Incubator and generator

[RobertJR]

We moved to a small town about 3 months ago and have loss power 4 time now. 3 times was from 5-30 mins and 1 time was around 8 hours, now my question is we have 2 hova-bator 1602N heater element in a bigger foam cooler and was wondering if it can be used on a generator?

Here a picture of our home made incubator,





We have two of them and we are expecting 2 clutches soon. We want to be prepared incase it happens for a long time again. From what I was able to find online they are 25 watts heat elements 50 watts in total.

Also can a generator be used to power a snake rack?

[Izzys Keeper]

As far as i know a generator an power anything you would normally plug into a wall outlet.

Like i said, thats as far as i know. I dont speak from experience so maybe someone else can chime in.

0.3 normal bp, 1.0 albino bp, 1.0 lesser bp, 0.1 spider bp, 1.0 jacksons chameleon, 0.1 veiled chameleon, 1.0 pit bull doggie

[PitOnTheProwl]

Some t-stats wont read propperly on generators.
I am just starting to look into this myself.
I am sure kitedemon will chime in here

[RobertJR]

Some t-stats wont read propperly on generators.
I am just starting to look into this myself.
I am sure kitedemon will chime in here

I was pretty sure the incubator would work but I just wanted to male sure.

I'm using a Herpstat ND and a Helix DBS-1000 on my snake racks.

[WingedWolfPsion]

I have used Herpstats controlling Hovabator incubators on generators MANY times. I won't do without a generator, it always seems like some storm will knock out the power during incubation season.

Never had an issue--works fine.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Proportional thermostats will NOT work properly on a generator...

Proportional thermostats use an electrical component called a Triac to regulate the amount of power going to the heat source (basically the heart of a Proportional thermostat)

Triacs must have a stable Sinwave like the one that the power grid operates on. Generators do not produce the same waveform.

The thermostat will appear to be functioning (it does indeed have power) but the amount of heat being produced will not be what the thermostat thinks it is putting out. I can get more technical if anyone wants but I don't think that it is necessary.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Mine kept the temperatures fine for days during the big wind storm. I had backup thermometers, and temps were reasonably stable. Eggs hatched into healthy babies.

Earlier this year, we had a power outage for a full day, and overnight, and a small generator ran the incubator--those eggs just hatched, and were fine. Temps read stable during the power outage. Used a normal herpstat.

Different generator from the first time, too--this one was smaller.

So, maybe they aren't supposed to work on generators, but they did.

[Gloryhound]

Considering the power grid gets 98% of its power from generators I would say yes. The real question is will it work on a smaller generator independent of the grid?

This all depends on the size of the generator, the steady load on the generator, the transient loads on the generator, and the Thermostat used.

If you are only steady loading the generator at 50% of the continuous rating and the thermostat is the only transient load and it is less than 5%, as long as the generator is properly tuned and running properly you should be fine. If you get too low on the steady load the generator will become less stable and going too high on steady load makes the generator more sensitive to transient loads.

If you have an analog proportional thermostat it should run fine on the generator with small temperature fluxuations in th 1 or 2 degree range. If you are using an on/off the same should hold true.

Also if you have a 25kw or larger whole house auto start generator everything should also be fine as at that point it has enough rotating mass to fight the effects of refrigerators, AC and heating units, or other major electric appliances as they turn off and on.

I hope this helps a little.

FYI - I am a Large Steam Turbine Generator Specialist as well as a Hydro Generator Specialist.

[WingedWolfPsion]

I'm not sure why it worked. Herpstats are just good? lol...