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

[immyjay54]

My Brinsea got fried by a power surge. They repaired it under warrantee even though my friend originally bought it and I was not the original owner. I bought a surge protector to use in the future!

I can vaguely remember that happening with you. I think we talked about it. lol Good company in my eyes.
Jim

 

[blriehl]

Question, what Model of the Brinsea 20 do you recommend? Out of all three...

 

[dretd]

Question, what Model of the Brinsea 20 do you recommend? Out of all three...

I only can give you input on the base model Octagon 20ECO Manual Turn Incubator. I am sure the more expensive models are fantastic but I have limited funds for my hobby so I got the no-frills model. I have experience with styro forced air incubators and a home-made cooler for reference.

When I received the model and plugged it in, I calibrated the temperature to see how the internal thermometer related to others. At one point I had 7 thermometers in there and came to the conclusion the reference thermo in the unit was low by about 4 degrees. I contacted Brinsea and they replaced the thermometer. It was easy to replace.

The unit maintains a much steadier temp than the other incubators I have used before, and the temperature appears to be more uniform throughout the interior space. I was worried I would have trouble with the turning but it was very easy. The bars were slightly tricky to use to find the correct spacing so the eggs of various sizes fit. I ended up essentially sorting the eggs so that the eggs of similar diameter shared one rail slot. I used toilet paper rolls cut in thirds as spacers for the lines where I needed to so the eggs all remained upright.

The incubator did need to have the water well topped off every 3-4 days. I had 2 internal thermometers and when the temp started creeping up I knew it was time to add water. Water loss (calculated by weight loss) was more uniform in this batch than in styro incubations and seemed appropriate (have not done all the calculations yet as they just went into lockdown last night).

So far this batch of shipped eggs plus reference home ones (I placed 4 from my own flock as a comparison) and 5/12 shipped are in lockdown and 4/4 home eggs made it this far. 3/4 of the home eggs pipped over night (a day early). I ran the temps at about 99.8 on average (varied 99.5-100 on 2 thermos I placed) so I am not sure why they are pipping a day early.

So far I am super-happy with this purchase and with Brinsea's customer service. I wish the chamber was a little larger. I really wouldn't want more than a dozen eggs to make it to lockdown or I think they would be crowded. I would love a little more head room for the chicks and it would make it a little easier to view them. I think the viewing is better in this unit than in the styros with the dual overhead windows, though.

 

[dretd]

Here is an update on the thermometer that registered low.

The one on top is one of 2 replacements that Brinsea sent (a pleasant surprise they sent 2 instead of the one needed to fulfill the warranty, so now I have an extra just in case). I aligned the markings and as you can see, the bad one is off by quite a lot. It appears that the thermometer itself was mis-marked. I hope this was a simple one-off error where the tube was improperly positioned at marking, but it is something to be aware of just in case there was a whole batch that was mal-positioned.

My advice is to always calibrate the incubator with reference thermometers when you receive it just to make sure the reference thermometer is not off. For what its worth, I had started adjusting the red knob to turn up the heat thinking the incubator was mis-set at the factory and ended up turning it back to about where it was before I realized the thermo was off so I think the factory setting appears to be pretty good.

 

[dretd]

And here is a picture of the pips just cuz I am excited:

I decided to place them so all the eggs are touching as I read that this may encourage them to hatch since the sound and vibrations can carry from one egg to another this way.

 

[immyjay54]

On my web site: http://jimspetsandpoultry.weebly.com on the incubation page is info w/pictures on how I set up my brinsea 20 eco I love it for incubation but I don't like it for hatching only because it doesn't have much head room for chicks. lol I hatch in a foam one. lol

I just had 12 eggs in mine 1 was clear on day 18 so 11 went into hatcher 8 gorgeous babies hatched. The only thing I find with the brinsea is that almost every hatch is a day early but the chicks seem healthy an have no problems.

I use a piece of rolled up paper towel to fill the rows of eggs. I've been using mine for quite a while at least a couple of years and had to send the top back this year because the heater quit working. Brinsea fixed it (no charge) and it has worked fine since. I don't use any automatic turner. I turn it by hand 3 times a day.
Jim

 

[kmollyhughes]

What humidity do you guys run from days 1-18? The manual says 40-50%, but my last hatch seemed super gooey. I live in nevada (desert), and have a wood stove, so it's extra dry in my house. Thank you!

 

[immyjay54]

What humidity do you guys run from days 1-18? The manual says 40-50%, but my last hatch seemed super gooey. I live in nevada (desert), and have a wood stove, so it's extra dry in my house. Thank you!

I have a coal furnace and I kept my humidity as close to 40 as possible. Usually between 35 and 40. I tried not to let it go over 40.
Jim

 

[dretd]

What humidity do you guys run from days 1-18? The manual says 40-50%, but my last hatch seemed super gooey. I live in nevada (desert), and have a wood stove, so it's extra dry in my house. Thank you!

I try to aim for 30-40% but be sure to use a calibrated hygrometer. The cheap digital ones I have are really off and will read 16%-25% when the actual humidity (calibrated is really 30-40%). I only use the hygrometers as a relative spot check (down to 16% means the well is dry) and go instead by egg weight loss over time--weigh the eggs on a grams scale when I put them in the incubator then at candling at 7-10 days. If they have lost too much weight then I run the second half of the incubation a little more humid or ignore it. I have not seen a correlation yet between excessive weight loss leading to those eggs being the non-hatchers.

 

[immyjay54]

I try to aim for 30-40% but be sure to use a calibrated hygrometer. The cheap digital ones I have are really off and will read 16%-25% when the actual humidity (calibrated is really 30-40%). I only use the hygrometers as a relative spot check (down to 16% means the well is dry) and go instead by egg weight loss over time--weigh the eggs on a grams scale when I put them in the incubator then at candling at 7-10 days. If they have lost too much weight then I run the second half of the incubation a little more humid or ignore it. I have not seen a correlation yet between excessive weight loss leading to those eggs being the non-hatchers.

If you go to my site, you will see on my incubation page how I do with my Brinsea. I don't play with anything, no weighing etc. I put the eggs in, add water every 3 to 4 days and that is it. I almost always have super hatches with this little Brinsea and when the time comes that I have to be a setting hen, then I'll give up fooling with it. lol I think somethimes we fool to much and cause our own problems.
Jim