Rebuilding an incubator

[3forfree]

I don't like giving up just because one thing doesn't work. On my incubator which is just a hot water heater thermostat and a light bulb, if the thermostat doesn't work, neither does the light bulb. I would try bypassing the wafer and wire the heating coil direct. If power can't get to the wire, it won't get hot, wired direct the coil should get hot. This would be a temporary thing just to see if the coil works which I think will.
You could do the same with the coil that is unhooked, wire it up by itself with an old extension cord and wire nuts, and plug the cord in and see what happens. leave the incubator unhooked while doing this.

 

[ki4got]

ok nobody has mentioned this yet so i thought I might...

before you disconnect/reconnect anything, check the thermostat. it would have an adjustor knob that turns the wafer. if nothing's coming on make sure the wafer isn't adjusted all the way 'off'. turn it until the contact clicks on/off. on is when it's NOT touching the contact, off is when it is...

it could be that it's adjusted so that it won't come on unless it got REALLY cold or something LOL.

also, I would agree, try hooking up the heating element around the fan. it's a much safer design than the bare wire style. if you have a multi-meter or watt meter, you can also check the element for continuity. either it's a closed circuit (working) or an open circuit (dead).

you can also buy replacement heating elements and thermostats for the hovabator incubators, which are basically the same as what you have. There are other types of resistive heating methods (besides light bulbs), such as the flex tape (my choice for space saving). also old stove/toaster oven heating elements would work too, but you'd have to place them so they don't contact the wood directly as they can get quite hot very rapidly.

I've even seen aquarium heaters used (submerged into a gallon jug of water) and then the water is kept hot and air circulated around it. you do have to make sure the jug stays full of water, and your humidity might be higher than otherwise. but the temps once stabilized, remailed quite constant as the water has a lot of thermal mass...

pretty much you can use anything that generates heat to keep the incubator warm, but some things are better than others, depending on how fast they heat/cool down.

if/when i ever finish building coops (yeah right) I plan to build my cabinet, and maybe play with a variety of heat methods to see what can be used fairly efficiently.

 

[crj]

I plugged the system in and it seems that only the fan and the little red light works. I tied in the white wires the the screw that is attached to the coil. Nothing changed, everything still cold, no heat. I put the disk closer to the piece in front of it and again, nothing happened.

Does this mean I should take everything out but the fan and the little red light? and start with a better heating system the temp. gauge? If that is the case do I have to line the inner box with something heat proof to keep the wood from getting hot? It just seems as if the wood is very dry and I'd hate to have a fire from the heat source.

 

[Chinchilla2]

Quote:
Using some flashing to line the element end of the box isn't a bad idea. That would help protect the wood as well as reduce the heat sink ability of it, making the whole system work a little more efficiently.

Keep the fan and light. Replace the element and a complete wafer setup. Just to be sure, I'd replace that element, fire it up again and fiddle with the existing thermo setup. Could be that it is only the element(s) that are bad and you won't need the thermo. If you still do not get heat from the new element (which will probably be less fire-hazard-y than the existing setup), then switch out the thermo.

You're gonna have one heck of a good 'bator after all this. WTG

 

[sixshooter60]

If you are really wanting to rebuild it you should get a few things .. First i would replace the thermostat or the disk as you call it..lol.. i would get the whole thing and not just the wafer GQF has them for a little over 20 bucks. Next i would replace the heating element the one in there looks like what comes in a GQF. you can buy just the element for less than ten bucks or get the whole thing which is the element and the porcelin knobs and the element has the wires already made on it so you just wire it to your power the other heating element around the fan looks like one out of a foam bator or maybe a dehydrator . it could have been added to up the wattage.. the one from GQF is 220 watts .. the one from a foam bator is only 20 watts and it wont be enough to heat a cabinet that size .. the bator i have now i built from a small fridge.. it has two 100 watt lighst at the top for heat although im going to change it for a element since i keep hearing that incandesent light bulbs are about to be a thing of the past.. i also put a heating element at the bottom to help with cold spots i took a element out of a dehydrator i mounted it on a piece of plywood and made brackets for it to sit on kinda like in a foam bator.. i put a wire frame over the top of it and set a water pan on that to help with the humidity.. so far it works pretty good insteat of a wafer thermostat i got a digital thermostat from incubator warehouse and i really do like it so far.. i have only used this bator to set three bunches of quail eggs so far . i dont use it for a hatcher as i built a harcher so i only incubate in the fridge.. it seems to do the job as i just started hatching quail today from it and its sitting on my front porch and the temp has dropped to the low 20s and it held great temps .. i wish i was closer i would love helping rebuild this old bator...

 

[3forfree]

Do you feel like trying something else. Find an extension cord, and cut the female end off. separate the two wires and strip off about a 1/2 in of the rubber. Where the black and white wire is connected to the heating coil unhook them, and hook up the wires from the extension cord. Plug in the extension cord, and see what happens, this will bypass the wafer, and will tell you if your heating coil works. After this is done, unhook the extension cord, return the original wires to the coil, and take your extension cord and hook it to the silver coil that isn't hooked to anything. Plug the cord in, and carefully with the back of your hand tap the coil to see if it is heating up.

 

[3forfree]

Follow this link https://www.gqfmfg.com/store/comersus_listItems.asp?idCategory=49&orderBy=sku to GQF parts and you can see the different parts and prices for what you have in you incubator.

I learned that the wafer thermostat is adjustable by turning the wire that's sticking out of the cabinate under the red light on your incubator. This may be another thing to try after what I suggested above.

here's something else http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/hova-bator---square-heating-element---1645.html

 

[crj]

Quote:
I did turn that but nothing happened.

Sorry I haven't been on in the last several days. Lots going on with the critters and the past couple of days I haven't been feeling well. Still kind of ichy but stable. Hopefully I will be able to get back to the incubator soon. What is GQF?

 

[3forfree]

https://www.gqfmfg.com/store/front.asp

 

[bigdawg]

Quote:
sixshooter you are right on with your coment. i have a home made one also works pretty good, but old. i am going to build one just like it out of birch 3/4 inch plywood, use all new gqf parts that come in a sportsman. three turners and a hatching trey at the bottom. for under 300.00 i will have a nice unit that is way under the price of a sportsman and will look like a piece of furniture. that will be in my living room. also there is a guy on ebay thats sells a cd that has step by step directions on building one from scratch. very detailed instructions. 15.00 bucks i think was the cost. good luck on getting that ole bator running.