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

[jmc]

Quote:
i personally don't think it is. one advance costs about 370 plus..........ONE eco 20 costs 100 plus. do the math, as i don't have time to go on and on

I agree. I would rather have multiple units than bells and whistles. I don't even use the turner anymore. I manually turn mine. Mainly because they are over filled, but its just as easy to turn it 3 times a day.

really, about the turner. didn't even bother to order one. i want to be a PART of the incubation process.

Consider again, you need more than 1,000.00 to get three advance units.
I got three ecos for just over 300.00

now c'mon!!!

 

[jmc]

this is day one.

i now have 44 eggs in units 1 and 2.

this time, i have set bator temp to what Spot check says. At top of egg rails (mid-egg height) right under the fan, I have set both bators to be 99.5--basically.

Regardless of what the glass therm said, i have stuck with the reading from Mr. Spot. In my previous run, i did not do this, but set according to Mr. Glass.

DATA:

Ambient Temp of 73 F

Unit one, Spot at mid egg height right under fan reads: 99.5; Glass reads 99.5
Unit two, Spot at mid egg height right under fan reads: 99.5/6; Glass reads 101.2

I think this is valuable data for all


Also, according to Spot, the units almost always have varied in temp. not just vertically, but also horizontally. In other words, there are relatively 'cool spots' in the bator even though it has a circulating fan.

These cool spots vary from place to place depending on which 'turn position' the unit is in.

Also, I have found the bator temps to be affected by variations in ambient temp., both up and down


If you care to relate all this to some previous lengthy posts of mine above, you might find it helpful for your own future management and decision making.

 

[cjwaldon]

I got my Octagon 20 Eco last week and it was reading over 100 on the glass. I adjusted it down to 98/99 then thought to put my digital thermometer in the egg tray.

This is my digigal:

98 on the glass and 93 on the digital. That seems to be a big difference for just a few inches and given the fact there is a fan in there.

Then I checked temps on the high swing and on the low swing. The glass stayed pretty much right at 98/99. The highest the digital got was 95. Hmmm . . . .

So I bought another digital. I found this one at Wal-Mart, in the housewares dept.

Get this, it is a REFRIDGERATOR thermometer! You put it in your fridge to monitor food temps. Package said -4 to 104. !! Say what?!! Who's refridgerator keeps food at 104?!! Don't think you need a thermometer to figure out your food won't last too long there at 104 Bud!

So with the NEW digital, my temps are now spot on between both the glass and the new digital, and temps are more consistent on both the high side and the low side.

Here is the new one in the 'bator with eggs just set. Small thermometer, big easy to read display.

But I will keep monitoring it for inconsistencies now that there are eggs in there. Thought I would post this to demostrate differences in thermometers, and I saw someone else was using the same kind as my old (and seemingly inaccurate) one. Perhaps maybe that is part of the problem . . .

 

[rarely bored]

I'm thinking one of the easiest ways to determine if your thermometer is close to the right temperature is... use it to measure your own temperature. Stick it under your armpit or kneepit for a couple of minutes and see how close it is to 98*. (yes, we all have slight temperature swings, but if it reads 89 degrees, you know it is wrong.)

*auxillary temperatures read ~ half degree below oral temps.

 

[cielo]

I tried different thermometers in my eco 20 on last hatch. My glass mounted by the fan always read high, my digital at egg level read low. However all 6 fertile eggs I had in there hatched right on schedule into healthy chicks. I was worried about temp, i'm not anymore. The proof is in the pudding or chicks in this case!

I wouldn't mess with the preset temp, at least until you've completed a hatch and have more data to go on. Granted that's my opinion. If I turned it up higher so my digital was on I would have cooked the eggs, if I turned it lower so the glass was on they would have been too cold to hatch.

 

[cielo]

Quote:
98/99 is too cold. It's gonna be highest at the top because heat rises and that's where the heating elements are. By the time it gets down to the eggs I think it's just right. If that is what your glass reads now I'd be worried.

 

[cjwaldon]

What should the glass read? With eggs in there now, the glass is at 99 but the digital on the tray is 97.7. I would have thought the fan would distribute the air temps evenly throughout.

 

[jmc]

Quote:
look at some of the data from my previous posts--nn. 147 and 172,esp.-- and you can get some helpful information to reflect upon as to what and what might not work.

at least this was my experience.

the data from this current incubation should be interesting.




PS the digital may read differently depending on:

1. how many eggs are with it in the bator.
2. where you have placed it in the bator.

and,

3. what position--'forward' or 'backward' the bator is in.

 

[jmc]

BTW, CJ, maybe i am seeing your pic wrong, but it looks like you have all your eggs just lying down on their sides in the bator.

IF that is the case, you had better change that, cuz otherwise they may not hatch at all. they're supposed to be up on an angle or even upright.

 

[cielo]

Quote:
You know, it is a mystery what exactly the glass "should" read. You think it would be simple right? It's my opinion though that out of the box, there should be no reason to adjust it the thermostat. Brinsea has done their best to set it just right. The instructions say you shouldn't adjust it at first don't they? I can't remember. The temperature that eggs should be incubated at is 99.5. I figure if my glass is above that and my digital below that then the average is probably right around that. That's how I deal with conflicting thermometer readings in my incubators. With your thermometers at 99 and 97.7 that means your average is 98.35 which is more than a degree too cold. Your eggs may hatch fine but the fact that neither of your thermometers is reading high enough (99.5) is concerning. I would encourage you to set the thermostat back to where it was if you can. If the glass is a little high like >100 like mine I wouldn't worry. As long as your thermometer at egg level isn't also reading >100 for extended amounts of time you should be fine. Good luck!