Quick question on brinsea advance eco 20 (EX) .. Update.. Tubing??

[featherz]

Almost to lockdown in this thing - do you remove the foam pad (which came with the humidity pump) on the bottom of the incubator when you take it off the turner and remove the egg dividers? Is it bad (and/or unhygienic) for the chicks to walk on that rather than on the plastic grate beneath it? thanks!!

 

[Denninmi]

I have always left mine in. I think the plastic tray is too slippery for hatchlings and could lead to all kinds of problems with splayed legs.

For hygiene purposes, I discard the foam after each hatch, seems a lot simpler than trying to clean it. Bits of "yuck" get into the foam and are hard to get out. I found the exact same kind of foam for sale at a hardware store in the form of a replacement air conditioner filter for $1.49 retail original price, and it was big enough to cut into about 4 replacement pads for the Brinsea. The bonus, it was on clearance for $0.75! Pretty much any hardware store should have this type of foam, look around the weatherstripping or the heating/cooling areas.

I have washed, bleached, and reused the foam inserts in the divider bars, because these are no longer in the incubator at hatching so don't get yucky.

 

[featherz]

Thanks!! I was wondering about that. My first keets from my last hatch (in my hovabator) were splayed out from the start after walking on the wire grate, but then all the rest were fine so hard to tell if the wire grate caused it or not. The one in the brinsea seems a bit better but it's also plastic and more slippery. Thanks for the tip on new foam - how about the humidity card things? Is there a hardware store replacement (or something like paper towels) that works for that?

 

[Denninmi]

The humidity pad is just blotter paper. I know they used to sell it in craft supply stores but I haven't looked there for years. It's just heavy duty paper toweling, basically, I'm sure almost any fiber that will absorb some water will work, paper, cotton, linen. I wouldn't spend big bucks on those from Brinsea. When my original supply is gone I'll just improvise something. Probably heavy duty paper towels folded up will work just fine. Anything that doesn't drip water through onto the eggs should work.

 

[MuranoFarms]

I get rubber shelf liner at the dollar store. The kind with the holes in it. Just cut it to fit and toss it after the hatch. I have 2 different brinseas. Neither one is the eco 20 so I don't know what liner came with it.....but why wash it when you can just pitch it? Even in my brinsea cabinet bator I can get 4 hatches out of a roll of shelf liner.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
Yup, that should work fine, too.

The Octagon 20 comes with about 1/4 thick foam that is the kind you see as dust filters in vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, and various other types of motors -- the type of foam filter you can take out, wash, and reuse on your vacuum. But not worth it on the incubator, too hard to get clean.

 

[featherz]

I ended up buying shelf liner - my local hardware store didn't seem to have a/c filters that would work, just the type with wire running through the filter.

Another question - my hubby accidentally threw out my box and the extra silicone tubing. Any replacement for that that's local? Brinsea wants $2 a foot plus $10 to ship!!

 

[key west chick]

You should be able to buy air line tubing from a pet shop. It looks to be about the same size.

 

[MuranoFarms]

TSC has different sized tubing by the foot. Just take a small piece of yours with you when you go to make sure its the same size and flexibility. Some of it is kinda hard and it needs to be soft to wind around the pump thingy lol


(edited to add.....I'm still laughing at myself! "pump thingy" is such a technical term

)

 

[rpower]

Quote:
UHHH-OHHHHH!!

Can be like playing with

I would not recommend getting tubing from any other place but Brinsea. The Humidity pumps use a special SILICONE TUBING. It is specially made to bend and stretch when it goes around the rotator. If it is not silicone tubing from Brinsea, (they specifically make this for that machine) Then your rotor will not spin right and will burn out the humidity motor. It is not worth the extra $$ spent on the motor to just save a few $$ on the tubing.