Wine Cooler to Incubator Conversion

[DemmBalls]

Here is a quick picture thread that I put together while I was building my new incubator from a wine cooler. I thought I would post this up as another tool for people looking to build a similar setup. I hope you enjoy!

Here is the wine cooler before anything was done to it.


Added 30" of 11" flexwatt.


I ran the wiring for the fan and flexwatt through a small drain hole in the bottom of the wine cooler.



I soldered the fan connections to the the adaptor, then used heat shrink tubing to insulate the connection.




I mounted a powerstrip to the back of the unit, so I can plug all of the accessories into it, then just have one plug leading to the wall outlet.


I then plugged the heating element into the T-Stat.


I then drilled a small hole just big enough to pull the T-Stat probe and thermometer probe through.




Once the T-Stat probe was pulled into the incubator, I fastened it securly in the middle of the incubator...Away from the heat tape.


Next I fabricated a mount for the Herpstat using a 3/4" x 1/4" x 14" piece of aluminum bar and mounted this to the incubator using plastic push pins and an adhesive hook to hold the T-stat.



Once everything was done and to my liking, took a minute to organize all the wires.


Finally...It is finished! It has been running and holding very steady! I will leave it running now, since I have eggs coming in about 3 weeks.



Thanks for looking and feel free to ask any questions...Just in case I forgot to explain anything.

[cinderbird]

Nice! I love the converted wine cooler ones. They are so sleek looking but so functional. Plus, window.

[Simple Man]

Nice project I like. Hopefully be needing something like this myself one day in the not so distant future!

Regards.

B

[DemmBalls]

Thanks guy! Temps have been rock solid so far!

[youbeyouibei]

That's an awesome setup! Definitely showing my lack of knowledge here, but what purpose do the bottles of water serve? I've seen several similar incubators using fridges or wine coolers with bottles in both setups. Just curious, as I'm sure I'm missing the obvious here, but... Thanks in advance!

[CoolioTiffany]

Nice incubator!

That's an awesome setup! Definitely showing my lack of knowledge here, but what purpose do the bottles of water serve? I've seen several similar incubators using fridges or wine coolers with bottles in both setups. Just curious, as I'm sure I'm missing the obvious here, but... Thanks in advance!

Keeps up the humidity.

[Jeremy78]

the water is in the cooler to help keep steady temps. A bunch of water will hold 89 in a power outage a lot better then anything else.

Sweet build just one question. How do you get the fan to circulate the air if it is pressed up against the top of the incubator? Shouldn't there be like a half inch gap minimum behind the fan so it can suck in the air it blows out?

[DemmBalls]

Thanks everyone!

the water is in the cooler to help keep steady temps. A bunch of water will hold 89 in a power outage a lot better then anything else.

Sweet build just one question. How do you get the fan to circulate the air if it is pressed up against the top of the incubator? Shouldn't there be like a half inch gap minimum behind the fan so it can suck in the air it blows out?

Yes, the bottles are used to retain heat. The humidity is maintained within the egg chamber. The bottles also help get the incubator back up to the proper temperature more quickly after opening it.

The fan was an initial design flaw. I think in one of the last picutres you can sort of see the newer design. I used some spacers to make about a 3/4" gap between the fan and the incubator...Good eye though!

Thanks!