Temperature Probe All Over The Map!

[ChickensByTheBeach]

Hi all! I have a Janoel 12 (weak fan) incubator and a calibrated meat probe thermometer. Here’s my question - temperature at the very tip-top of the eggs reads 99.5 to 100.2 degrees (great for Seramas that like it a bit hotter), but when I lower my probe to the middle of the egg tray, the temp drops dramatically to 96 degrees! I’m not sure how to handle this...should I leave it be or jack the temp up to make it a bit warmer throughout?? Looks like overall the temp where the eggs are sitting is about 98 degrees. Any help would be great. Thanks!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Does it have a fan? It sounds like a still air.
I would jack it up.
I'm not a Serama hatcher but normally in a still air it should be 99.5 at the middle of the egg and 100.5 at the top of the egg.
Depending on your thermometer, for instance if it is an instant read, you'll have to be careful. As the heat element kicks on and off, the instant read thermometer will climb quickly and then slowly drop back down. The incubator ambient air will be different than the internal egg temperature. So if your thermometer is instant read, you want it to slowly drop back to the desired internal egg temp (99.5) when the heat element kicks back on.

 

[ChickensByTheBeach]

Does it have a fan? It sounds like a still air.
I would jack it up.
I'm not a Serama hatcher but normally in a still air it should be 99.5 at the middle of the egg and 100.5 at the top of the egg.
Depending on your thermometer, for instance if it is an instant read, you'll have to be careful. As the heat element kicks on and off, the instant read thermometer will climb quickly and then slowly drop back down. The incubator ambient air will be different than the internal egg temperature. So if your thermometer is instant read, you want it to slowly drop back to the desired internal egg temp (99.5) when the heat element kicks back on.

It has a fan, but appears to be so weak that it works more like a still air incubator. I've increased the heat by half a degree and am watching carefully. This is DAY ONE and I've already experienced major hiccups. Not a great start. Thanks for the help.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Well your day 1 went better than mine.
I needed to set eggs so stuck eggs in the little giant I got a 100% hatch from 2 months ago.
I went up there this morning and it was 108F so I'm sure they are ruined.
Finishing the rebuild on my cabinet just went way up on my priority 'to do' list.

Being a couple degrees low is better than a couple degrees high and 108 is a death
sentence.
Good luck.
Get a new fan for next hatch.
I have a bank of 4 fans in my hatcher and hatching a bunch of Canada Goose eggs clogged the weak fans with down. I replaced them with the most powerful fans I could find. Now it is overkill and I separated them with a toggle switch to run 2 at a time.
DIY incubators have a learning curve.