Incubating temp question

With my first clutch coming at the end of the month (Hopefully miss Tabitha won't keep me waiting too long), I've been fine tuning my incubator. So far it holds temps beautifully and is hooked up to a herpstat 2 set at 91*. I have the probe on the heat tape which is on the bottom of the incubator and there is a fan in the center of the incubator. View the setup here: http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/6541/cdri.jpg I have 3 tubs in there (a test tub, and a tub for each clutch I'm expecting this season) and each have a different thermometer in the tubs. I recently put thermometer's in each tub and the incubator itself has at least 3 thermometers in it (I'm a bit OCD about the temps in there).

Here's my problem: all three thermometers show different temps (89.4*, 90.4*, and 91.6*) Here are the thermometers and their corresponding temps:

http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/combometer.php this model is showing the 89.4* temp
http://zoomed.com/db/products/EntryD...D=2&SearchID=5 is showing the 90.4* temp
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...uctId=11361231 is showing the 91.6*temp

Which thermometer should I go by? Or is there a better one out there that I should purchase? I ask because the 91.6* is a little concerning to me and I want to make sure I'm not overcooking my babies when the eggs finally arrive.

I have an identical setup. My probe is sitting on the light grate right in the middle of the cooler. Thermostat is set to 89 degrees. I use the exoterra thermometers. Make sure you can adjust the fan speed if it is running at full speed it can generate enough heat to over cook your eggs. Hope this helps.

For an incubator that small, I'd get rid of the fan and just run the thermostat probe directly into one of the tubs. Set it to 89 and you should be good. Just use a good IR temp gun to check both egg boxes to make sure the temps are good. Make sure you check the temps of the substrate as the eggs themselves will be 3-4 degrees warmer than the surrounding air and substate.

Fans are usually used in larger incubators to help keep a constant temp throughout the entire incubator. I don't think yours is big enough to matter.

I run a very similiar setup and seems to work great.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...0/IMG_1357.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...20/eggbox1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a386/sho220/inc1.jpg

I know what you mean with the different thermometers. My first clutch should be coming soon as well so I've been testing temps with a zoo med, and an accurite. I set the herpstat to 89.7, placed the thermometers in the tub side by side. Zoo med reads 89.1-89.4, accurite reading 90-91.

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Originally Posted by joebad976

I have an identical setup. My probe is sitting on the light grate right in the middle of the cooler. Thermostat is set to 89 degrees. I use the exoterra thermometers. Make sure you can adjust the fan speed if it is running at full speed it can generate enough heat to over cook your eggs. Hope this helps.

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Originally Posted by sho220

For an incubator that small, I'd get rid of the fan and just run the thermostat probe directly into one of the tubs. Set it to 89 and you should be good. Just use a good IR temp gun to check both egg boxes to make sure the temps are good. Make sure you check the temps of the substrate as the eggs themselves will be 3-4 degrees warmer than the surrounding air and substate.

Fans are usually used in larger incubators to help keep a constant temp throughout the entire incubator. I don't think yours is big enough to matter.

I run a very similiar setup and seems to work great.

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I have tried to wire the fan onto a dimmer as well as a power source that changes from 6V to 12V...neither of which work. The fan is either on or it's off. I was told to put a fan in this size of incubator because it's pretty large. I just worry about a temp gradient if I turn the fan off. However, all the egg boxes are on the same level, so I'll shut off the fan and see if I can stabilize temps. I'll also play around with the thermostat probe and see if I can't get temps to be the same across the board. I have a $50 temp gun so hopefully that works well enough! So far it's been pretty accurate when I test tub temps.

My biggest worry is that I'll cook my eggs! I just want healthy babies at the end of this! In the next year I'm going to be buying a Nature's Spirit or a Hot Box incubator. I'm not very good with DIY builds and this one is already stressing me out!

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Originally Posted by hops523

I know what you mean with the different thermometers. My first clutch should be coming soon as well so I've been testing temps with a zoo med, and an accurite. I set the herpstat to 89.7, placed the thermometers in the tub side by side. Zoo med reads 89.1-89.4, accurite reading 90-91.

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Ugh. So frustrating! My first clutch is due on the 29th and the next hopefully the 2nd week of August. Both virgin girls. Hopefully I'll get this temp thing straightened out so I can incubate my little eggs without too much stress!

I use this fan, and it's adjustable. Just make sure you buy the AC adapter to go with it. I would also move your stat probe off of the heat tape and suspend it a few inches away, since the ambient temp is what's most important. I don't like putting the probe in an egg box because of how much the incubator would have to heat up to warm the inside of the tub, and conversely how cool the inc would swing before the tub was the right temp. Make sure you have as many water bottles as you can crammed in there, too, to help stabilize the temps against swings from opening the incubator.

I check actual EGG temps with an IR gun. See what you get there.

If the thermometers are able to read high enough temps without breaking you could always test all 3 by seeing what they read on boiling water - 212F? That's how we test probes for food at work anyway!

