Herpstat Not Heating Enough . . .

More heating surface is going to give you more even temps and a quicker return to the proper heating temp when the doors has been opened. Might not be entirely necessary but the more thermal "floor space" you have the better the incubator is going to work. It's kind of like having a little space heater in your living room. Sure, it works great when the temps are a little cool but when the temps really drop, you open the door outside, or have a snow storm the little thing is just overwhelmed. Hope that makes sense. Best of luck!

Regards,

B

Ok so heres what you do, don't open your incubator in the middle of a snow storm, Nor should you try to incubate your eggs in an open room with a zippo.

I don't see why everyone thinks you need more heat, 11 inch is 20 watts a foot right? I'm using a 10 watt heater in my 70 qt cooler incubator, i know yours is bigger but still, you got twice the heat.. I open it, check on things, close it it drops about 5 degrees, in about a minute or 2 its back to temp. water works wonders.

Test it, open it it long enough to check on all your tubs and see how long it takes to get back up to temp. If it reasonable, your fine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

I don't see why everyone thinks you need more heat

---

Its not "more heat".......... Its more heated area:rolleyes:
I'm just throwing in my :2cent: but I would rather see it built correctly rather than read the new post next spring. "What did I do wrong??"
I may not have had a clutch hit the ground yet but I do know DIY. If I see it I can build it, AND improve on it.

Unless you cooler is 1 cubic foot you can fit a 3' piece in there, Top, back an bottom;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Its not "more heat".......... Its more heated area:rolleyes:
I'm just throwing in my :2cent: but I would rather see it built correctly rather than read the new post next spring. "What did I do wrong??"
I may not have had a clutch hit the ground yet but I do know DIY. If I see it I can build it, AND improve on it.

Unless you cooler is 1 cubic foot you can fit a 3' piece in there, Top, back an bottom;)

---

in a sealed box with fans circulating air, im sure 20 watts spread over 3 sq ft vs 1 sq ft wouldn't make one bit of difference :rolleyes: his temps are swinging a whole 2 degrees... oh no!

what makes 3 feet "correct" than anything else? is this another "you must have two hides or else" thing? I just don't see what your basing this off of. It appears what he has works, so why fix it if its not broke?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

Ok so heres what you do, don't open your incubator in the middle of a snow storm, Nor should you try to incubate your eggs in an open room with a zippo.

I don't see why everyone thinks you need more heat, 11 inch is 20 watts a foot right? I'm using a 10 watt heater in my 70 qt cooler incubator, i know yours is bigger but still, you got twice the heat.. I open it, check on things, close it it drops about 5 degrees, in about a minute or 2 its back to temp. water works wonders.

Test it, open it it long enough to check on all your tubs and see how long it takes to get back up to temp. If it reasonable, your fine.

---

I opened the door for five minutes, temps dropped 2 degrees in each tub. It took about 10-15 minutes for the tubs to get back to their previous temp. Also, even if I had eggs in there I was actually checking on, I probably wouldn't leave the door open while I check. In addition to not being able to open the tubs until I remove them (not enough space between shelves), I would probably take out each tub individually, close the door, check them, and replace them in the incubator. Plus, since the door is glass, I can see some things without even opening the door. Humidity I couldn't check in this manner, but I can visually check for dented eggs, wet spots on eggs, etc. without having to open the door.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Its not "more heat".......... Its more heated area:rolleyes:
I'm just throwing in my :2cent: but I would rather see it built correctly rather than read the new post next spring. "What did I do wrong??"
I may not have had a clutch hit the ground yet but I do know DIY. If I see it I can build it, AND improve on it.

Unless you cooler is 1 cubic foot you can fit a 3' piece in there, Top, back an bottom;)

---

Believe me, I have been using hova bators in years past. Those are highly dependent upon room temp, and their thermostats are nowhere near as good as this one. So even a slight drop in temp in this one I don't think is going to be as big as ones I've had previously, but still managed to have a 100% hatch rate of healthy babies.

As for being able to fit 3' of flexwatt in there, I don't want flexwatt on the bottom of the incubator. Since I have a tub sitting directly on the floor, I don't want them to come in contact directly with the heat source. I could, however, start above the bottom "lip" (area where I now have the fan and water bottle sitting) and go up the back and across the ceiling--not sure if 3' would fit there, but I suppose it might. So far, so good though. It doesn't seem to be taking very long for the temps to stablize even if the door has been opened.

I agree with all those saying not enough heat tape. The proportional curve doesn't come into play until 1 degree before the set temperature. Anything below a degree on the original Herpstat is full on. So if you have the red led and the temp is a degree below your setting you are getting basically the same amount of power as if the heat tape is plugged directly into the wall (minus a volt or so drop going through the triac). Also I believe alot of the flexwatt failures happen when its run full on for long periods of time. As I recall the manufacture even warns against that and recommend a certain amount of duty cycle. As others were saying its better to have a little extra. Ambient room temp can also play a big part in temperature regulation which is more noticable when the heating device is on the low side for an enclosure. Also fans in a incubator are pretty much mandatory to get good temperature gradiant top to bottom. I also find that not all flexwatt is created equal. There can be decent differences in heating ability between two similiar strips.

Just like your doing, with any enclosure it takes a little experimentation to find the best setup. :gj:

Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spyderrobotics

Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

---

^^^ This guy knows what he's talking about...and he makes a heck of a thermostat! :gj:

It boggles my mind that someone will attempt to hatch a clutch of eggs and skimp on $4 worth of Flexwatt. Spread that cost over a healthy clutch and the results are priceless. I might overwork some things but I do it right the first time. What value can you put on a failed clutch, incubation issues, or deformaties? The majority of problems from breeding are directly the fault of incubation. Why let that be your weak link? This isn't aimed at the OP at all. Just stating my opinion about arguing over an extra foor or two of Flexwatt. I agree there are areas to cut corners although I don't do it myself. I think we can all agree that incubation IS NOT one of them. Good luck SnakeGirl3!

Regards,

B

I agree. The incubator is the one thing that I go overboard on. I'd rather have too much than too little. Id rather have bigger than smaller. And I'd rather have the best equipment than the cheapest.
Eggs cannot move themselves if they are too hot or too cold. And let's face it you can't be there 24/7.
Deformities can happen with fluctuating temps. Why risk it?


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

It sounds to me like it is a very inefficient design you are losing too much heat for the power you are able to apply. You need more and better insulation or more power. You could add 2 inch blue foam to all walls top and bottom and leave a small viewing port in the door or more flexwatt. I understand Calorique makes lots of versions but the specs I got with mine say it must be cycled and should not be unregulated or it can cause a fire.