Posted by:
gwhit
at Sat Mar 19 08:45:40 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by gwhit ]
For anyone planning to use a fan in their incubator. It is NOT advisable to use a proportional thermostat for the fan. This can burn out the fan and is a fire hazard.
You can put the fan and the heating element on the same circut and run them off an analog thermostat, but the downside with this is that if the incubator is large the fan will only run when the heating element is on and there can be temperature gradients from top to bottom during periods the fan is off.
It is a much better option to run the heating element off of a proportional thermostat, and then run a variable speed fan off a separate circut. This way the fan can run all of the time at the lowest speed that insures adequate circulation and even temperatures throughout the incubator and the proportional thermostat will adjust the current to the heating element to maintain the proper temperature. I use two large incubators this way and I can easily maintain constant temps with a maximum variation of less than half a degree. This set up allows MUCH tighter temperature control than with an analog thermostat which is either completely on or completely off. Variations of 2-3 degrees tend to be the norm for this type of set up.
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RE: Building an Incubator question....... - gwhit, Sat Mar 19 08:45:40 2005