Redwood Incubators - Information, help, for sale and wanted

[ftwchopper]

Just wondering, got the bator in the house and plugged in. The light on the outside is on and it's flashing; just wondering if that is normal or is something wrong? The house temp was 58 when I plugged it in and the temp in the bator is now 92

Im not sure on that model but on the browers and farm masters,the front light stays on when its heating.As soon as it gets up to temperature,the light should turn off.Please post some pics,i would love to see it.

 

[maryhysong]

Thanks ftwchopper, here is the outside before I cleaned it. It's had some repairs done, modern screws on the front; looks like one side was coming apart and they put it back together. I'll probably unplug it later and clean out the inside real good and take some more pics then. It's missing the water pan, hygrometer and thermometer. I have one original rack with the manual egg turner bottom but it's missing the dowels that would have helped that. Another original rack modified with hatching baskets and an odd rack that is too narrow to fit on the cleats. I"m going to email the seller and see if that rack belongs in his other bator. This one belonged to his grandpa. It also needs a new door seal, so will look at the hardware store to see what I can find that will work. It also looks like the cleats have been moved from their original positions.

 

[ftwchopper]

Thanks ftwchopper, here is the outside before I cleaned it. It's had some repairs done, modern screws on the front; looks like one side was coming apart and they put it back together. I'll probably unplug it later and clean out the inside real good and take some more pics then. It's missing the water pan, hygrometer and thermometer. I have one original rack with the manual egg turner bottom but it's missing the dowels that would have helped that. Another original rack modified with hatching baskets and an odd rack that is too narrow to fit on the cleats. I"m going to email the seller and see if that rack belongs in his other bator. This one belonged to his grandpa. It also needs a new door seal, so will look at the hardware store to see what I can find that will work. It also looks like the cleats have been moved from their original positions.

It looks just like the 400 egg farm master i have.Im sure its made by the same company.The dowels that cross the trays are made of steel and shouldnt be hard to find.The water pan is easily made by any large hvac company or sheet metel company.I just had two of them made out of galvanized metal for $30.It looks to be in beautiful shape ! congrats ! ....Also,i have a copy of the instruction manual that i got from a forum member.I would be happy to pass it along,if you need it...

 

[maryhysong]

It looks just like the 400 egg farm master i have.Im sure its made by the same company.The dowels that cross the trays are made of steel and shouldnt be hard to find.The water pan is easily made by any large hvac company or sheet metel company.I just had two of them made out of galvanized metal for $30.It looks to be in beautiful shape ! congrats ! ....Also,i have a copy of the instruction manual that i got from a forum member.I would be happy to pass it along,if you need it...

ftwchopper, thanks I could use an instruction manual! Tho it's been fairly easy to figure most things out so far. How long does it take for yours to reach 99.5? Mine's been sitting at 98 for about 12 hours now. I have all the vents closed at the moment and the house is on the cool side, about 65 in here. mmmm just realized that the door latch was a bit loose, so got it shut all the way; also the door seal is damaged/missing in spots. Weird looking stuff, like old hard spray foam covered in tar or something; I'd guess it's the original seal.

 

[maryhysong]

OK here are some pics of the inside;
The rust on the fuse is a bit scarey. You can see the new thermostat that was installed last year.


I don't know why this pic posted sideways. ah well, there's the fan and heating element


The inside, you can see where the cleats were moved to accomodate the homemade hatching basket. Also you can see how the door seal is damaged in this pic; I'm wondering if that's why it can't seem to get quite up to temp? I think I'll go look at the hardware store for something similar to replace it with.


The hatching basket means I could seperate 6 groups of eggs during hatch so I can mark the chicks as they come out.


just wondering does anyone put paper or something on the bottom of the bator to help contain the hatch mess and make it easier to clean out?

 

[dbcooper02]

Nice one Mary. David Bradley was the Sears house brand name before they went to Farm Master name so is should be essentially the same incubator.

A modern self adhesive foam weather strip will make a suitable replacement for the door seal. Take an old piece with you to the hardware store to match the size.

The fact that someone has wired in an electronic thermostat ala GQF would make the flashing of the pilot normal and expected.

 

[maryhysong]

Nice one Mary. David Bradley was the Sears house brand name before they went to Farm Master name so is should be essentially the same incubator.

A modern self adhesive foam weather strip will make a suitable replacement for the door seal. Take an old piece with you to the hardware store to match the size.

The fact that someone has wired in an electronic thermostat ala GQF would make the flashing of the pilot normal and expected.

Thanks for the info! I was thinking some sort of foam weatherstrip would work. And thanks for the info on the flashing light. I adjusted that thermostat last night and when I turned it one way the light did go off so figured it was to show the heater was on. Still waiting for it to hit at least 99 tho. I have to send a couple boys to freezer camp and will go to the hardware store later.

Here's another question for you. Since it will be sometime before I could have a water pan made similar to the original, could I just put a peice of plywood on the cleats and set a cake pan or something like that on it? right now the humidity is reading 16% ;-0

 

[dbcooper02]

I have posted that idea as a possible fix in the past. I think the plywood would be a good idea in order to keep the air flow going as designed. Maybe use even a cookie sheet or large sheet cake pan or two on top, as humidity is controlled by the surface area of the water exposed to the air flow. I have the original pan in mine and it is divided into three compartments so that the humidity can be adjusted.
You are right on too in thinking to put something on the floor of the incubator. Multiple layers of plain old newspaper will work fine. Might need to lay a stick or something on top if it wants to blow around. I can't remember how strong the air flow is down there.

 

[Tammy N]

DID i do good ? 624 and now i can get origional parts and so can anyone with a red wood Machine made by this company. PM me ill give you the info and its not expensive

 

[maryhysong]

I have posted that idea as a possible fix in the past. I think the plywood would be a good idea in order to keep the air flow going as designed. Maybe use even a cookie sheet or large sheet cake pan or two on top, as humidity is controlled by the surface area of the water exposed to the air flow. I have the original pan in mine and it is divided into three compartments so that the humidity can be adjusted.
You are right on too in thinking to put something on the floor of the incubator. Multiple layers of plain old newspaper will work fine. Might need to lay a stick or something on top if it wants to blow around. I can't remember how strong the air flow is down there.

Thanks db! While I had it turned off to put the weather stripping on the door I cut a board almost as long as the cleat for the water pan and put a plastic tray with some water in there. I have also discovered that the reason there are modern screws in the front is one leg had cracked. So the whole face frame is not square and tight to the side and the door is off kilter a bit. I tried to get it pulled together a bit, but probably need a really long pipe clamp. This meant I could see daylight in the corner, where all the boards did not meet tight. Since I couldn't get it back together tight I stuff some newspaper in the crack and added more weather stripping to the door opening. When I turned it on it came up to about 91 degrees in like 10 minutes and in 10 more was at 98. It got to 99 and I started playing with the thermostat, trying to get it regulated. Havne't quite got there yet.