Silly incubator water question

Last night the hubby and I got into an odd, way to in-depth conversation about water bottles in the incubator (the kind you can only have after a few beverages) after I walked into the animal room and found him filling the incubator with an entire case (24 bottles) of water and lamenting that it wasn't enough.

How much water do you put in your incubator? Do you feel that there is an optimum arrangment of bottles vs. airflow? How did we make that discussion go on for 2 hours last night? Tell me your thoughts...

I put in as many as I can without interfering with the air flow too much, not sure that helps but use your judgement when you put them in, too crowded will slow your airflow down and cause hot spots in the inc.

probably a stupid question.. but i've seen in a lot of incubator tutorials they put bottles of water in the bottom but none of them ever said what it was for. why exactly? im assuming it keeps the temps warmer longer if there's a power malfunction?

Water holds temperature much longer than air does so filling it with water helps keep it stable at all times.
When I open my incs door the temps can drop 2-3 degrees in a minute or two.
Without the water bottles it takes an hour or more to recover that temperature.
With water bottles it returns to the set temperature within minutes.

The water also has high latent heat potential, so it can help absorb heat in the event of a temperature spike. I know someone who had a probe slip out of their incubator, but because the water bottles acted as a heat sink no harm was done to the eggs before they caught it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

Water holds temperature much longer than air does so filling it with water helps keep it stable at all times.
When I open my incs door the temps can drop 2-3 degrees in a minute or two.
Without the water bottles it takes an hour or more to recover that temperature.
With water bottles it returns to the set temperature within minutes.

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2x I have almost a whole case of water bottles in my wine cool incubator. It really keeps the temps stable.

He was more worried about the setup of the bottles, which are currently lining the walls and bottom like a second layer of insulation, but he's constantly fidling with them in pursuit of the ultimate arrangement.

There is no ultimate arrangement, if it blocks airflow move them so they don't.
Every incubator is different, that's why it's nice to have the ability to test them out for a month or two before putting eggs into them.

The water bottles are there to increase heat capacity. Heat capacity smoothes out sudden temperature changes. Mostly it protects you from the dreaded clutch-killing heat spike, but it also helps keep the incubator warmer longer if there's a power outage.

The water bottles do NOT act as additional insulation. There's no point in stacking them along the walls. Just add a small low-power fan to circulate the air. That'll help with any top-to-bottom and front-to-back temp gradients. (You'll still have temperature gradients, depending on how good your built-in insulation is.)

I had a half dozen water bottles in the bottom of my original DIY-Safeway-styrofoam-cooler incubator. I have closer to a dozen in my new DIY wine fridge incubator.

My major problem with airflow is the sheer number of clutches I have. The wine fridge really only holds 6 clutches max, and that results in bad airflow.

I also put in as much as I can without effecting air flow. I use an old fridge and fill the door and the bottom shelf with 2 liter bottles of water.