The Incubator Thread

[dheltzel]

I have a Sportsman 1202, but I want more incubating capacity, so I'm building my own cabinet incubator, patterned after the Sportsman and using a lot of the same parts. Here are some pics as I'm building it.

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[PD-Riverman]

I have a Sportsman 1202, but I want more incubating capacity, so I'm building my own cabinet incubator, patterned after the Sportsman and using a lot of the same parts. Here are some pics as I'm building it.

You got a good start. What type tuner motor are you planning to use? How much wattage for the heater are you planning? What type thermostat? How many fans? Nice

 

[dheltzel]

You got a good start. What type tuner motor are you planning to use? How much wattage for the heater are you planning? What type thermostat? How many fans? Nice

I bought a complete turner unit from Dickeys, along with the tray assemblies. With shipping it was close to $400.
The heater is a 400w cartridge heater, the thermostat is a Willhi PID controller, and the fan a 6" duct fan (240 cu ft / min), all from Amazon.

I made a lot of progress last night but couldn't find my camera. I found it today, so more pics will be taken tonight. I have the turner and front door installed.

 

[stryker]

I have a Sportsman 1202, but I want more incubating capacity, so I'm building my own cabinet incubator, patterned after the Sportsman and using a lot of the same parts. Here are some pics as I'm building it.

That looking really nice.

 

[PD-Riverman]

I bought a complete turner unit from Dickeys, along with the tray assemblies. With shipping it was close to $400.
The heater is a 400w cartridge heater, the thermostat is a Willhi PID controller, and the fan a 6" duct fan (240 cu ft / min), all from Amazon.

I made a lot of progress last night but couldn't find my camera. I found it today, so more pics will be taken tonight. I have the turner and front door installed.

My concern is with the turner---If you bought the complete assembly for a 3 tier/shelf turner-----I am wondering if it will turn 6 tiers when loaded. Was the assembly for 6 tier/shelves or 3? I am concerned about the fan too----thats a tall incubator----it will take a good flow to keep the eggs on the bottom tiers at the right temp.

 

[dheltzel]

My concern is with the turner---If you bought the complete assembly for a 3 tier/shelf turner-----I am wondering if it will turn 6 tiers when loaded. Was the assembly for 6 tier/shelves or 3? I am concerned about the fan too----thats a tall incubator----it will take a good flow to keep the eggs on the bottom tiers at the right temp.

I have some concerns around those things too, but the motor in the GQF cabinets seem pretty strong, and the trays are balanced on a pivot point, so you are not really lifting the weight of the eggs. It runs fine without eggs, I'll have to see if it can handle all the trays being full of eggs.

The fan I have is a 240 cu ft duct fan - intended for continuous duty. If it is not enough, I can add another one, but I am hopeful the one fan will be enough. I can add some baffles to route the flow it need be. I am also insulating the sides to help keep the temps stable.

 

[PD-Riverman]

the motor in the GQF cabinets seem pretty strong, and the trays are balanced on a pivot point, so you are not really lifting the weight of the eggs. It runs fine without eggs, I'll have to see if it can handle all the trays being full of eggs.

The fan I have is a 240 cu ft duct fan - intended for continuous duty. If it is not enough, I can add another one, but I am hopeful the one fan will be enough. I can add some baffles to route the flow it need be. I am also insulating the sides to help keep the temps stable.

The Motors are strong---I have several cabinets with this motor. When the cabinet is loaded with 288 eggs the motor slows compared to with just 100 eggs say. If you are planning twice that many eggs when the trays are at a 45 degree angle there will be ALOT of weight the motor has to pull up when its loaded. Might work---never tried it---I hope it does. I know the motor set-up can be modified and that motor can turn more than you will have so "I" would make the back and top removable so you can get in there to make changes if needed.

My first cabinet I built---I put 96 eggs in it----worked good. A few days later I added 96 more--still turned them. A few days later I added 48 more----Nope the motor would not lift them when they were at a 45 degree angle. I did some searching and found/ordered this turner motor like you have. When the motor came in I put the eggs in the hatcher for a couple hours while I made the motor switch. It worked good. I was glad I made the top and back removable---made it go so much easier. I had to drill more holes---imagine doing that without the top off---yea I could have bought a angle drill---LOL.

As far as the fan/s I use 2 105cfm in my 288 egg cabinet and they work good as long as they were working properly. After running 24/7 for about 15 months I noticed the eggs on the bottom rack were hatching slow---about a day later--temp was off now-----checking to see why---I turned the incubator off and one of the fans would stop quick---freezing up/slowing down----they were used fans---no telling how old they were when I put them in there. I heated up another cabinet and moved the eggs--changed the fan, then it was back to working like it did in the beginning. This is why I know without good air movement there can and will be problems towards the bottom. Hope it works great for you-----after taking all the time to build-----it gets me upset if "I" have major problems!!

I know you did not ask for help and I probably should keep my mouth shut, but its just my nature to offer "help"/share my experience. I mean no harm or dis-respect towards you----Good Luck!!

EDITED to add----when I said above that the eggs on the bottom racked hatched a day later-----all my eggs are moved to the hatcher to hatch on day 18-----no eggs hatch in my incubators.