I'd also suggest having the stat prob inside a tub - with mine I melted a hole *just* big enough for it to fit thru, then taped up either side to stop it falling out / messing with humidity.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

I use this fan, and it's adjustable. Just make sure you buy the AC adapter to go with it. I would also move your stat probe off of the heat tape and suspend it a few inches away, since the ambient temp is what's most important. I don't like putting the probe in an egg box because of how much the incubator would have to heat up to warm the inside of the tub, and conversely how cool the inc would swing before the tub was the right temp. Make sure you have as many water bottles as you can crammed in there, too, to help stabilize the temps against swings from opening the incubator.

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I have an entire case of 24 water bottles plus a couple of gallon jugs of water in there! I can always add more if needed. I'll definitely buy that fan and replace the one I have in my incubator. Do you buy the adapter with the rheostat?

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Originally Posted by coreydelong

I check actual EGG temps with an IR gun. See what you get there.

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HOLY BANANAS. I pulled out my temp gun and the temp in ALL THREE boxes is right around 94*! YIKES! As soon as I get off work tonight I plan on turning off the fan and rearranging the temp probe to see if I can't get these egg boxes at the right temp!

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Originally Posted by Ben.L

If the thermometers are able to read high enough temps without breaking you could always test all 3 by seeing what they read on boiling water - 212F? That's how we test probes for food at work anyway!

I'd also suggest having the stat prob inside a tub - with mine I melted a hole *just* big enough for it to fit thru, then taped up either side to stop it falling out / messing with humidity.

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I don't think these thermometers are quality enough to withstand boiling water. That's how I would test them too...but I'm pretty sure the plastic probe will just melt right off.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

I would also move your stat probe off of the heat tape and suspend it a few inches away, since the ambient temp is what's most important.

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Agreed.

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

I have an entire case of 24 water bottles plus a couple of gallon jugs of water in there! I can always add more if needed. I'll definitely buy that fan and replace the one I have in my incubator. Do you buy the adapter with the rheostat?

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Yes, with the rheostat. Otherwise, the fan WILL heat your incubator. I have actually plugged mine into the thermostat (and at ~75% power on the rheostat), which may or may not work for you. That way, it isn't running and generating any heat when the stat has the heat tape off.

Keep the fans on and cut off 6" of heat tape at a time until you are good. You need the airflow.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Yes, with the rheostat. Otherwise, the fan WILL heat your incubator. I have actually plugged mine into the thermostat (and at ~75% power on the rheostat), which may or may not work for you. That way, it isn't running and generating any heat when the stat has the heat tape off.

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I don't have another slot on my thermostat (the Herpstat 2 is shared with my sweaterbox rack). I've got a few days to get this sorted so over the next couple of weeks I'll play around with it and see if I can't find a setting that works well. As much as I wanted Tabs to lay a couple of days before her due date...now I hope she doesn't lay until I get this issue fixed!

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

I don't have another slot on my thermostat (the Herpstat 2 is shared with my sweaterbox rack). I've got a few days to get this sorted so over the next couple of weeks I'll play around with it and see if I can't find a setting that works well. As much as I wanted Tabs to lay a couple of days before her due date...now I hope she doesn't lay until I get this issue fixed!

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I have the heat tape and fan plugged into a power strip, which is then plugged into one Herpstat outlet. That way, the fan is on when the heat tape is one, and vice versa. I mainly found that this helped in warmer months when my house gets hot during the day and the heat tape isn't needing to turn on much at all.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

I have the heat tape and fan plugged into a power strip, which is then plugged into one Herpstat outlet. That way, the fan is on when the heat tape is one, and vice versa. I mainly found that this helped in warmer months when my house gets hot during the day and the heat tape isn't needing to turn on much at all.

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That's a good idea. I'll pick up another power strip and try this out as well.

I had many of the accurite ones from walmart. had them side by side and got different readings from each one. I agree, use a temp gun. incubating eggs isn't done at only one temp. it's nice to have your incubator setup with the same temps from top to bottom. if you can't get this, as long as you're temps fall into a range that you feel good with, they will all hatch. the ones that are a little cooler might take a day or 2 longer. be careful with the fan. you might be ok with it now. but in august if temps get hotter outside, and the air temp outside your incubator rises. the inside temps may go higher than what you want with the cause being the fan generating heat. happen to me, but my fan is on a dimmer and my fan could be slowed down using the dimmer making less heat. my probe is center of my incubator, not on the heat tape. I feel I can get better control of my temps this way. I read my air temps not tape temps. good luck don

Is this an AC fan? They generate too much heat. DC fans run much cooler. An adaptor from an old cell phone charger works great to run the fan. My website has a good way to wire a DC fan and control the speed with a rheostat.

