Would you use an on/off thermostat for a BP egg incubator?

[SatanicIntention]

I think an on/off can work if certain conditions exist.

1) If you are available to check temps at least two or three times daily.

2) If the incubator is placed in a room that in itself keeps extremely stable temps and humidity.

3) If you are not constantly opening the incubator causing fluctuations.

4) If you have a very good digital device monitoring those temps/humidity.

I used an on/off myself last year and had a 100% hatchrate on three clutches (an admittedly small sampling). It worked, but personally I didn't enjoy the experience and wouldn't choose to repeat it. It caused me more worry and stress than I needed during the incubation process.

LoL Jo, I was constantly opening the incubator. The JC and Ranco thermostats are still digital, they're not analog. When the probe is placed properly, they work just fine. I know that VPI uses dimmers on their incubators. I personally use small liquid thermometers to measure the temps. They don't fail in the high humidity like the digital ones do and I make sure they're all calibrated against each other before using.

Depends on the incubator too I like to build my own and have a 6ft tall glass front cooler. It has 6ft of 11" flexwatt in it and will hold probably 10-15 clutches(haven't filled it yet). I run the Tstat probe up through the drain hole in the bottom and zip tie it to a shelf in the center of the incubator. It holds temperatures to a T.

Still sorry you lost those clutches Jeff. That's awful.. If you ever want me to get ya'll another cooler, I can pop right over there. It might help to silicone the connections if you haven't already so it won't happen again. The incubator I have is metal inside too, just powder coated. Don't know if that makes a difference or not..