 

[dheltzel]

The Motors are strong---I have several cabinets with this motor. When the cabinet is loaded with 288 eggs the motor slows compared to with just 100 eggs say. If you are planning twice that many eggs when the trays are at a 45 degree angle there will be ALOT of weight the motor has to pull up when its loaded. Might work---never tried it---I hope it does. I know the motor set-up can be modified and that motor can turn more than you will have so "I" would make the back and top removable so you can get in there to make changes if needed.

My first cabinet I built---I put 96 eggs in it----worked good. A few days later I added 96 more--still turned them. A few days later I added 48 more----Nope the motor would not lift them when they were at a 45 degree angle. I did some searching and found/ordered this turner motor like you have. When the motor came in I put the eggs in the hatcher for a couple hours while I made the motor switch. It worked good. I was glad I made the top and back removable---made it go so much easier. I had to drill more holes---imagine doing that without the top off---yea I could have bought a angle drill---LOL.

As far as the fan/s I use 2 105cfm in my 288 egg cabinet and they work good as long as they were working properly. After running 24/7 for about 15 months I noticed the eggs on the bottom rack were hatching slow---about a day later--temp was off now-----checking to see why---I turned the incubator off and one of the fans would stop quick---freezing up/slowing down----they were used fans---no telling how old they were when I put them in there. I heated up another cabinet and moved the eggs--changed the fan, then it was back to working like it did in the beginning. This is why I know without good air movement there can and will be problems towards the bottom. Hope it works great for you-----after taking all the time to build-----it gets me upset if "I" have major problems!!

I know you did not ask for help and I probably should keep my mouth shut, but its just my nature to offer "help"/share my experience. I mean no harm or dis-respect towards you----Good Luck!!

EDITED to add----when I said above that the eggs on the bottom racked hatched a day later-----all my eggs are moved to the hatcher to hatch on day 18-----no eggs hatch in my incubators.

I like having another mind challenging my assumptions. I have put a lot of thought into this, but it's all theoretical until it's built. My alternate to the GQF turner was a Linear Acuator, but I've never wired one of those and I figured the "tried and true" would be better. If the motor truly can't pull that many trays, I will test it to see how many it can move and decide if I am ok with that - then look into the LA, some of them are rated for 400 lbs or more.

When I started this, I had big aspirations - an Arduino or Raspberry Pi as the controller, using PID for temp control and a timer for the linear actuator. All 12v, with a deep cycle marine battery to power through blackouts. A web interface to monitor it remotely and data logging so I can see that the temps are remaining steady. Lack of time scaled that down a lot. I really hope this works as planned because I have far bigger plans than my single Sportsman can support.

Last night I hooked up the 400w cartridge heater. The thing was glowing red hot and really putting off the heat. I decided I need to attach it better, the clothes hanger wire is too hard to bend and get snug. Copper electrical wire (bare, plastic insulation removed of course) is much more flexible, but I worry about it melting with the intense heat. I have a metal bar I am attaching it to as a heat sink, but I'm not sure of the best wire to use to attach it.

 

[PD-Riverman]

I like having another mind challenging my assumptions. I have put a lot of thought into this, but it's all theoretical until it's built. My alternate to the GQF turner was a Linear Acuator, but I've never wired one of those and I figured the "tried and true" would be better. If the motor truly can't pull that many trays, I will test it to see how many it can move and decide if I am ok with that - then look into the LA, some of them are rated for 400 lbs or more.

When I started this, I had big aspirations - an Arduino or Raspberry Pi as the controller, using PID for temp control and a timer for the linear actuator. All 12v, with a deep cycle marine battery to power through blackouts. A web interface to monitor it remotely and data logging so I can see that the temps are remaining steady. Lack of time scaled that down a lot. I really hope this works as planned because I have far bigger plans than my single Sportsman can support.

Last night I hooked up the 400w cartridge heater. The thing was glowing red hot and really putting off the heat. I decided I need to attach it better, the clothes hanger wire is too hard to bend and get snug. Copper electrical wire (bare, plastic insulation removed of course) is much more flexible, but I worry about it melting with the intense heat. I have a metal bar I am attaching it to as a heat sink, but I'm not sure of the best wire to use to attach it.

The cartridge heater should not run without the fan blowing across it----in my opinion. My Cartridge will turn red too with no fan blowing on it. Did you have the fan blowing across it?

Your motor will work even if you have to build a jack-shaft with a 2 to 1 or more gear ratio.

I needed more than 1 cabinet, but instead of building a bigger one, I chose to buy some more used cabinets---I have had as many as 949 eggs incubating at one time. I personally rather have the standard size cabinet----easier to deal with and re-sale if I choose too.

 

[dheltzel]

I was testing without the fan, sort of a worst case "can this catch the house on fire" test. That was when I decided the heat sink was not making good enough contact with the cartridge heater and I need more flexible wire to tie it tightly. I have an unused aluminum heatsink from a flourescent ballast, maybe I will try that, those ballast can get extremely hot also.

Here is a pic of the finished turner with all the trays in.


With the fan added:


Front view with the door (protective film is still on the Lexan)


Front view, door open, before fan and heater were added

Closeup of heater assembly and fan front view. You can see the heat sink bar, but not the cartridge heater behind it.