incubator ?

[ozzypython]

so i just got this little wine fridge to make an incubator out of
i would like to know what size flexwatt heat tape to use?

[nevohraalnavnoj]

maybe a couple strips of 11" arranged from left to right...one on the bottom, one on the back (the upper part).

JonV

[Creative Morphs]

I just built one that is seven feet tall and thirty inches wide. I used a piece of five foot 11" tape and it heats it quite well. I think that you would be okay with 3" running from top to bottom.

[Corey Woods]

The best rule of thumb for heating an incubator is to only use enough heat tape that when on full power will only get the incubator upto in around 100F. That way if you have a thermostate malfunction and the incubator sticks on high you won't kill your eggs right away.

It really sucks waking up in the morning and checking on the incubator only to see it sitting at 125F.

Also put a small computer fan in there to help maintain an even temp.

Corey

[dragondavy]

Corey Woods hit the money!

I see a HP computer in the back, if they don't work I would take the fans out of that, it should have 3 of them in that computer, that would save you some bucks and then you need are AC apaters.

I'm almost done with my home made Coca Cola incubator!

Good luck!

[nevohraalnavnoj]

Hmm...I would think it would be the exact opposite. With a lot of heat tape it all runs fairly cool, say at 90 degrees to get the 'bator up to 88 or so. With just a bit of heat tape it's going to be blazing hot, thus causing a hot spot in your incubator.

Wouldn't a backup thermostat be a better way to avoid cooking the eggs rather than relying on cutting precisely the correct amount of heat tape so they won't get fried? Not to mention that small chunk of heat tape is going to be working extremely hard and will be more likely to fail as a result.

JonV

[ozzypython]

how do u go about seting up a backup thermostat?

[nevohraalnavnoj]

You'll need two thermostats. You want your primary thermostat to be a nice proportional one (a Helix DBS 1000 or a Herpstat). Set this one to 88 or 89 degrees, whatever you want your incubator temp to be.

Then, get a Ranco or Johnson Controls (www.reptilebasics.com) On/Off Thermostat. Set this one to a few degrees higher than your proportional. Arrange them all in Series: Wall--Ranco--Helix--Heat Tape.

Then, if everything goes well the Ranco will be on all the time and the Helix will be doing it's job. If, however, something should go wrong and the temp gets too high then the Ranco will shut off, cutting power to the Helix and bringing things back under control.

Everyone should have their enclosures and their 'bators backed up like this in an ideal world. There are lots of sad stories out there about thermostats failing.

Hope that helps,

JonV

[JD Constriction]

I agree with Corey, you do want to protect yourself to some degree so that it's not cranking itself up to 120 degrees or more if something fails (or in the case of backup thermostats two somethings fail)

I've seen 11 inch at 145 degrees.

I would suggest running 3 pieces of either 3 inch 6 watt or 4 inch 8 watt (the 3 inch is probably better IMO). A piece up the back and a piece up each of the sides. Pick the length that gives you the best results for good heat distribution and a reasonable max temp.

Then add a fan or two to create good circulation (could do one side blowing air upward and a fan on the other side blowing air downward)

Ultimately you have to play around with things to see what works for you and your incubator.

As far as backups.....I use a proportional thermostat as my main with the probe placed in one of the egg containers on the middle shelf and set it at 88.5 degrees. I then hook that into a backup on/off thermostat set at 91 degrees and place the probe outside of the egg boxes, in the "hottest" part of my incubator, in the ambiant incubator air (for me this is the bottom row where more of my flexwatt is).

This helps so that if the proportional is working hard to get the temps back up that the backup shuts it off so that my "hot spot" doesn't get too warm and it allows the temps to raise gradually without overworking the heattape.

I think there are also settings on the spyder robotics thermostats to change the temps gradually but haven't played with this myself.

Hope I helped Best of luck!

[Nate]

I have a wine cooler, probably a foot taller than what you have pictured, and it holds temps steady at about 88-89. I have two feet of 11" flexwatt keeping it warm. I'm using a proportional thermostat made by Spyder Robotics, called the Herpstat Pro

2 feet 11" flexwatt - $6.80
Wire/Clip/Insulation set - $5.00
Labor for connecting flexwatt to the wire - $0.00

Another alternative for a proportional thermostat is a Helix
Helix Controls DBS1000 Proportional Thermostat (Grounded) - $139.99

and then the on/off type of thermostat.
Ranco/Johnson - $79.99