WARNING ABOUT CABINET INCUBATOR

[Sugar Sand Farm]

MODS I don't know if this is the place to post this but I feel a warning is in order. If you purchased a cabinet incubator from Custom Incubators please replace the wiring. Ours was less than 6 months old and only used 3 times when it caught fire. Luckily it did not burn my house down. It did however burn all my turners not to mention all the eggs inside.
So far we hav enot heard from the comapny so it looks like we will not get a replacement even though it was under a 2 year warranty.
Please Please check yours if you purchased one of these fire traps

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Do you know what element or part of the wiring was the source of the problem?

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

yes they used extension cords coming into the bottom of the incubator to plug the turners in. one of them exploded and caused the fire i only had one turner plugged into that cord. the whole incubator is a piece of crap

 

[mstricer]

It was probably the extension cord, it probably wasn't rated for the wattage. I had a similar thing happen with one that I had a brooder light plug into. It almost caught on fire, the cord. Lucky we still had the packaging, because I didn't know they were rated. Sorry about you eggs.

 

[Roscoe Red]

I ordered a incubator from this company and I'm lucky they only stole my money. I never received mine thank God. But after all the negitive feedback I started to take a good hard look on the way the they are constructed. Since these incubators are heated with light bulbs it sounds like the cheap cords they use are not rated for the wattage and caused the cord to over heat. The company claims to have changed hands and hides behind many differnt names. The company is still operating out of the same location. All bank accounts,ebay accounts,paypal accounts have been terminated. That goes for both the new and old owners.I would change all electrical componets to these incubators and brooders before using them. You can buy units that contain the heating element fan and thermostat all in one. I find these to hold a more consistent temperture and take up way less space and dont require multiple extension cords. The longer a extension cord is the more draw on voltage , making the cord overheat.

 

[quintinp]

Well, You guys have got me thinking. I have just built a cabinet incubator, I used a 6 foot extension cord for the 2 light bulbs that heat it. I also have my 2 small desk fans wired into 1 wire. I was wondering, If I may have wired something wrong. I am a little skeptical now. In my fridge incubator the fans never became overheated, Nor did the wire they were connected to. I was wondering about how I wired my lights though.

From what I think you guys are saying, these people wired everything so that instead of having to have a surge protector full of cords, they wired everything into a single cord.

 

[Roscoe Red]

When making wire connections inside your cabinet incubator I always like to use insulated clip connectors instead of wire nuts. they help with moisture from humidity and vibration from your circulating fan. The best method is using heat shrink wrap on your connections. But if you check all your connection to make sure you have no corrosion and they're tight you should be fine. also feel your cords every now and then just to see if they're warm.

 

[quintinp]

When making wire connections inside your cabinet incubator I always like to use insulated clip connectors instead of wire nuts. they help with moisture from humidity and vibration from your circulating fan. The best method is using heat shrink wrap on your connections. But if you check all your connection to make sure you have no corrosion and they're tight you should be fine. also feel your cords every now and then just to see if they're warm.

I'll do that. Thanks for the info.

 

[little blue]

we have one with no problems yet but we also have no turners we just bought a hathcer.

 

[Roscoe Red]

I also noticed that Custom Incubators uses dimmer switches in there brooders. They can also be problematic when using light bulb as a heating source. I always prefer solid wire as opposed to braided cooper wire. I would take the time to check all connections . If your dimmer switch is getting warm ,change your connectors to insulated chrimp style. Loose connections draw more power and cost you more to run your unit.