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Well with it being Sat. Afternoon, it may be awhile before you get many replies. I have heard many good things about the GQF.
I myself don't own one..I prefer to build my own..I just don't have the kind of money it takes to buy a GQF..
Mine work just as well for about a 1/3 the cost..
So anyway just keep checking in. But like I said it may be late tonight, and you may have to ask again like tomorrow..
Don
Honestly, if I could have had a GQF to model an incubator after, I would have built my own and made a couple changes. Better insulation, and I would have put a fan and heating element top and bottom...if you can get one of the bigger fans out of a refrigerator that went bad, you can get everything else you need to build a nice cabinet incubator for around $60-$75.....I would also put a small door in the top so you can open that to add water, instead of opening the big front door. There is a guy on
ebay, from over in western oklahoma that builds and sells some pretty nice incubators for around $250.....he has some cool ideas on his as well...
We have a hatcher and a bator both by GQF and we like them. Very reliable and at times ours runs constantly for year after year. This is the first year of many that they have been shut down. Oh and we have hatched everything from Cockatiels to geese with no problems.
Ok now to the nuts and bolts. GQF actually makes a humidity tray with a float in them that is connected to an outside bucket with a hose. No opening of the door to service this.
In my mind only the top would be the best for the element and the thermostat and here is why. At the top the heat would build rather quickly and it would keep the temp more steady once it was evened out. A heating element on the bottom would try to build heat all the way to the top if it were thermostated seperatly.
Now if tied into the thermostat with the top element then it could make the upper levels way to hot as the heat from the bottom element would still be arriving after both elements were shut down.
Personally if I were to build an incubator I would copy Al's design. Looks good and pops them chicks out on a regular basis.