# General Husbandry and Supplies > DIY Forum >  Mini Fridge Incubator Build

## pavlovk1025

Ok well I got around to building an incubator 2 weeks ago, just slacked on taking pictures and putting them up. Same concept as like a million other threads on this, but Ive learned you can never have enough information.

To start with, I posted a local ad looking for a broken/non working mini fridge. If you live in, or near a city, you should be able to have several for your choosing, as a lot of people in office buildings are stuck with broken mini fridges that they dont know what to do with. I received about 4 replies over the course of a week, and went ahead and just picked one up at random.

First step was guttin the thing; removing the compressor and coils etc. I had an older fridge and I just clipped away at the stuff, there wasnt any refrigerant left so it was ok. I advise doing it properly and getting it emptied, or you can do it yourself. Just make sure you clip any coils/lines outside and away from your face, reaching behind the fridge and doing it that way seems to work for some.


Next I needed to make the back of the inside flat to make it easier on me to put flexwatt down. The back is a thin plastic covering styrofoam so a box cutted easily cut out the little shelf holders. I put foil tape over the holes just to create a barrier between the foam and the flexwatt.


Next I taped down 3ft of 11" flexwatt onto the back. The holes from the fridge's freezer coil thing were already there so I just ran them out thru that to avoid drilling any new holes. I had a sheet of 2ft and one 1ft piece so I just wired them in parallel.


The next thing I did was add in the fan that would be blowing air down the front of the incubator. I hooked a 12v computer fan up to a spare cell phone charger and ran that thru the same hole as the flexwatt. I mounted the fan using the brackets that I took off the coils, only because I forgot to buy brackets. Its ok though, in the spirit of Macgyver, it worked.



Next step was to add the second fan that would blow towards the back and up the heat tape towards the first fan to blow it back down. There was a little bar running across the bottom so using the same make shift brackets I attached it to the bar. 2 brackets attach it to the bar and a third acts as a support to keep it from moving around. The wire was run thru the same hole as the previous two.




The last step was cuttin out the shelf thats on the door to allow it to close. Also, on the second level, the shelf supports that were unnecessary were also cut. This allowed me to put 2 tubs in the middle. I put in brackets for the top shelf because I wanted to add another shelf to maximize the use of space. I taped the probe to the bottom of the second shelf, but I taped the probe about 4 inches behind the wire so that it hangs freely in the middle of the incubator. After running the probe thru the aforementioned hole, I sealed the whole thing with the original putty that had sealed it beforehand. I added water bottles because some people advise it, but I dont think I need them as it is a fairly small incubator and theres 3ft of Flexwatt in there. Im running a proportional BAH Herp Power thermostat and so far the temps have been stable.



And thats the new incubator. Hope it helps someone. If you have any questions about certain details I can take more detailed pics. Just ask! =]

----------

_Anna.Sitarski_ (09-26-2011),Jessica Loesch (07-13-2011)

----------


## AcePythons

Very informational and helpful, thank you! I'm going to be building one for next season, so thank you for posting this!

----------


## pavlovk1025

Yeah no problem. Thanks for actually commenting lol.

----------


## chromeitout

> Yeah no problem. Thanks for actually commenting lol.



 :Smile:   I should have given praise as well, as I've looked at it several times myself!  It looks good and I'll be building one similar.

----------


## saber2th

What are the bottles of water for?

----------


## 771subliminal

looks good, i built one just like it last year and worked great.




> What are the bottles of water for?


water holds temps longer than air so they help to maintain steady temps inside also regain temps quicker when the door gets opened.

----------

_saber2th_ (02-05-2010)

----------


## saber2th

What size tubs can you put in there?

----------


## pavlovk1025

> What size tubs can you put in there?


6 qt is all Ive tried... 3 15qt would fit as well.

----------


## pavlovk1025

> What are the bottles of water for?





> looks good, i built one just like it last year and worked great.
> 
> 
> 
> water holds temps longer than air so they help to maintain steady temps inside also regain temps quicker when the door gets opened.


I was going to add more, but I dont think it's even necessary for such a small incubator. I hear temperature stress does magic for patterns though...

----------


## tiblitz

hey im just curious about the heat tape, do i connect it in series or in parrellel? and the heat tape i have is 3 inch will this work as well as your mats? and finally what are the water bottles on the bottom for and how should i hook those up?? its my first home made incubator and i want it to be flawless sorry for all the questions if you want you can email me your reponse at mullet_man16@hotmail.com

----------


## Jessica Loesch

> hey im just curious about the heat tape, do i connect it in series or in parrellel? and the heat tape i have is 3 inch will this work as well as your mats? and finally what are the water bottles on the bottom for and how should i hook those up?? its my first home made incubator and i want it to be flawless sorry for all the questions if you want you can email me your reponse at mullet_man16@hotmail.com


These are both answered above.

----------


## tcutting

great Idea, i plan on doing the same thing for a computer case soon.

----------


## mdfreak2

thank you for the post i just bought a mini fridge from a used appliance store for $20 and they gutted it for me now i just have to buy everything for it to build it then after i bought it i came across a hovabator for $40 so im going to hold off on building it for a while until i need it.

----------


## seang89

Just wondering if you have any gadgets on there to play with the fan speeds? Im trying to slow down some fans in my incubator, they are running way faster than needed. They are 12vDC cpu fans. Thanks  :Smile:

----------


## EverEvolvingExotics

I can't wait to start my bator.  Very useful thread, as you stated "never enough information."  Great job!

----------


## Kylegep

Don't you have to have someone remove the refrigerant? I thought it was illegal to release it into the air.

----------


## szynk.reptiles

seang89 i havent done one of these yet but could u run the power line to the fan to say a dimmer switch like a light? i would think that would allow u to regulate the speed of the fan and not cost but a few dollars ??? just a thought ...

----------


## JulieInNJ

Where did you buy your fan?  Was it online or someplace local?

----------


## wwmjkd

> Where did you buy your fan?  Was it online or someplace local?


most people use simple computer store fans. try radio shack, office depot, etc.

----------

JulieInNJ (09-26-2011)

----------


## adamsky27

Thank you for the pictures and the information. I am planning on building one soon as well. The big question that I have is the placement of the thermostat probe. I saw a post somewhere on this site one day and the guy said he had his taped to the heat tape. Wouldn't you want the probe pretty much in the middle of the incubator somewhere? Where do you have yours located? 

And while we are talking about probes, how about the placement of the temperature probe? 

Thanks for the help!

----------


## Alize-LowRod

Looks like all the pictures have been lost!   :Sad: 

Any way to have them come back... I am trying to figure out what I have to do to make my old mini fridge I have into a reptile incubator.

----------

