Newbie with incubator question :)

[danijereme]

My husband and I have built our first incubator... well actually he started it months ago but couldn't get it close to working until I came onto this website and got amazing information. I have a question right now and it might seem like a dumb one so sorry in advance. We currently have the fan, light and HWT wired together so the light and fan shut off and turn on together, our temps are fluctuating a lot (yes I've seen the threads on the wafer boards but c'mon I'm just trying to make one work first before I move up in the world) My question... Is the fan supposed to be hooked into all of this or is it supposed to constantly be on? Thanks!

 

[srsmith69]

It should be constantly on. You might also add a heat sink in the form of a container of water. The heat sink absorbs heat when things get hot, and gives it back as the air cools. It helps to stabilize the temperature.

 

[danijereme]

Thank you! I do have 1 mason jar with water and red food coloring, I just went to the dollar tree and bought some bags of those small rocks and probably will also need another mason jar with the water in it. Going to test more when I get home today.

 

[tara7815]

Can I tack on another newbie question here about incubators?

What is the purpose of the rock and sponge that I see in so many incubators?

 

[meepitqueenie]

I believe the rock would hold the temp stable when you opened up to turn the eggs.

and the sponge would hold the moisture for humidity.

Thats my thoughts anyway

 

[danijereme]

One more question (for now) and I'm sure I've seen it here somewhere but can't find it now. Which one is more important... my water wiggler is steady at 99.5 but the temp of the incubator fluxes pretty high. Also, whats the maximum and minimum temps (in your opinion) that the box should be and that the water wiggler should be? Thanks!

 

[tara7815]

Oh man.. I'm more of a newbie than I thought. What on earth is a water wiggler?

Oh and I have the little giant which I now hear so many bad things about - what should the temp REALLY be set at? I'm hearing mixed reports.

 

[ThaJuicyJuice]

I run my temps from 100 to 98 in a forced air incubator. I work long hours and can't afford to come home to temp spikes. This works great for me, and haven't had a problem with late hatchers.

 

[srsmith69]

The temp that you're most concerned with is the internal temperature of the egg. In your incubator, the closest you can get to monitoring that temperature is having a temp probe inside a water wiggler. Water absorbs heat and releases heat at a much slower speed than air. Air temp will rise and fall within the incubator rapidly as the heat source kicks on and off. But the temperature of the egg and wiggler will gradually rise and fall with the average sustained temperature within the incubator. My experience with water heater thermostats is that they may have a 5-6 degree range that they cycle through. Maybe causing the heating element to come on at 97 and turning off at 103. But the water wiggler should be the average of this or almost a perfect 100.

Rocks are a heat sink, like water would be. However, rocks aren't as efficient. Water has a greater storing capacity than rocks.