oldclucks cabinet incubator build.

[oldcluck]

To answer a few questions.
I plan to cut an area of the door out and install a double pane of plexiglass. Lumber dimensions are marked inside the sketchup file I posted although I have modified them a bit. Here they are. Sides are 30 1/4" wide 31 3/4" tall. Top and bottom are 16"x 30 1/4". Back and door is 16"x31 3/4" although I havent cut the door yet so i may change that. Baffle is 16" by 2'1". First shelf bracket is 6" above bottom to give room for a hatching tray. I have given 4" of clearance to the rest. shelf brackets are 1.5"x1.5" by 16" long. distance from incubator front to baffle is roughly 22" . The incubator is being heated /thermostatically controlled by a 225watt incukit cabinet model.

 

[flgardengirl]

Looking really good so far. I am looking forward to your posts.

 

[oldcluck]

Today I applied the insulation, wired up the fans and heater and hung the door using a piano hinge. Applied weather stripping around door frame and also stained the wood with cherry wood finish.
Once I got the door hung and latches installed I plugged it in and it started warming up. Got to temp in 10-15 minutes without a load. left it run an hour or two and it seemed to keep a uniform temp between 99 and 100. Very pleased. I am going to need to rethink the latches as they are very hard to latch and tend to want to pop open. Thinking of using a hasp style fastener bent at right angle to side of incubator. I also made a hatching tray from 1/2"x1" welded wire.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

looking good. Dont forget the fresh air intake as well. Fresh air is as important as temp and humidity

 

[oldcluck]

Thanks C-O-F I did drill a 1/2 inch hole towards the top of the back for ventilation and there is a small airgap where the cords go. Do you think that is enough ventilation?

 

[oldcluck]

The cabinet style door latches just refused to stay latched. I decided to remove them and use 2 hasp style fasteners. Now it stays shut much better. I also put a handle on the door. Tomorrow I am going to put some water bottles in the incubator and do a test under load. Wish it was spring so I can get this puppy loaded with some eggs.

 

[oldcluck]

Loaded two gallon jugs of water in the incubator today, put a couple of1 qt. tupperware trays full of water in the top and turned it on. Temp was very stable. Humidity was above 60% after a couple of hours so I drilled 1 more half inch hole at top and 2 at the bottom. humidity then stayed about 55-59% Temps varying by only 1 degree. I think 1 pan of water may be all that's needed most of the time.

 

[Quyen Le]

Where do you put your heat source? What kind of thermostat are you using?

 

[oldcluck]

The large fan mounted to the right of the baffle includes the heat source,
It is called an incukit. It is fan, heat and thermostat all in one. Check out this link for more info on it.
http://incubatorwarehouse.com/225-watt-cabinet-incukit.html

 

[Quyen Le]

Placement of thermostat sensor need to be closer to heat source at least 2x the distance between heat source to eggs. If the distance of heat source to eggs is too close, then many will develop blood ring since temp variation is too much.