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Originally Posted by don15681

I had many of the accurite ones from walmart. had them side by side and got different readings from each one. I agree, use a temp gun. incubating eggs isn't done at only one temp. it's nice to have your incubator setup with the same temps from top to bottom. if you can't get this, as long as you're temps fall into a range that you feel good with, they will all hatch. the ones that are a little cooler might take a day or 2 longer. be careful with the fan. you might be ok with it now. but in august if temps get hotter outside, and the air temp outside your incubator rises. the inside temps may go higher than what you want with the cause being the fan generating heat. happen to me, but my fan is on a dimmer and my fan could be slowed down using the dimmer making less heat. my probe is center of my incubator, not on the heat tape. I feel I can get better control of my temps this way. I read my air temps not tape temps. good luck don

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I'm going to start using my temp gun a little more and not go too much by the thermometers. I use my temp gun on my tubs, but never thought about using it on my incubator (blonde moment, I know!). I would much rather my incubator run a little cooler than too warm. My incubator is inside my bedroom so the temps are pretty stable in the upper 70s. I'm going to do what Anna suggested and buy the new fan with a rheostat adapter and plug that and my heat tape into a powerstrip and plug the power strip into the Herpstat. I'm also going to work on suspending my probe for the Herpstat. Hopefully with those minor adjustments, my temps will stabilize.

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Originally Posted by coreydelong

Is this an AC fan? They generate too much heat. DC fans run much cooler. An adapter from an old cell phone charger works great to run the fan. My website has a good way to wire a DC fan and control the speed with a rheostat.

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The fan is a 12V DC fan (http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2102826) from Radioshack. I have it running on this adaptor: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...6263_200326263 . Before that, we had the fan on this adaptor: http://www.gandermountain.com/modper...D=GSHOP_414669 . I even had it hooked up to a dimmer and I could not control the fan speed. It was either on or it was off. Hopefully by replacing the fan and adapter with what Anna suggested, this will fix my fan issues so it will run just enough to provide circulation without putting off too much heat.

Look at these they are USB PC fans so you can buy one of those USB block chargers to power it. It has a built in fan speed adjustment which works great. I have mine set at the lowest setting and temps are a perfect 88.4 with 8 - 6qt tubs in the cooler.

Thermaltake AF0007 Mobile 12cm USB External Fan - 120mm, Sleeve Bearing, Manual Fan Speed Adjustment, Retractable USB Power Cable

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...FeHm7AodyUgA-w

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Originally Posted by joebad976

Look at these they are USB PC fans so you can buy one of those USB block chargers to power it. It has a built in fan speed adjustment which works great. I have mine set at the lowest setting and temps are a perfect 88.4 with 8 - 6qt tubs in the cooler.

Thermaltake AF0007 Mobile 12cm USB External Fan - 120mm, Sleeve Bearing, Manual Fan Speed Adjustment, Retractable USB Power Cable

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...FeHm7AodyUgA-w

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I'm having a VERY hard time getting ahold of Cooler Guys. Their website isn't working and they aren't answering e-mails or phone calls. I need a new fan pronto to fix this incubator. So, I'll probably go with this fan. Do you just set the fan up in the incubator like the picture shows, or turn it on it's side (like how I have my other fan installed)? Also, by block charger, do you mean something like this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...61728&csid=_61

I want to get these parts ordered yesterday. -_- So frustrated right now.

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

I'm having a VERY hard time getting ahold of Cooler Guys. Their website isn't working and they aren't answering e-mails or phone calls. I need a new fan pronto to fix this incubator. So, I'll probably go with this fan. Do you just set the fan up in the incubator like the picture shows, or turn it on it's side (like how I have my other fan installed)? Also, by block charger, do you mean something like this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...61728&csid=_61

I want to get these parts ordered yesterday. -_- So frustrated right now.

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Yup, that is the block charger. You can buy one at Wal-mart for like 6 bucks in the cell phone area. The fan comes with a metal bracket to stand it up on your desk I took that off so I can lay it down on my heat tape. I have my fan blowing down on the heat tape so I had to move the speed control to the other side of the fan housing. I set the fan speed to the lowest possible setting and it runs all the time (not plugged into thermostat).

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Originally Posted by joebad976

Yup, that is the block charger. You can buy one at Wal-mart for like 6 bucks in the cell phone area. The fan comes with a metal bracket to stand it up on your desk I took that off so I can lay it down on my heat tape. I have my fan blowing down on the heat tape so I had to move the speed control to the other side of the fan housing. I set the fan speed to the lowest possible setting and it runs all the time (not plugged into thermostat).

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I just wanted to make sure that was what you meant. I think I have a couple of these laying around so I don't imagine I'll need to buy one.

Also, I double checked temps after putting the thermostat probe into a dummy box. All boxes are holding around 89.4* (according to all three thermometers plus the one or two that are not in egg boxes but in the incubator itself!). However, when I go to use my temp gun, it's reading a little over 91* in each box (but it's the same in all boxes). Should I drop the herpstat down a little more to accommodate for this difference? I have it set at 89.5*. I've also purchased a new fan (like Joe suggested) so once it gets here, I'll remodel my incubator and insert the new fan.

Any other helpful tips? I'm definitely learning a lot! I have to build another incubator this fall for my corn snakes but it will be out of a styrofoam cooler since I will only have one clutch of corns. Then I'll work on buying my hotbox.