Temp variation limits

[Wickedchicken6]

I really want to set them today because I just realized she gave me a lot of older eggs from a bit more than a week ago...and it was so cold on top of it. Which might not affect her hatch rate with a fancy incubator and tons of experience, but I'm really worried about mine.

I've set lots of old eggs. In my experience, if they are within the two-week span that's good because they'll be close as far as the amount of air in the air cell. I've found that to make quite a difference. If there is too much difference in the air cells, it's hard to have all the eggs successfully hatch with the same humidity.

 

[daxigait]

Only one day left to figure this out for my first time. Circulated air, egg turner, LG.

When temp is set to 99.7, variation is from 98.45 to 100.6, but over the course of 5-6 hours averages about 99.6

When set to 99.8, variations from 98.89 to 100.8, again averaging about 99.6.

When set to 99.9, it no longer dips to 98 but the high is hitting 101.3.

Where would you set it? My guess would be 99.8, but I'm concerned about the lows being that low...

I would ask on the Educational Hatching and Incubating thread it is a lot slower than it used to be, but you should get an answer. Just interrupt the insane chatter we use to pass the time. Lots of experience there. Also you can check the notes section on the first page about temperatures.

 

[lazy gardener]

Awesome thread, and good input. I'm late to the show, but... love incubation!

Only one day left to figure this out for my first time. Circulated air, egg turner, LG. When temp is set to 99.7, variation is from 98.45 to 100.6, but over the course of 5-6 hours averages about 99.6
When set to 99.8, variations from 98.89 to 100.8, again averaging about 99.6.
When set to 99.9, it no longer dips to 98 but the high is hitting 101.3.
Where would you set it? My guess would be 99.8, but I'm concerned about the lows being that low...

I would choose the second setting. BUT, that's assuming you've checked your corners, and any other "cool spots". Temp set too low will cause all sorts of congenital defects.

I asked this question earlier with limited results so I am watching yours. I racked my brain the same way you are now with both temperature variations as well as thermometer sensor delay. I tend to overthink everything as you will see if you read below.

I currently have 4 different thermometers in an incubator. 2 are digital and have been calibrated, anther is mercury, and the last is an analog meat thermometer. Here are my observations:

The meat thermometer and mercury thermometer react very slowly and basically don't move at all while the heat cycles from on and off constantly showing a temp of 99 or 100 degrees all the time.

The first digital thermometer is an Omron oral thermometer designed to check for fevers. It reacts virtually with no sensor delay. When I watch it my temperature variation is about 2.5 degrees. I try to keep mine from 98.8-101.5. I have verified the internal egg temperature is 99.5 throughout incubation with this thermometer.

The second digital thermometer is an inkbird temperature control. The sensor delay on this thermometer is around 1 minute. Due to the increased delay in the reporting to the unit from the sensor the temperature range "appears" much smaller. The range I get on this thermometer is 99.2-100.

When I first asked the question about temperature variation I got the feeling that most everyone uses thermometers with a high sensor delay and they think they have less variation than they do in reality. There is no way to keep exactly a 99.5 constant temperature; I think the ultimate quest is to do everything you can to have that your average while minimizing the variation through heat sinks and thermostat efficiency.

I wish I had a better answer for you.

Excellent input. I also use the Inkbird in one of my bators. One thing I don't like about it is that the sensor cable can cause wide variation in bator box temp if it's moved around. I have a small computer fan, but there is still huge variation in my box. I intend to play with the location of fan before committing eggs again. Is your bator home made? If so, where is your fan in location to heat source, and what are you using for heat source, and where are your vents??? I deal with the sensor movement issue by taping it to a block of wood or a dummy egg, and keeping that in the same location at all times. When hatch day comes, I have to assure that the chicks can't mess with the sensor placement, or in other ways mess with it's proximity to the heat source.

I've been working so hard at figuring out the temp with the turner...I have another 24 hours to practice. Should I take the turner out and figure it out for the hatch? I'm assuming we would still be looking for 99.5, right?

