chest type freezer incubator help

[BjDavid]

its my first time building an incubator. im planning on putting 4 feet 11' flexwatt on both sides and 3feet 11' on the floor of the freezer. what would be the best way to wire up all these together? ill be using a herpstat nd to control the temps. and when putting a fan do i plug it in the herpstat or another wall outlet? TIA

[BjDavid]

anyone?

[Mitch21]

I don't think you need thaaat much flexwatt. And you might find that you have problems with accomplishing the perfect temperature since your 3' and 4' sections would have different temps (I'm assuming you have ONE probe on ONLY ONE flexwatt but are using only one thermostat to control both). You follow what I'm saying?

Also, the chest type of freezer might not be the best route as heat rises and anytime you open the top... there goes most of your heat...

[MustBeSatan]

Yeah... First thing I'd do is turn your chest freezer on its end. Mitch is right; when you open that door it's a HUGE opening and your heat is going to be gone. After I stood the freezer up, I'd go "wait a minute... I have nowhere to put this rediculously huge chest freezer standing up..."

Of course, another solution is to put a viewing window in the top of your freezer, which should eliminate most of the reasons there are to open the freezer.

Assuming you still have somewhere to keep it, I'd wire up just one piece of flexwatt. If you think you need a bunch, just get a long piece. If you already have the flexwatt pieces, you have two choices. You could wire them in a series so they still function as close to one piece as possible. Or you could wire each piece individually, plug them into a powerbar, and plug the powerbar into your thermostat.

Fans don't go in the herpstat... Since they have nothing (in theory) to do with heating, you don't really want them turning off when the heat is right... You want them going all the time to keep the air temp consistant.

Be sure to post when it's done! I'd like to see this build for sure.

[BjDavid]

thanks. just wondering, there are a lot of cooler type diy incubators that open up just like a chest freezer so wouldn't that be the same thing? and regarding the freezer its pretty large so i think 8ft would be good so that if i open it up it will return to required temp a lot faster. what is the diff between wiring in series with wiring in parallel? wouldn't it be better to wire in parallel?

[suzuki4life]

Yeah... First thing I'd do is turn your chest freezer on its end. Mitch is right; when you open that door it's a HUGE opening and your heat is going to be gone. After I stood the freezer up, I'd go "wait a minute... I have nowhere to put this rediculously huge chest freezer standing up..."

Of course, another solution is to put a viewing window in the top of your freezer, which should eliminate most of the reasons there are to open the freezer.

Assuming you still have somewhere to keep it, I'd wire up just one piece of flexwatt. If you think you need a bunch, just get a long piece. If you already have the flexwatt pieces, you have two choices. You could wire them in a series so they still function as close to one piece as possible. Or you could wire each piece individually, plug them into a powerbar, and plug the powerbar into your thermostat.

Fans don't go in the herpstat... Since they have nothing (in theory) to do with heating, you don't really want them turning off when the heat is right... You want them going all the time to keep the air temp consistant.

Be sure to post when it's done! I'd like to see this build for sure.

i agree. turn it on end...run the heat tape down the back top to bottom....

I would use a relay and wire the fan(s) to turn on with the heat tape.

[BjDavid]

do i really need to turn it on its end? are they not the same with other cooler incubators? iv seen a lot of them online.

[BjDavid]

will post a pic of the freezer tom.

[brainman1000]

No reason to turn it on end. Heat will escape whenever you open the door no matter which way it is oriented. Keep it upright and wire the flexwatt in parallel. Wouldn't hurt to put a window in the lid and install a light inside so you don't have to open it to see inside.

[BjDavid]

finished my incu bator today. it just lacks a fan and a paint job. will post pics tom. i placed 10ft of 11 inch flexwatt and a small peep hole. had constant temps thought the day. just wondering if if your flexwatt has u buzzing sound when thermostat powers it up?