The Old Folks Home

[Amberjem]

 

[Peep_Show]

Still-air incubators can be tricky....especially in the winter. I found the way to keep heat stable in mine was to wrap a towel around it as there seemed to be seepage at the seams. It worked! It was bundled up so that the only part exposed to air was the vent holes and mechanisms at the top.

Temps always go down with the introduction of eggs. After 24 hours should get to where it needs to be.

Did you check the LG tips thread on BYC? It's full of helpful hints and tips.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Still-air incubators can be tricky....especially in the winter. I found the way to keep heat stable in mine was to wrap a towel around it as there seemed to be seepage at the seams. It worked! It was bundled up so that the only part exposed to air was the vent holes and mechanisms at the top.

Temps always go down with the introduction of eggs. After 24 hours should get to where it needs to be.

Did you check the LG tips thread on BYC? It's full of helpful hints and tips.

Thanks for the response. I've been through those threads... got the wiggler, the milk jug top on the temp gauge (which is the best thing ever), got the water bottles in there now...

Got the floor temp back up to 99 this afternoon, but the wiggler, which is also on the floor, is only reading 95. I'm realllllly confused as to what to do.

 

[vehve]

SCG, is there any insulation on the floor? If the wiggler is lying on the floor and a significant area of it is against the floor, then it will lose a lot of heat in that direction. Try getting it a bit up in the air inside the incubator. Also, your thermometer might be crap.

 

[Cynthia12]

ummm, just sayin, I don't use the wiggler...I just use a cheap walmart temp/humidity thing..has worked great for me. I only fill one of the funnels and keep it full during incubation. I keep my humidity around mid 30's during incubation, but if it gets up to 40 for some reason, I don't worry. Just keeping the one filled is plenty until lock down.
Still air..100 to 102...one with a fan...99 to 100..you'll be good.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

SCG, is there any insulation on the floor? If the wiggler is lying on the floor and a significant area of it is against the floor, then it will lose a lot of heat in that direction. Try getting it a bit up in the air inside the incubator. Also, your thermometer might be crap.

Agreed but tested it with 3 different ones, all getting the same reading inside the wiggler.

The entire incubator is "insulation" - it's styrofoam. There's a metal floor that everything is on. The wiggler is in the middle, above the water trough.

ummm, just sayin, I don't use the wiggler...I just use a cheap walmart temp/humidity thing..has worked great for me. I only fill one of the funnels and keep it full during incubation. I keep my humidity around mid 30's during incubation, but if it gets up to 40 for some reason, I don't worry. Just keeping the one filled is plenty until lock down.
Still air..100 to 102...one with a fan...99 to 100..you'll be good.

100 to 102 on the bottom, right?? Sold.

 

[Wisher1000]

Welcome to Stryro-bator he11.

This is why I use them for hatchers, only.

With that said, I was gifted one and a half more of them this week. I have one complete Hovabator Model 1607N with a working turner, and just the top of another. If anyone could locate just a bottom for me, I would be greatly appreciative. If not, I may scavenge the works and use a stryro shipping box for the shell.

 

[Peep_Show]

Have you tried bundling your incubator with a beach towel? You'd be surprised how much heat seepage there is in a still-air, especially in cold weather. Leave the mechanics (knobs, etc) and vent holes on the lid not covered by the towel.

I go for 99-100 at the floor and 102 at the top of the eggs. And then rotating the eggs about in the incubator so that they don't sit under the element all incubation.


My still air looks like a thermometer convention!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

This is why I use them for hatchers, only.

With that said, I was gifted one and a half more of them this week. I have one complete Hovabator Model 1607N with a working turner, and just the top of another. If anyone could locate just a bottom for me, I would be greatly appreciative. If not, I may scavenge the works and use a stryro shipping box for the shell.

Yes, I am in styrobator hades. I've been gifted two of them in the past week. My kitchen table looks like where incubators go to die.

Have you tried bundling your incubator with a beach towel? You'd be surprised how much heat seepage there is in a still-air, especially in cold weather. Leave the mechanics (knobs, etc) and vent holes on the lid not covered by the towel.

I go for 99-100 at the floor and 102 at the top of the eggs. And then rotating the eggs about in the incubator so that they don't sit under the element all incubation.


My still air looks like a thermometer convention!

I could bundle with a towel... that's my next step, but I'm hesitant to do it because it's holding temp. I've got the temp back up in the sucker, without eggs (although they just arrived and are in lovely condition), but the temp isn't going anywhere in the wiggler. I'm at a total loss. I generally am a rational, cogent, sentient human being but I am losing my marbles over this. It makes zero sense.

I've got no less than 5 thermometers in the LG right now. Between that and the 2 water bottles and the wiggler... there's hardly room for eggs.

 

[Wisher1000]

The temp in the wigglers represents the temp inside the egg. That is useful as long as the egg is not producing it's own heat, but IMHO not something you routinely need to monitor. The temp inside take a long time to be influenced by the outside (the shell, inside the bator) temps. That is a good thing to remember when you have temp spikes in either direction, or a broody that takes a two hour break. I stopped using my wigglers because I didn't think they were that helpful.