Posted by:
HappyHillbilly
at Thu Jan 8 16:28:00 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by HappyHillbilly ]
I think these fellas have told you right.
It sounds to me that your proportional thermostat is working as it's supposed to. Now comes the fun part of getting all the other factors where they need to be so they can work uniformly with the thermostat. And its really not hard to do but can take some time, finagling and trial & error.
I can't remember who all said what so, guys, please forgive me for not crediting you individually.
The better insulated the cage/incubator, the less temperature fluctuations. Probe placement & the full-power of the heating source plays vital roles, too.
Case in point:
Last year I converted an old refrigerator into an incubator for Burmese python eggs. I used a Helix DBS 1000 and installed two light fixtures in the bottom of the fridge.
I started out with two 75-watt light bulbs for my heat source. Placed a tub with a lid on it, filled with my incubating substrate mix, on the top shelf of the fridge and put the thermostat's probe inside the tub along with a decent mercury thermometer.
After a day or two of testing & checking the mercury thermometer I found out that the two 75-watt bulbs were too powerful for my particular setup. When temps dropped & thermostat turned on the lights for more heat, by the time the inside of the tub was heated to appropriate temps the inside of the fridge was hotter, eventually making the inside of the tub too hot.
I first tried placing the temp probe somewhere outside of the tub but couldn't achieve steady enough temps on the inside of the tub. To make an already long story short - I found out that two 25-watt bulbs and thermostat probe placed inside the tub easily kept temps within one degree, all day long - day in, day out. The machine was finally well-tuned and was humming right along. Out of 26 eggs I had a 100% hatch rate.
Took about two or three days to sort it all out. That's why it's strongly suggested to build your system & have it up & running smoothly before you need it.
It's the same with caging. The caging material, amount of ventilation, the amount of power of the heat source, probe location, etc, all play vital roles and need to be fine-tuned in order to achieve the maximum effectiveness of the "machine."
Most eggs have a broad enough range of incubating temps that minor temp fluctuations like you're experiencing now shouldn't be a problem. If you can only narrow your setup down to a 2 - 3 degree variance, then aim for the middle of the suggested temps. A lot of experienced breeders even believe that minor temperature and humidity fluctuations actually produce stronger, healthier hatchlings.
Sorry for this being so long, especially since everything has already been mentioned.
Best wishes!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American
www.natures-signature.com
[ Hide Replies ]
|
RE: Proportional thermostat accurate or not? - HappyHillbilly, Thu Jan 8 16:28:00 2009
