Please help me with my home made incubator!

[holachicka]

I have a lovely incubator going,

Frozen meat styrofoam container 1.5 inches thick, interieor 19x12 inches, 40 watt light bulb, 4 holes (pen sized) on the bottom for ventilation, CPU fan attached and running, thermostat turning light off and on... BUT I can't get my temp stable!!!

It goes from 97 to 103... too big of a swing... and this is after I followed the advice of another thread. While I was searching old posts, I followed directions to make the thermostat more sensitive and drilled a hole in the thermostat to get air to the wafer more quickly, (post said 2-3 holes, I only did one). I'm not sure what else to do at this point

. any tips?

I really want to get some eggs in there!!

 

[ga_goat]

What kind of thermostat ? If it is a water heater one that swing is about right just keep adjusting till 99/100 is the top temp and don't worry too much about the bottom ./ distance between it and bulbs , and which side of the thermostat is looking at the bulbs?
just a little fine tuning and you will make it .

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Does the room it's in fluxuate in temperature?

 

[holachicka]

The room slowly heats up and down through the day, not enough (I'd think) to really effect the temp...

Can I ignore the bottom # then the water wiggler temp goes down to 97 as well? Ak!!

 

[mrbstephens]

I put 4 small canning jars full of water with lids in the corners of the bator and that really helped to stabilize the temp. I also made sure there was about an inch of space between the wall of the cooler and the PC fan for better air flow and foil in front of the bulb. All those things really helped with the fluctuations. Now I get 98.5 - 101.

 

[cashdl]

I made a similar incubator and put 2 1/2 dozen eggs in there to incubate. I have an old water heater thermostat and my fluctuation was between 97 and 103. I just took the eggs out today to put them in my hatcher and all were showing good movement. I even had a day where my temp went to 120 when I wasn't looking. Now if they all hatch well, I can tell you that the fluctuation should be fine. If they don't I will blame it on the 120 day.

Lanae

 

[babsbag]

I also put jars of water in mine, I used baby food jars. I mounted 2 fans, one in front of the light bulb at floor level, and one at the opposite end of the incubator at "ceiling" level. That helped a lot.

I mounted my thermostat 3/4" away from the light. I tried drilling the holes, and drilled my finger instead, and broke the thermostat. Make sure the thermostat is mounted away from the wall so that it gets good air flow around it. My temps only went from about 98.5-100.5. It did tend to drift however and every few days I had to readjust the temps.

 

[holachicka]

Ok, So now I've put in 4 jelly jars of water, with lids. I let that sit for a couple of days and there was a little, but not much difference. Then I took out my home made water wiggler of plastic bags and rubber bands because it was leaking (and I had been wondering why I couldn't keep my humidity under control!) and made one of an egg filled with hair gel, and the temp inside of the egg stays at 95. So now I moved the thermostat closer to the light bulb, and put it on hooks so it is away from the wall... added a couple of large holes at the lid with corks in them... I'll wait another day and see what happens,

any other advice?

 

[mrbstephens]

Quote:
Sounds good. I have 3 vent holes that I keep open. They are in the walls of the bator. Ventilation is important. I hope it works better for you!

 

[holachicka]

Ok... so is 101.5-97.7 acceptable? My light turns off at 100, but rises to 101.5, then turns on at 97.9, but drops until 97.9. Is that something that will work? or will I roast/freeze my eggs? I'm planning to incubate quail eggs by the way...