a bit more unstable & then the mat quit working.

So: I had everything I needed to make a bigger 'bator with a light & thermostat switch. I made that, let it set for a little bit to see the temp swings, drilled holes in ther thermostat casing & waited again. But I needed a place to put my little started eggs. I figure if I did nothing the eggs wouldn't grow, so I put them in.

This morning, I seem to have less of a temp swing, I want to put a few more holes in the casing & get a fan hooked up. I've got too much invested in this bator to go out and buy a commercial bator now.



I will stop @ Radio Shack today & pick up a fan- does anyone know if I can pick up the 12v adapter to power it there too? I think we got rid of all of our unmatched ones.