Incubating temp question

[Andybill]

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.

Agreed.

[Annarose15]

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?

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.

[CD CONSTRICTORS]

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

[BHReptiles]

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.

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!

[Annarose15]

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!

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.

[BHReptiles]

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.

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

[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

[CD CONSTRICTORS]

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.

[BHReptiles]

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

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.

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.

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.

[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