walmart hygrometers...anyone else with problems?

[Fluffy-Butt-Farms]

i used the 7 dollar hygrometer/thermometer in the lg i first hatched in, and it worked wonderfully. for my 2nd batch in the hova...it was reading 101.8, but i just went out and bought a new one, and in there it read 103.

has anyone else had trouble with the walmart hygrometers after a hatch or 2?

would it be better to use the one that stays outside the incubator and has the wires that go inside it?

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, they are household thermometers and not always accurate, especially if they've gotten any condensation inside. I finally gave up on those entirely and just bought a true incubator thermometer.

 

[Fluffy-Butt-Farms]

where did you buy your incubator thermo from /?????

 

[speckledhen]

I bought mine from Cutler Supply and bought the pack of 4 extra batteries. It's called the Spot Check (called Egg-Temp by GQF, but it's the same unit).

 

[Elite Silkies]

I must get one of those Spot Checks...........

I use both of the ones that Walmart Carries. Mine do not do too bad. I make sure that with each hatch it has a new battery in it. I was having the same problem you were, but with a new battery and being reset it worked fine.

 

[speckledhen]

I have two AcuRites and a little gray Springfield, as well as a Taylor and a Flukers. All used to be pretty close, but as I used them more and more, they became less and less accurate. The Springfield used to be perfectly accurate and now reads 2 degrees too low, for instance. Using in that wet, enclosed environment probably damaged it since it really wasn't made for that.
And if you note, household thermometers do not have an accuracy rating. They have a listed range or how they read, for instance, in tenths or in 1/2 degree increments, but none of them say "accurate to within +/-". The Egg-Temp/Spot-Check says accurate to within +/- .18 degree (point one-eight)
Cammy, if you open it up, remove the battery and let them actually dry out inside, that helps some, but they just become less accurate as they are used in the bators, it seems.

 

[chickenshagg]

What people often fail to realize is Walmart is a dicount store! Even if they carry a Name Brand Product it is often not of high quality. Walmart negotiates for the cheapest price and not for the highest quality. I have had this conversation with many people from Walmart managers to suppliers and they all tell me the same. Walmart does not pay for quality, They are only concerend with price! So if you purchase a hygrometer/thermometer for a cheap price at Walmart all you have purchased is a cheap hygrometer/thermometer!

 

[Fluffy-Butt-Farms]

can the spot check be used from incubator to incubator? i have 2 bators running, and really dont want to purchase 2 of them

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, you can remove the probe (which is extremely sensitive) and place it in the next bator. It will first show the last reading, then reset and show "L", then start to read the temp in the next bator. I have been going back and forth with it with the two I have going now. When you do remove it, it actually cools off the probe and the first reading you get won't be the actual reading, but it comes up really fast and registers every 1/10 of a degree variation as it happens.

 

[drumstick diva]

I have nearly a dozen Walmaart hygrometers, the first three I bought were very accurate. I lined them up next to each other came back an hour later and all three had the same temp/humidity showing.

Those were the good ones, from then on I've had to return several times just to get some in the ballpark. The temperature ranges haven't been too far off but, the humidity was all over the place.

I ended up keeping most because I just use them on plant shelves(I hybridize streptocarpus). I would never trust any of them with an incubator. I had much worse luck with the Talor brand.

Other posters are probably right, the humidity inside the 'bators surely is corrupting the mechanisms.