Reprogramming Hovabator Genesis 1588

[blaines.insane]

I need some help here....

I just got my digital thermo/humidity gauge, and have set up my genesis. It's running a little high (101.3), and I want to reprogram it, because I had some issues with my first hatch apparently hatching a little early.

According to the manual, to lower the temp 1/2 - 1 degree, you turn off all the dip switches (I'm assuming with it running), then turn on 1 and then 5,6,7, & 8. It is then supposed to blink, indicating that it had been reprogrammed.

I followed these instructions exactly, and it blinked as expected. It blinks 3 times, then a short pause, then 1 more blink.

question is, is it supposed to stop blinking, or continue blinking like that for eternity? I'm worried my chicks are going to develop epilepsy or something. Not really... but it bugs me that it blinks like that.

What really concerns me is that after replacing the lid, I stayed and watched the temps for about 5 minutes, and it just kept dropping. It dropped down to 95 and I decided to reset the factory settings and get y'alls opinions.

Does this sound like normal behavior? Did I just not wait long enough for the temp to recover?

Thanks,
Blaine

 

[blaines.insane]

OK, I just did it again to verify. It is definitely not reprogramming correctly.

I reprogram it, and promptly replace the lid. Temp drops at a steady rate, about 2/10ths of a degree every 25 - 30 seconds. This time I let it go all the way down to 92. It was still dropping at the same steady rate. So reset to default, replaced the lid, and it immediately starts to recover at a rate of almost 4/10ths of a degree every 30 seconds.

So something is definitely not right. I need to figure out a solution soon. I don't want to incubate at 101.3 degrees and have the same problems I did with my first hatch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Blaine

 

[Mahonri]

We plugged ours in and couldn't get it to the right temp.

DS#4 shut off all of the switches, then turned on #7. It stays between 99.3 and 100.3 without much variance.

Hope that works for you too.

 

[blaines.insane]

Thanks, Mr. Moriancumr.

I just looked at the other instruction sheet that came with it, and it says something completely different from the other one. It says to turn off all the switches and go to the next higher one to raise temp by 1/2 degree, and next lower one to lower by 1/2 degree.

I'll try flipping #4 off, and flip on #3. I'll report back.

 

[RonnieAtkeson]

Mine i left the factory setting and it stays around 100.4 most the time. It says to trust the hovabator for the first hatch and adjust after that. It says retoggle switch 4 cause it could get nocked lose.

 

[blaines.insane]

OK, I toggled #4 off, then toggled #3 on. It dropped 1/2 degree, down to 100.8. Didn't like that, so I toggled #3 off and #2 on. It's now hovering at 100.4. I'd like to see it at 99.9, so I will probably go down to #1 first thing in the morning. My humidity is hovering between 40 & 45%, according to my new guage... I don't know how accurate it is, but it if it had a tolerance of 5%, and it were reporting 55%, it would be within the safe range no matter what. Will add water surface in some way first thing in the morning.

Was anyone else confused by the two conflicting instruction sheets?

Thanks for all the help,
Blaine

 

[Mahonri]

I was.

Remember to return and report.

 

[blaines.insane]

I have done all that I said I would do, and here is my report.

I'm running on dip #2, hovering at exactly 100.3. I think that's where I want to keep it. I would feel better going down to 99.9 (which is where #1 puts me, but after reading the Mississippi Extension Service bulletin, I think that's as low as I want to go with this hatch. It says to keep it at 100 (+/- 0.5) degrees, but not fluctuate more than 1 degree total. Since I started this batch at 101.3, 100.3 is probably the safest bet.

My last hatch I was apparently running at 101.3, and the 4 that hatched did so early day 21 - late 22. So hatch timing was about right, but 2 of the 4 had symptoms characteristic of high heat &/or low humidity:

- chicks fully formed, but dead without pipping (had two of these)

- Pipped eggs, but died without hatching (would have had 1 of these, but I decided to help it along... bled like crazy, and lay like dead for about 18 hours, then revived and is now, 2 weeks later, as big and feisty as the others)

- Early Hatching/Bloody navels (had one of these, but he too survived)

So unless anyone has any complaints, I'm leaving it at 100.3. My humidity, like I said, is running a steady 50%. I just added a tiny portion cup of water, and we'll see where that takes us.

 

[Mahonri]

If it's a forced air, you are better slightly below 100.

There, that make you feel better?

I dunno, this is my first time at creating little chicks with the 1588. I'm keeping it at 99.5 with 46% humidity.

Maybe God had to hatch a time or two to get it right.

"O, Me, look at those things, they're huge! They'll end up eating Adam, and thus ended the race of the T-Rex and then Velosoraptor and then...."

 

[ranchhand]

I am just into day 4, and no adjustments- it's dead on 100 F. and 54%. I am a bit skeptical about these eggs, since some sat for 5 days before being incubated, but we'll see.

My understanding is that the red light will continue blinking and that the thermometer provided is not very accurate. (so why do they send an unreliable thermometer?!)

Good luck to all of us first timers!

Poor spelling edited.