Incubator progress

[Bistem]

I got a little more work done on the incubator build today. All that is left is Heat tape, Thermostat, Fans, and a little painting on the shelves. Inside dimensions on this is 48" wide by 24" deep by 54" tall

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...324_174553.jpg

[Bistem]

Maintaining the same thread, It is almost time to order heat tape and a thermostat. To any of you that have used a DIY incubator similar to this. The best I can figure this thing has about 40 cu ft of interior volume. I am going to use 11" wide flexwatt 110V and am questioning now if I go down both side walls and across the bottom, that would be around 14 ft of heat tape. Do you think this will be enough? if so, I will go with a Herpstat 1. If I also need to run a shorter piece down the back wall and up to the edge of the bottom strip, I would be adding another 7 feet and would go with the herpstat 2 since the 2 pieces arent the same length.

Opinions please?

[treaux]

Since it looks like your incubator is well insulated and seals up well, you will probably be good with one long strip on each wall and down the bottom. I also used a commercial fridge for mine and once it's up to temp it stays there with very minimal heating. I rarely see the herpstat at more than 15% power. To keep your temps more even, you could add a fan to circulate the air and some water jugs along the bottom to retain heat. If you set it up and still have a cooler spot in the middle, you may have to add a strip in the middle.

[Hannahshissyfix]

So much room for activities!!!

I agree Id probably get it running with 1 strip of heat tape plus a fan and water bottles and see how well that holds temp and then possibly add a second strip.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

[Bistem]

Delivery is here. Time to get back to work.

[Skyrivers]

Delivery is here. Time to get back to work.

Can you post links to what you ordered please?

[Bistem]

Can you post links to what you ordered please?

It’s pretty easy, I got it all from The Bean Farm. It is

18 feet of 11” wide 110v Flexwatt heat tape
Herpstat 1 with steel tipped probe
the cord with clips for the heat tape.

I hope you didn’t mean links to everything in the incubator build cause that is a home made project

Drink cooler from Craigslist
fan from staples
LED light strip from Lowes

[Skyrivers]

It’s pretty easy, I got it all from The Bean Farm. It is

18 feet of 11” wide 110v Flexwatt heat tape
Herpstat 1 with steel tipped probe
the cord with clips for the heat tape.

I hope you didn’t mean links to everything in the incubator build cause that is a home made project

Drink cooler from Craigslist
fan from staples
LED light strip from Lowes

No. You answered my questions.

Thanks

[Ax01]

Delivery is here. Time to get back to work.

Can you post links to what you ordered please?

very good research Sky!

Bistem, can u post links to where u ordered that bottle of pop and fidget spinner please?

anyways that incubator is an impressive size! wow i'm jealous lol. did your LED come w/ a remote control? i love using the strobe mode on my lights lol.

[cchardwick]

I have a cooler incubator that is the same height but not as wide with just a single glass door. I bought my Flexwatt heat tape from Reptile Basics, they cut it to size and assembled the cords before they shipped. I initially put one strip down the center back and it wasn't enough. So I put one more on each side so tubs are surrounded on each of three sides. Now the problem is the front glass door, about one to two inches away from the glass door the heat in there is about 86F, but all other places in the back it's 90F. It makes me think I should have run heat tape even on the front door. And if that's the case I probably shouldn't have gone with a glass door fridge, probably should have went with a regular refrigerator with more insulation. I have two pretty good size fans in there too and it's OK, I just have to be sure to slide the egg boxes back away from the front glass door.

Also, you should be able to control all of the heat tape with just a single heat controller, I use a VE-300. Doesn't really matter if there are differences in size, just put the probe on one of the biggest heat strips for better control.

You'll have to be sure to set it up and let it run for a few days to equilibrate, then take a temperature probe and place it in a different spot every day and 'map' the whole incubator to see if there are any cold spots. It took me a few weeks to get everything under control.