Posted by:
HappyHillbilly
at Wed Jun 24 17:17:02 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by HappyHillbilly ]
"I used all the same type of thermometer... The reason I don't trust them is because... all 4 varied about a degree up or down (not much, but enough to scare me)."
Ha! Definitely a cause for alarm.
I got lucky in finding mine. I started out with two of the ones I mentioned earlier & they were within a few tenths of a degree of each other. I used them in cages at that time, before I built my incubator. Over the next few months I picked up some more of the same type and all but one maintained that accuracy. The one that didn't was off just less than a full degree, but out of 4 or 5, it was the only one.
"I use Helix thermostat also. I had it set at 89, but it spiked to 90 a few times before turning off."
This was most likely due to thermostat probe placement and/or heat source type, placement, etc, rather than a problem with the Helix unit.
It's really a science, or art, to getting everything to work in unison. Takes some trial & error, a lot of finessing. I started out with two 75-watt incandescent bulbs as my heat source, placed at the bottom, in my converted fridge. With the thermostat probe in the tub with the eggs, and the tub placed on the top shelf of the fridge. I got spikes of higher than desired temps.
I replaced the two 75-watt bulbs with two 25-watt bulbs and practically eliminated the temp spikes. This year I placed the thermostat probe directly under the tub instead of inside it and had even steadier temps inside the tub. (The shelf the tub the sits on is the older style metal wire/grate fridge shelf, so the shelf was not blocking the heat rising from the bulbs.) Since heat rises, the 8 or so inches of space above the tub in my incubator heats up before the inside of the tub does. However, there's usually less loss of heat inside the tubs than in the incubator, itself. A lot of factors, but not as complicated or difficult to achieve as one might suspect.
"I'll look you up again later for your refridgerator design. I want to build a new incubator for next year."
By all means, give me a yell. However I'm not saying that my way is the perfect or best way. I've seen several nice lookin' incubators people built from scratch, not using refridgerators or freezers. ArtInScales has one. There are a lot of good ideas out there, you just need to find one particular style that you feel comfortable working with. That's all I did.
I've got an old chest freezer that I'm planning on converting to an upright incubator to give me more room for more eggs next year. I'm sure I'll post the progress and instructions online just in case it might help someone or give someone other ideas to build a better one.
Show off some of those hatchlings.
Catch ya later!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American
www.natures-signature.com
[ Hide Replies ]
- Kinks - nagrag, Sat Jun 20 10:44:58 2009
- RE: Kinks - Tom_Reagan, Sat Jun 20 11:15:08 2009
- RE: Kinks - HappyHillbilly, Sun Jun 21 16:05:31 2009
- RE: Kinks - nagrag, Mon Jun 22 16:00:13 2009
- RE: Kinks - HappyHillbilly, Tue Jun 23 13:22:00 2009
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RE: Kinks - HappyHillbilly, Wed Jun 24 17:17:02 2009