I've never used an electric turner, but... have been told that the electric motor kicks out a bit of heat of it's own. So look for a warm spot near the turner, and possibly leave those egg cells empty, or rotate eggs through those cells as long as temp is not high enough to be out of range.

So in more experimentation, I learned that the outer most spots in the incubator are staying much colder (98.3ish) compared to the middle. Do I need to turn it up higher so the sides are warmer, or will it even out when there are eggs in it?

My bator also has cold spots, even with a fan. I do my best to make adjustments by adding air baffles to direct air from warm spots to the cool spots. Pieces of heavy duty tin foil and duct tape are some of my best incubation fans.

Love your bator set up, Wicked Chicken. I actually bought a fan last fall that is similar to the one you are using. I may play with that this season. Do you keep it running for the hatch? Any issues with the chicks getting blown away like bits of tumble weed??? I see you have eggs stacked. Do you do a staggered hatch? By hatch date, do you still have the stacking going on???

I see you also use my incubation style: tin foil to direct heat, and lots and lots of thermometers. How do you manage turning eggs in those stacked baskets?

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Love your bator set up, Wicked Chicken. I actually bought a fan last fall that is similar to the one you are using. I may play with that this season. Do you keep it running for the hatch? Any issues with the chicks getting blown away like bits of tumble weed??? I see you have eggs stacked. Do you do a staggered hatch? By hatch date, do you still have the stacking going on???

The bator and stacking are a bit extreme. I like challenges.

I do keep that fan running. Once I start the bator in the spring, that fan runs non-stop until fall unless I clean the bator along the way. The fan started with the first hatches the summer of 2015 and it ran until Nov. 5th of 2016. The bator was cleaned 2-3 times in that span so the fan got a momentary rest.

No chicks blown away yet.
The eggs below the fan do get too much air. So I've picked up a few different sizes of fans that are closer to a computer type fan. (Maybe they are computer fans)

Only purchased eggs (3 settings) and the very last hatch of the year have not been staggered. I stagger everything else. The stacking is always going on because I have "an addition to setting more eggs" problem.

Eggs to hatch are usually moved to the top level in baskets so I have access to what's going on. I don't turn the other eggs while I'm on lockdown. Except for one hatch where they hatched in the bottom while I was away. All was fine...lol. Just inconvenient.

 

[MightyMama]

If it spikes to 104-105 for a few minutes, but drops back down to 103-102, is that going to be okay?

The one spot/side runs so much hotter than everything else I'm between setting it higher to accommodate the whole incubator (which runs closer to 99 at that temp), or lower to keep the high spikes below 104.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

If it spikes to 104-105 for a few minutes, but drops back down to 103-102, is that going to be okay?

The one spot/side runs so much hotter than everything else I'm between setting it higher to accommodate the whole incubator (which runs closer to 99 at that temp), or lower to keep the high spikes below 104.

This is just my opinion, but spiking is never a good thing.
If it did hold at too high of a temperature for too long, that could be disastrous.

 

[MightyMama]

More so than staying around 98?

 

[MightyMama]

I think things will level out when the eggs are in there, but my thermometer won't be able to get those temps very accurately...so at this point I'm just going to set and pray, I just have to make the choice if "how high"

 

[Wickedchicken6]

More so than staying around 98?

That's not ideal either.

I think things will level out when the eggs are in there, but my thermometer won't be able to get those temps very accurately...so at this point I'm just going to set and pray, I just have to make the choice if "how high"

The average you quoted earlier if fine as long as it doesn't decide to spike and stay there. Some people have had that happen.

 

[BantyChooks]

I haven't used a LG in ages. What model? Digital, like the 3200? Those are impossible---I'd rather incubate in a frying pan. I used to hatch in a 9200.

If yours has a manual dial I suggest gluing a lego to the top in order to make finer adjustments. It really helps. I'm not sure why you'd be having major hot/cold spots in a circulated air incubator, though. Have you calibrated thermometers?