thermometer/hygrometer

[john in wa]

Hi all

i just bought a temp/hygrometer. I put this in my incubator and it showed the temp right on at 99.5 and the moister at 25%. i brought up the moister to as close to 50% as i could but as the moister level went up the temp went down. i have another electic thermometer with out the hygrometer and it still reads 99.5. is this normal. its a springfeild percise temp model no 91551 and a little giant 9200 incubator. thank you

 

[merrydancer]

Hi John

Welcome to the frustration of trying to get accurate readings... and getting two devices to match.

I have found quite a wide variance ..especially with digital devices. ...and different variances when compared to my wet bulb set up on different days.

...but somehow.... I am getting good hatch rates.

I generally take my mercury wet bulb setup to be the most accurate.
You can calibrate your digital devices with a salt test.

Getting a good balance of temp and humidity can be tough...and seems, sometimes, to be a moving target..

 

[jvls1942]

here I am again... when the hum% goes up the temp will drop.

at 25% set your temp to 100.5F THEN add water and it should balance to about 99.5F..

 

[john in wa]

thank you for the fast replies. i will lower the humidity back to 25% and reset my temp and try again. I am making my second attempt at black copper marans eggs i got 2 nice healthy chicks from my first batch of 6 eggs. 3 hatched and 1 died after hatching. so this time i wanted to use a hygrometer to try to see what my humidity was hoping for a better hatch rate. thank you

 

[jnjross]

Quote:

how long did you let it sit? it may catch up.

 

[john in wa]

OK i just added more water about an hour ago and the humidity went from 25% to 44% temp went down from 100.4 to 97.7 and falling. it took an hour to drop that far. should i let it sit longer to see if the temp comes up. i don't want to kill the embryo. my other thermometer is reading 99.8 i felt a lot better about this before i bought this thermometer/hygrometer. thanks again

 

[jvls1942]

did the temp stabilize yet??

you have to make a choice of thermometer and hygrometer..
If you use more than one it will drive you nuts..

I use a springfield digital..

You can test it for accuracy..

if you have someplace that you know what the temp is, set the therm there for a few minutes..

get a temp reading for outside from your local radio station, or tv, and put it outside , for instance..

there is a salt/water test you can do for your hygrometer..

take a half cup of salt and add just enough water to make a paste..

set the cup into a plastic ziploc bag , do not spill the salt. now put your hygrometer in the bag and seal the bag.. wait 8 hours and check your reading.. it should be 75%.. don't ask me why.. but it works.. if your reading is different,
then what ever number you see represents 75% and you have to either add or subtract the difference between that number and 75% and apply it to whatever reading you are going for in your bator.. easier to do than explain..

If I have thoroughly confused you, let me know..

 

[john in wa]

i think i will just keep messing with it or maybe buy another thermometer and compair the 2 of them. i used this incubator with out the thermometer/hygrometer once and had a fair hatch for a first timer. all my barred rock eggs from my coop hatched and half my ordered eggs hatched. thank you for the help and i will keep reading the old posts and see if i cant learn a little more. i also will post back on the 8th of the month and let you know how the hatch goes.