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3-D image of incubator im building out of a double door coke machine

XtremeXteriors Jan 24, 2006 08:45 AM

ill say if it wasnt for coca cola some of us wouldnt have awesome incubators, ill have pictures when its all done so for now heres what i have been working on all morning
im just trying to figure out my heating elements placement but heres a sample

i will be using 2 3' fluorescent light and white wire shelving
2 or 3 heating elements compliments of little giant incubators

i will have a full detail list when i am done

Replies (3)

muddoc Jan 24, 2006 07:25 PM

Hey Xtreme,
Here is a pic of the one that I just finished building. I have one piece of advice that I learned while tweaking mine. If you buy an old used fridge, do not use the fans that are already existing in the unit. They were installed in there to blow air over the evaporator. I thought that since they were already in there, I would just use them for air circulation. Well, after test running my incubator for about three days, I could not keep the temps in the incubator under 95 degrees. After a little thought, I used a temp gun to measure the temperature of the fan bodies and found them to be 117 degrees. The fans were circulating air over the fan bodies and keeping the incubator too hot. I have since bought two 4" radio shack fans and installed them. Now my temps seem to run perfect. They range throughout the incubator from 88.9 to 89.3 degrees. Have fun, and let me know if you have any questions, I may be able to help.



Good Luck,
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Tim and Monica Bailey
Bailey & Bailey Reptiles

XtremeXteriors Jan 24, 2006 07:48 PM

that looks awesome i must have got the mini double door cooler,I also totally stripped my fridge fans and all and im using 2-3 heat elements.Are you noticing a major fluctuation between the top and bottom or are the fans helping with that, i think im going to use 2 on the bottom and 1 on top if i notice a major fluctuation. also keep in mind the fluroescent lights will also put out heat so dont leave them on. I like the way you have the flexwatt up the sides,will ur incubator hold the exact temp you want consistently,do u have ur probe in the very middle because as you put tubs with eggs in there it will distort the airflow so you might want to experiment with the max amount of given containers at any time to learn your incubators limits and tolerations

muddoc Jan 24, 2006 10:00 PM

I have put thermometers all over the incubator and the largest degree of difference between any given location has been .4 degrees. I have not filled the incubator with boxes, but I have put four boxes in it and run it, and it seems to have no problem. I do not have any lights in mine, as my room is very bright and I did not see the need to deal with any more appliances than necessary. By the way, yes my probe is in the middle of the incubator (horizontally and vertically).
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Tim and Monica Bailey
Bailey & Bailey Reptiles

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