For anyone monitoring an empty or nearly empty incubator - especially a foam one, you must use heat sinks. You can use preheated stones or water bottles filled with warmish water under the trays, just put the tops on tight and then tape them up. They help to hold the temp steady. No incubator, no matter how accurate, will hold a regular temp unless it has some help in the form of mass. Best is taped up water bottles, but if they don't fit under the eggs, flat stones will do. They heat up in there, and hold the heat so that when the thermostat tells the heating element to switch off it loses heat slower and then when the thermostat says turn back on the heat it isn't climbing back up from 97 or so to 99. The switch from thermostat to heating element is quick, but as the heating element is then off, it is at best a couple of degrees lower than the incubator temp and it will keep on getting cooler until the heating element heats up to maybe 101 or higher trying to get the temp back up, then the thermostat says stop and the element is so hot it still pumps out a bit more heat after switching off, you get me? If the residual heat in the incubator is tied up in more mass - ie water bottles lots of eggs or stones, the heat fluctuates less between heating element on and off, so it does less work, and actually saves you money on your electricity bill. So you thermostat is doing it's best to regulate, your heating element is on and off like a loony and you are pulling your hair out as it tries to do it's job. Instead of swearing at it - help it.
Hope this helps guys!!!
Hope this helps guys!!!
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