Fan in Incubator...really necessary?

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

Mine has been running for 2 seasons without issue...For $5 why bother with 12v fans and having to convert the voltage and such.

Hope this helps.

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good point:)

Depends on the size of the incubator. I've hatched hundreds of eggs in small hovabator style incubators without fans. In some cases a fan can be a detriment in that it can more quickly dry out the environment. In large incubators that hold more then a clutch or two of eggs, a fan is important to help equalize the temps throughout the whole enclosure so you don't have any hot spots or cold spots. Small incubators with one or two clutches of eggs don't really need a fan.

Mark

The incubator i'm using is converted from a Wine cooler. So, about 2ft x 2ft x 3.5ft

I appreciate all the links and helpful info :)

I used one that size last year. I went to Radio Shack and got their 3" fan, because the 4" fan put out too much heat. It worked fine on my 3 clutches.

I am using a 4" Radio Shack fan in my Pepsi fridge and it keeps the temps nice and stable

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

Go to Wal -mart and by a really small house fan. Mine cost about $5 and plugs directly into the wall. Sorry no picture but I saw them yesterday...they are white, small (the box is about 4" x 4" x 6"). Looks like a small blower and tilts up and down for directional airflow. (sorry best description...I will try and get a picture). It also has high/med/low settings.

Mine has been running for 2 seasons without issue...For $5 why bother with 12v fans and having to convert the voltage and such.

Hope this helps.

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I tried this and the fan itself kicked out so much heat the incubator was up over 100 degrees. (There weren't any eggs inside, it was just an experiment).

JonV

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Originally Posted by nevohraalnavnoj

I tried this and the fan itself kicked out so much heat the incubator was up over 100 degrees. (There weren't any eggs inside, it was just an experiment).

JonV

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This my experience as well, but mine only creeped up to 93.4F with a small 120v fan, and was only an issue when the room temp got up to 85F, so it had passed my pre-use testing.

My temp gun indicated the single clutch of eggs was just at 90F when the alarm woke me up, so I'm probably OK, but that remains to be proven.

Be very careful to not introduce uncontrolled heat sources to your incubator. 12v fans generally run a lot cooler than 120v fans.
It wouldn't hurt to have the transformer outside of the incubator to avoid that heat too.

I know these sources seem like free heat, but it only takes one temperature spike to kill all your eggs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nevohraalnavnoj

I tried this and the fan itself kicked out so much heat the incubator was up over 100 degrees. (There weren't any eggs inside, it was just an experiment).

JonV

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Strange...My incubator is 2' x 2' x 4' tall. I have the fan in the bottom corner set on low and my temps for the past 2 seasons are rock steady at 87.5. It is probably dependent on the fan model (quality) and the size of the incubator as to how much added heat is being introduced.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

Strange...My incubator is 2' x 2' x 4' tall. I have the fan in the bottom corner set on low and my temps for the past 2 seasons are rock steady at 87.5. It is probably dependent on the fan model (quality) and the size of the incubator as to how much added heat is being introduced.

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Hmm, I am building an incubator from a pretty large wine cooler, about the size of the incubator you have, but I was thinking about putting the cpu fan in the top corner kinda pointing down to force the hot air that rises back to the bottom, but after seeing this, Im not sure. Any suggestions from anyone? I appreciate any info I can get before starting the conversion.

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Originally Posted by PrototypePythons

Hmm, I am building an incubator from a pretty large wine cooler, about the size of the incubator you have, but I was thinking about putting the cpu fan in the top corner kinda pointing down to force the hot air that rises back to the bottom, but after seeing this, Im not sure. Any suggestions from anyone? I appreciate any info I can get before starting the conversion.

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Go for it. With a small 12v fan and the DC transformer OUTSIDE of the incubator, you should be good. I have 3 completely different incubators that all have 12v fan(s) and the only problem I ever had with possible over heating was in my 120 qt. when I ran 2 fans off a transformer that was mounted inside the incubator. I pulled it out and ran the cord through a small hole in the back and it took care of the problem. The wall transformers can throw off a lot of heat, but the fans themselves not so much. Especially since you are using a decent size cooler.

So, can you use an old cell phone charger to run the cpu fan? And just run the cord through a hole in the back?