WooHoo!!!! Got this incubator thing all figured out now!!!!

[chickintexas]

I was doing the happy dance this afternoon when I finally got things right in my homemade incubator!!!
I had been trying everything; heat sinks, different wattage bulbs, covering the 8X10 viewing window most of the way. Nothing seemed to get the 8-10 degree swing to lessen.

I thought I had my thermostat close enough to the lightbulb but apparently, I didn't. Someone mentioned last night about how they have their thermostat about 3/4" away from the bulb. Okay, fine. I'll punch some more holes into my bator just to find out how much better it will work that way. Holy crap! It did work!! I still had a 2-3 degree swing, though. Hmmmmmm...... the gears started turning. What if I attached the thermostat to the bulb cage that I made? EUREKA!!!!!!!!!!!!! Zero temp swing at last!!!!!!
More of these

and one of these

I haven't taken a pic yet of my setup but here's a pic of how my light is attached to the top of my box.

The cage part is wired to the lid so it won't fall down with the extra weight of the thermostat. The thermostat is attached to the back of the wire cage with screws, washers, and bolts with the backside of the thermostat facing the light. With this setup, the light comes on for about 30 seconds then shuts off for about 2 minutes.
I can now have my entire viewing window uncovered again and there is no need for a heat sink. I watched the temps on this bad boy like a hawk today!
I will do my little write up on this interesting project to share with those that may be interested and put it up on my BYC page.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Those of you who build your own bators

 

[SuziQ991]

I agree! Hats off to ya, it looks great!