Whats going on with my incubator?

[Caitlin89]

A friend of mine gave me an incubator and some fertile eggs, but the incubators temperature and humidity keep on changing. It will not stay at the temperature i set it at. I set it at 37.8 °C (recommended as it tends to get too low, same with humidity) and humidity at 70% and i keep having to reset it because it wont stay. Its constantly going either up or down(both temperature and humidity) and i cant keep it stable. Why is it doing this and how do i stop it? Pretty sure its a generic one not a specific brand.

 

[Caitlin89]

Ive just had to reset it 3 times just writing this...

 

[getaclue]

Your humidity is way too high, which could account for some of it. How long ago did you start it. It will fluctuate some for about 24 hours, as it all gets heated up, etc. When it's stable for at least 6 hours, add the eggs. Does it have a fan it it, or not. Still air incubators tend to fluctuate a little more than forced air.

 

[Rothy_058]

I'd probably go for 37.5 degrees and aim for a humidity of 45% and 55%....I am assuming you have just started to incubate your eggs?

Also, what eggs are you incubating?

What make / model incubator do you have?

The temperature of your incubator will rise and fall within a set window of values....this is normal. For example if you set the temperature to 37.5 degrees it may rise to say 37.9 degrees before the heater switches off and then the temperature may fall as low as 37.3 before the heater switches back on.

As for humidity....most budget home incubators don't effectively control humidity...they just give you an indication of the humidity within the incubator if you have a reasonable one...what you usually have to do is add water to increase the humidity...and do so cautiously because, short of opening the incubator to let the 'steam' out there's no way of reducing the humidity...

Hope this helps...

 

[Caitlin89]

Your humidity is way too high, which could account for some of it. How long ago did you start it. It will fluctuate some for about 24 hours, as it all gets heated up, etc. When it's stable for at least 6 hours, add the eggs. Does it have a fan it it, or not. Still air incubators tend to fluctuate a little more than forced air.

The humidity has to be set high as its inaccurate and tends to be really low. Im not sure if it has a fan, Its been on for about a day. Its been in storage for aaaages apparently.

 

[getaclue]

If it's been on a day, it should start becoming more stable now.

 

[Caitlin89]

If it's been on a day, it should start becoming more stable now.

Unfortunately its not. If it will still hatch chicks in it i dont mind having to get up and reset it every 5 minutes but i don't know how badly it will affect the eggs, hopefully it still works becausr i dont know what else to do about it.

 

[getaclue]

How much fluctuation are you talking about? Can any of the gauges be recalibrated? Have you asked the person that gave it to you for some help setting it up?

 

[Caitlin89]

How much fluctuation are you talking about? Can any of the gauges be recalibrated? Have you asked the person that gave it to you for some help setting it up?

im not sure as ive never used one before, it fluctuates between 37.5°c to 39°c to 36°c. I aske my friend but he doesn't know either, he said whenever it happened he just bought a new one.

 

[getaclue]

So why didn't your friend let you borrow the new one, until these eggs hatch, or until you can get your own. IF you are considering getting one, I am hearing wonderful things about the Nurture Rite 360, and it's not overly priced for what it is.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/harris-farms-nurture-right-360