Thermometer confusion

[WVduckchick]

Even it your therm is right, placement in the incubator can be a crap shoot too.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Even it your therm is right, placement in the incubator can be a crap shoot too.

Lalala ears covered

 

[lazy gardener]

http://incubatorwarehouse.com/incub...MItKqu_ZjY2QIViojICh3VGwdMEAkYAyABEgJQt_D_BwE
This is what I have been using for years, and I have really good hatches.

I have 2 of those, and even when putting new batteries in them, those 2 thermometers can't agree with each other! I use a very old mercury bulb medical thermometer (very slow reaction time, and must be shaken down between readings) and a digital oral thermometer as my gold standards. I calibrate every thing else against them in a cup of water at 100*F.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Lalala ears covered

Isn't the fan supposed to equalize things? Although I suppose right under the heat elements could be warmer?

 

[Ruralhideaway]

I have 2 of those, and even when putting new batteries in them, those 2 thermometers can't agree with each other! I use a very old mercury bulb medical thermometer (very slow reaction time, and must be shaken down between readings) and a digital oral thermometer as my gold standards. I calibrate every thing else against them in a cup of water at 100*F.

I'd like to avoid having quite that many, so confusing.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm a bit OCD. I have a home made bator and spend a lot of time monitoring temps. At times I have more than 3 thermometers going at a time! My advice to you: CALIBRATE. Know your bator. Know where the warm and not so warm spots are. B/C all bators have some temp variations, even with a fan. Monitor your temps, and move the eggs through the warm/cooler spots so that no single egg spends too much time at either end of the heat spectrum. Choose one thermometer that you have calibrated. For example, one of my thermometers is a large thermometer, like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Taylor-Preci...7&sr=8-4&keywords=taylor+thermometers+outdoor

I know it reads 2* low, so when it says it's 98* in my bator, it's actually 100*. The thing I don't like about that one is that it is so big that it blocks a lot of air flow. So, you need to find what works for you, in your bator, and go with that.

I also use a floating aquarium thermometer, like the one shown below: I like this one b/c it is spot on. But, it's hard to read. Also, it's older than dirt, so the little metal staples that hold it in place against the paper temp grid are rusted, and it's floating around inside the cylinder. So... eventually, I'll need to replace it!

 

[WVduckchick]

I have a Brinsea Spot Check, and while I feel its very precise, if I move it, even an inch higher or lower, or lay it down, or dangle it, or prop it up, I can get a range of readings. I only use it occasionally to make sure things haven't sky rocketed. Otherwise, I leave my buttons alone.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Seems like the incubator I'm getting runs a bit warm usually. So I'll need to explore all that before I buy eggs. Should be fun stuff.