Ok, so I was asked to talk about the differences of the two bators I used, a Janoel and a
Brinsea Octo 40 ADV EX. Well, today I cleaned them both, and I gotta say, neither were fun to clean.
The Janoel, I had to remove 12 screws to get the grill out of the top, so I could blow out the dust with a compressor. Despite removing all screws, I could only move the top grill, it wouldn't be removed. So I had to blow the dust around, not out. The 4 "viewing portals" were extremely hard to clean, and I had to accept they wouldn't get completely cleaned. Considering the heating coil and wiring is up in there, using anything other than air would be a bad idea (I figured). The base, with its many channels, had to be cleaned with a scrub brush in my washtub sink (won't fit in a kitchen sink). As with the bottom grill. One a scale where 2 = washing a dinner plate and 10 = washing a garden tractor, I'd say it was a 6, but I bet I could get a garden tractor cleaner.
The
Brinsea Octo 40 ADV EX, was equally a challenge. The upper grill is held on my 14 screws, unnecessarily long. Once removed, 2 of the 4 fans immediately come loose. None of the fans are actually screwed in...strange. So when you move the top around to clean it all (again with air), stuff moves and you gotta watch so you know where to put it when re-assembling. Of course the other hilarity is that the
Brinsea top is curved, so taking out and putting in screws isn't easy. While the
Brinsea base has nicely curved surfaces, its harder to clean than the Janoel because the wells are deeper, a simple scrub brush won't do.
I would say that neither of these incubators were designed to be cleaned. The challenges that both present are not addressed in the user manuals, and frankly I don't think either manufacturer cares. "You figure it out" seems to be the guiding factor.
Styrofoam bators are no better as any attempt to aggressively clean them (e.g. with a scrub brush) only leads to chewed up Styrofoam.
So, I'd say I am not impressed with either as they make the task of sterilizing them too difficult to ensure reliable results.