Temperature For the Incubator

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Yes, I've read that. I expect if your 'eyelid reading' was wrong and messed up the hatch, they probably cut off your head. I'm glad I'm not the 'royal chick hatcher'.
I read some old text that called for 104 as an incubating temp. I just figured it was hard to maintain a relatively high temp, (especially in cold climates) and if you shoot for 104, you *might* get 101.5 (I was thinking: poor conditions / primative conditions with / cold spring temps in the north / and such).
That's the only rational reason I can come up with.

Have you tried incubating eggs at a constant temp of 104 (air temp at egg height) ??.
Who knows, it might be the 'best temp' ...
YOU try it and if it works for you, I'll be right behind you. Until then, I'll stick with the earliest advice you gave me --- it's still working.

Lisa

 

[Davaroo]

I expect if your 'eyelid reading' was wrong and messed up the hatch, they probably cut off your head. I'm glad I'm not the 'royal chick hatcher'.
Funny, Lisa! Actually the hatching of chicks was privatized. The hatcherists were expected to return 3 chicks for every 4 that were set on consignment. Given that, BOTH the breeder and the hatcherist had better know what they were doing - and the hatcherist had better be good at his job!

You could be right on the 104 logic, too. I have never used one of the old bators so I dont know. I was using that as an illustration of the wide range of numbers you hear.

I trust current science and am happy with 100. My results are saitsfactory for it, as you know, and I see no need to muck with that. Getting all the elements of the bator working together is the greater challenge.

 

[KKluckers]

So are you using a still air incubator at 100 degrees?

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
Now there's some sensible info. I am amazed by messages that say "I got me some eggs and a 'bator on e-bay, I'm setting them this evening, how you run this thing?"

Also, after getting it stabilized don't crank up the temp because the temp drops after you set the eggs. It just take a while for them to warm up to the incubator temp.

I have an antique Buckeye kerosene fired incubator, from everything I have read they ran these things at 104 degs measured at the top of the egg. I've never run it. I think I'll convert it to electric one of these days.

My son has been tinkering with with some old microcontrollers that I've used in different projects and I told him I wanted him to build an incubator controller that will measure temp and humidity and output it to an LCD display and include a PID controlled thermostat that will pulse current to a heating element providing continous heat in the the just right amount to maintain the correct setpoint without switching the heat on and off. One of these days...

 

[Davaroo]

So are you using a still air incubator at 100 degrees?
Yes. And a forced air unit, as well. 100 degress is your goal, regardless.

I challenge anyone to maintain a constant half a degree accuracy in any styro bator, under the usual less-than-ideal conditions most people use them in.

 

[Davaroo]

"... I wanted him to build an incubator controller that will measure temp and humidity and output it to an LCD display and include a PID controlled thermostat that will pulse current to a heating element providing continous heat in the the just right amount to maintain the correct setpoint without switching the heat on and off. One of these days..."

That would work, if you could monitor and average air mass values, Mac. You would have to program a routine in your controller to sample and do level averaging on several strategically placed T/R inputs, I suspect. The control loop would be more than simple.

Best results would likely come from remote volume sampling and mass control to get the absolute stabilty you are suggesting. In other words, you sample and adjust in a separate chamber, then diffuse that air into the egg chamber. This si what you get when you spend the $600 on a biggie.

There are just too many variations in the typical benchtop incubator to do less.

Frankly, I dont think its worth it. I use the oh-so-simple thermal mass buffering idea instead. I just built a big, heavy, wooden box that has a large self-buffering air mass. Then I place water mass within it - soda bottles filled with water. I couple this with the adequate control afforded by a $10 wafer switch and hold steady with no trouble. No trouble, no calculatin' and I spent almost no money.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
I know it's not worth it, nor necessary, it's just an exercise to see if we can do it. My son has been spending hours building circuits and programming controllers to blink lights on and off, sound buzzers, run servos, and such. I keep telling him to build something that's actually useful. Writing the code for a simple thermostat would take him two minutes, got to make him think a little...

 

[ButtercupFarm]

I have an antique Buckeye kerosene fired incubator, from everything I have read they ran these things at 104 degs measured at the top of the egg. I've never run it. I think I'll convert it to electric one of these days.



I've been looking at those Kerosene fired incubators longingly, we get consistent power outages during winter especially and want something that doesn't take electricity.

Where did you find yours?

Chara