THE Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco Thread; Hatches, etc. (PICS)

[silkiecuddles]

We are currently under tornado warning. If the power goes out for, say, and hour+, will they eggs be fine?

 

[scflock]

We are currently under tornado warning. If the power goes out for, say, and hour+, will they eggs be fine?

yep. Even for a few hours

 

[Phoenix5ire]

Well, the plan was to put the eggs in the bator tonight but didn't pan out as plan so hoping to do it tomorrow afternoon sometime. The delay was rather interesting after running this bator in test mode for the last 3 days and stabilizing on near 99.5 degrees.

A last minute adjustment on the thermometer, I decided to adjust the direction of the thermometer inside the Eco 20 so that I don't have to tilt by head ackward to get a reading. The thermometer's heat-sensor part was directly underneath the fan, almost center and the other end was pointed SW (if you're looking at the Eco 20 with the power to the right). I flip-flop the thermometer so the high-number end is pointing SE so when you're looking at the bator, you can easily see the thermometer. After this adjustment, ran the bator for an hour and notice the temperature did a tangent on me, the thermometer was reading around 104 degrees. I was a little puzzled by this so I turned it down an 1/4 of a twist, after another hour the temperature came down to about 100 degrees. After it was all done, it took me nearly 4hrs to finally stabilize the temp. to 99.5 again.

Question:
Nothing has changed except the direction of the thermometer, the thermometer is still in the same incubator but just flip-flop. Why would the temperature increase by nearly 5 degrees with the thermometer pointing opposite direction? So which temperature is correct, the one before flip-flopping the thermometer or the one now? A little worried about putting 20 eggs in if they're all going to come out scramble in 21 days.

For nearly $300, you would think they can afford to put a decent thermometer in the Eco 20. Nothing like putting a 2nd thermometer to watch another thermometer 5" apart. Brinsea, if you're reading this, please consider this your Six Sigma project for your next upgrade.

Thoughts on the drastic temp swing ?

 

[dretd]

Thoughts on the drastic temp swing ? 

If i am understanding you correctly, the glass thermometer that came with the brinsea was swapped/rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise so you could see the numbers better and that thermometer now reads 5 degrees higher in that position.

If there is another thermometer in the unit that is also reading higher then you must have bumped the brinsea s sensor that is just under the fan causing the heater to think it needs to be hotter.. If its just the glass thermometer that is reading higher then i would have to surmise that the incubator was designed to read with the thermometer in the SW position and it is reading falsly high in the new postion.

I havent had problems reading the thermometer in the original position, but have rotated it on its long axis so the numbers face more the front of the window instead of up at the top so its easier to read. Yiu could try that and see if it makes it easier to read.

 

[ChcknNurse]

No, I thought you were asking about the ducks. Any chick can drown if the incubation humidity is too high. I did it to silkies and marans in a styrofoam incubator. In my Octagon 20, 40-42% humidity has been good for 5 different breeds, from bantams to marans. The marans just seem to hatch a day later. 50% is probably borderline for chickens, but I have no experience with ducks

I'm a newbie. I'm on about day 8 right now. I read the Dry Hatch Method information, a few times prior to starting. I think it was based on the still air incubators. Feel free to correct me. I have been keeping my humidity between 20 and 30%, but lately I'm reading this information of about 40% + . Though there is a learning curve, I would appreciate some guidance. Is the dry hatch method better for still air and since I'm using the brinsea, should aim higher? I need to increase humidity, if this is the case. Experiences and advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[silkiecuddles]

 

No, I thought you were asking about the ducks. Any chick can drown if the incubation humidity is too high. I did it to silkies and marans in a styrofoam incubator. In my Octagon 20, 40-42% humidity has been good for 5 different breeds, from bantams to marans. The marans just seem to hatch a day later. 50% is probably borderline for chickens, but I have no experience with ducks

I'm a newbie.  I'm on about day 8 right now.  I read the Dry Hatch Method information, a few times prior to starting.  I think it was based on the still air incubators.  Feel free to correct me.  I have been keeping my humidity between 20 and 30%, but lately I'm reading this information of about 40% +  .  Though there is a learning curve, I would appreciate some guidance.  Is the dry hatch method better for still air and since I'm using the brinsea, should aim higher?  I need to increase humidity, if this is the case. Experiences and advice would be appreciated. Thank you. 

Yes with Brinsea you need to have 40-50% humidity. This thread is for the Brinsea Octagon Eco. Is that what you have?

 

[scflock]

I'm a newbie. I'm on about day 8 right now. I read the Dry Hatch Method information, a few times prior to starting. I think it was based on the still air incubators. Feel free to correct me. I have been keeping my humidity between 20 and 30%, but lately I'm reading this information of about 40% + . Though there is a learning curve, I would appreciate some guidance. Is the dry hatch method better for still air and since I'm using the brinsea, should aim higher? I need to increase humidity, if this is the case. Experiences and advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

There are several members that dry hatch on BYC, but I think every one of them is using styrofoam. Every Brinsea user I have read about is 40-50%. I'm currently in late day 21 on my third batch at 40-42% humidity, and I have definitely found my magic combination

I'm using a 20 Advance, but basically the same incubator
After reading about dry hatching, I ran one batch at 35%, and that was the lowest hatch rate I have had in the Brinsea

 

[Beekissed]

I use a dry hatch in an open cardboard box incubator, with great success. Of course, it has mass under the nest that holds moisture applied at the beginning, but no more is added after that. I just kept the channels full in the Brinsea and did no other type of moisture retention like sponges, etc., and had a great hatch.

 

[ChcknNurse]

Yes with Brinsea you need to have 40-50% humidity. This thread is for the Brinsea Octagon Eco. Is that what you have?

Yes.

 

[ChcknNurse]

There are several members that dry hatch on BYC, but I think every one of them is using styrofoam. Every Brinsea user I have read about is 40-50%. I'm currently in late day 21 on my third batch at 40-42% humidity, and I have definitely found my magic combination

I'm using a 20 Advance, but basically the same incubator
After reading about dry hatching, I ran one batch at 35%, and that was the lowest hatch rate I have had in the Brinsea

Increasing humidity now. Thank you.