Sportsman 1502 Help

[tangotango]

I just got it and I was expecting to get a metal tray for the brooder instead I got a cardboard lined pull out drawer my question is, Do I move my eggs to this drawer at the 18th day and hatch them there since is cardboard there is no air-flow, and i'm afraid to loose my hatch.

 

[patyrdz]

I just got the 1402 and was wondering about that too! My friend has an older 1202 and hers do fine in the bottom. How are you going to figure out how much water to put in yours? My other incubators had wells and this is just a big tub! This thing sucks up some water too!! I finally drew a line with a marker for the water level. Or are you suppose to just use the wicks?

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

I have an older 1202 and the bottom tray is wire...I'm not sure what they gave you, but the bottom drawer is supposed to be the hatching tray...
do you have a pic? what does it say in the manual?

 

[greathorse]

I have a 1202 also and it has the water tub you are discussing. I put the pads in for the hatch but not for the first 18 days. It really depends on where you want your humidity to be. Remember the humidity has nothing to do with the water level in the tub. it is only affected by the amount of water surface exposed to the air. I cant tell you anything about the cardboard hatcher tray, mine is a metal tray with hardware clother bottom.

The 1202 takes a lot of water. I ran seven gallons of water though mine on this last hatch. I live in a very dry climate, so it takes a lot of water to reach the humidity levels required.

 

[Mrs MIA]

I keep my water tray filled, and it keeps the incubator at about 45% humidity. The hatching tray in the bottom is just that... a hatching tray. It's not meant to be a brooder. You can line it with the rubber shelf liner, and either put your eggs on it on their sides, or set them in a carton on it. It's too slick for chicks to get good traction, that's why I use the liner. Use the filters in the water tray to wick the water during the last 3 days... that's how you get your humidity up. It's ok to increase the humidity for those last few days even if you have other eggs that are still incubating... it won't hurt them. Just take the wicks out when the hatch is done to bring the humidity back down again.

edited to addlink to instructions ... though it should have come with an instruction booklet.

 

[ccscott24]

I have the 1502 and the bottom cardboard hatching tray gets enough air flow and I use it 2 manual turn eggs and i have had eggs hatch out that way. I keep my water pan filled up almost to the top and I don't change the humidity till the last 3 days and then i put the sponge in and it brings the humidity to 65%.

 

[tangotango]

Thank you all for your help, My 1502 Spotrsman was a disaster when I turned it on. The turning tray motor was broken and every bolt and washer was loose in the tray's I filmed the whole thing and it is trully disgusting to pay so much money for something that is shipped in this condition . I had to take it apart and finish what the factory should have done. A man by the name of Willy told me over the phone to return it. But I have to pay for shipping and they would return my money whenever they got around to it so, I have to eat it. But I will post the video of how it came. If you own a G.Q.F. I suggest that you open the back of the cabinet and insert whashers on the nuts and tighten them and if you had trouble with the turner motor is because this people beat the shaft in and ruin the spring loaded shaft. Willy told me he was the plant manager and that the bolts were supposed to be loose I'm an electrician who has worked with numerous control cabinets worth thousands of dollars and whoever built this incubator can not chew buble gum and walk at the same time. By the way this so call plant manager and I say again Willy treated me like too bad eat it so all of you should be aware that these people's customer support is horrible. I will post improvements to the cabinet later on. By the way the bottom tray is cardboard. The information on the web site is wrong there are no adjustable vents on the incubator. The brochure they sent me was not the same as the web site.

 

[B. Saffles Farms]

Sorry to hear youve had trouble with the sportsman, weve got 3 weve had since 2000, and never had any trouble with any of them.

 

[greathorse]

I talked to that same plant manager to get some advice on a used one, he was not a freindly guy. I use a Sportsman and have parts from another and get along just fine. I would be very tempted to send the darn thing back even if the freight is on me and call Mr. Dickey. Just sayin.

 

[tangotango]

Have you ever open the incubator. By the way I think the plant manager is the guy who builts the incubators and sweeps the floor, I have been in sales and I don't think a plant manager answers the phone to troubleshoot incubators I think that G.Q.f. is one of those company's that work out of a garage and have a great web site designer. For treating me so bad I will post changes to improve their desings and try to patent them. The reason I did not build my owm incubator was because I did not have the time to do so. I will build a replica of the 1502 and detail to all how to build it with pics and step by step instructions. By the way all the electronic gear, fan and turner that bears their name is probably made by a chinese company that will sell us the parts at a reasonable price