Herpstat Not Heating Enough . . .

[SnakeGirl3]

Ok so heres what you do, don't open your incubator in the middle of a snow storm, Nor should you try to incubate your eggs in an open room with a zippo.

I don't see why everyone thinks you need more heat, 11 inch is 20 watts a foot right? I'm using a 10 watt heater in my 70 qt cooler incubator, i know yours is bigger but still, you got twice the heat.. I open it, check on things, close it it drops about 5 degrees, in about a minute or 2 its back to temp. water works wonders.

Test it, open it it long enough to check on all your tubs and see how long it takes to get back up to temp. If it reasonable, your fine.

I opened the door for five minutes, temps dropped 2 degrees in each tub. It took about 10-15 minutes for the tubs to get back to their previous temp. Also, even if I had eggs in there I was actually checking on, I probably wouldn't leave the door open while I check. In addition to not being able to open the tubs until I remove them (not enough space between shelves), I would probably take out each tub individually, close the door, check them, and replace them in the incubator. Plus, since the door is glass, I can see some things without even opening the door. Humidity I couldn't check in this manner, but I can visually check for dented eggs, wet spots on eggs, etc. without having to open the door.

Its not "more heat".......... Its more heated area
I'm just throwing in my but I would rather see it built correctly rather than read the new post next spring. "What did I do wrong??"
I may not have had a clutch hit the ground yet but I do know DIY. If I see it I can build it, AND improve on it.

Unless you cooler is 1 cubic foot you can fit a 3' piece in there, Top, back an bottom

Believe me, I have been using hova bators in years past. Those are highly dependent upon room temp, and their thermostats are nowhere near as good as this one. So even a slight drop in temp in this one I don't think is going to be as big as ones I've had previously, but still managed to have a 100% hatch rate of healthy babies.

As for being able to fit 3' of flexwatt in there, I don't want flexwatt on the bottom of the incubator. Since I have a tub sitting directly on the floor, I don't want them to come in contact directly with the heat source. I could, however, start above the bottom "lip" (area where I now have the fan and water bottle sitting) and go up the back and across the ceiling--not sure if 3' would fit there, but I suppose it might. So far, so good though. It doesn't seem to be taking very long for the temps to stablize even if the door has been opened.

[spyderrobotics]

I agree with all those saying not enough heat tape. The proportional curve doesn't come into play until 1 degree before the set temperature. Anything below a degree on the original Herpstat is full on. So if you have the red led and the temp is a degree below your setting you are getting basically the same amount of power as if the heat tape is plugged directly into the wall (minus a volt or so drop going through the triac). Also I believe alot of the flexwatt failures happen when its run full on for long periods of time. As I recall the manufacture even warns against that and recommend a certain amount of duty cycle. As others were saying its better to have a little extra. Ambient room temp can also play a big part in temperature regulation which is more noticable when the heating device is on the low side for an enclosure. Also fans in a incubator are pretty much mandatory to get good temperature gradiant top to bottom. I also find that not all flexwatt is created equal. There can be decent differences in heating ability between two similiar strips.

Just like your doing, with any enclosure it takes a little experimentation to find the best setup.

Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

[sho220]

Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

^^^ This guy knows what he's talking about...and he makes a heck of a thermostat!

[Simple Man]

It boggles my mind that someone will attempt to hatch a clutch of eggs and skimp on $4 worth of Flexwatt. Spread that cost over a healthy clutch and the results are priceless. I might overwork some things but I do it right the first time. What value can you put on a failed clutch, incubation issues, or deformaties? The majority of problems from breeding are directly the fault of incubation. Why let that be your weak link? This isn't aimed at the OP at all. Just stating my opinion about arguing over an extra foor or two of Flexwatt. I agree there are areas to cut corners although I don't do it myself. I think we can all agree that incubation IS NOT one of them. Good luck SnakeGirl3!

Regards,

B

[PitOnTheProwl]

What value can you put on a failed clutch, incubation issues, or deformaties? The majority of problems from breeding are directly the fault of incubation.

This is the best response I have seen yet

[SnakeGirl3]

OK guys, apparently, the problem was that there wasn't a good connection somewhere, and the flexwatt wasn't even heating. However, it is now heating fine since I discovered that issue. Temps are stable, thermostat is not constantly on trying to heat. Top 4 tubs are remaining a good constant 89-90 degrees (there's some variance in tenths of degrees between those 4 tubs, but between 89-90). The bottom tub is only reading around 87, so I have ordered a bit of 4" flexwatt to add to it along the back wall along the bottom; hopefully, this will correct the cooler spot at the bottom.

The good news is, this incubator was not intended to be used this season--I was merely getting everything together and testing everything out. For purposes just like this. Cool spot? OK, we'll fix it. Not warm enough? We'll fix it. As I said, I was not opposed to adding more flexwatt if needed, just wasn't certain it was warranted at the time. However, once I got the flexwatt heating, it did seem to be doing the job with the exception of a cool spot at the bottom. So I am now going to add additional flexwatt in hopes of rectifying that issue.

Believe me, I know I've had a few temp drops during incubation in years past using my hova bators, but I've had no birth defects or otherwise unhealthy hatchlings. If I can produce healthy hatchlings from hova bators (and several clutches over the last 4 years, I might add) with 100% hatch rates, this one should definitely be better than what I've had. While I know that eggs should most certainly be kept in as tight of an incubation range as possible, eggs can withstand some slight changes in their environment, as long as those periods aren't extended for long periods. I'm sure that while females in the wild try and choose the most suitable place, you can't tell me the temps in those areas never drop at all overnight at least on occasion. If the temps drop 2 degrees when I open the door to check on eggs, and re-stabilize after 10-15 minutes (or less), I really can't see that hurting any of the hatchlings. I know I've had temp drops slightly larger than that for longer periods when using hova bators, and all of the hatchlings came out perfectly healthy. This incubator is definitely an upgrade for me--anything is an upgrade compared to a hova bator.

[RichsBallPythons]

87F on bottom is perfectly fine. I incubated half clutches this season at 87.

Just be sure to have fans blowing down to even it out more and your top temp should drop 1F by raising the bottom.

Also where is the probe positioned. Its best to have the probe at the bottom hovering mid air. Since heat rises, fans blow it back down keeping a consistent temp. Keeping probe at top the bottom will cool off a lot since all the heat is rising towards the probe.

[SnakeGirl3]

87F on bottom is perfectly fine. I incubated half clutches this season at 87.

Just be sure to have fans blowing down to even it out more and your top temp should drop 1F by raising the bottom.

Also where is the probe positioned. Its best to have the probe at the bottom hovering mid air. Since heat rises, fans blow it back down keeping a consistent temp. Keeping probe at top the bottom will cool off a lot since all the heat is rising towards the probe.

At the moment, the probe is inside the middle tub. Still somewhat trying to find the best place for it. I have since changed the shelves as well--a friend suggested more wire-like shelving since that would allow for better air circulation, so I have made that change. But I could perhaps attach the line of the probe to one of the shelves, but leave the probe itself free hanging. And I may try that as well if I continue to have issues with cool spots. Thanks for the tip!

My fan is sitting on the back "lip" where the water jug is sitting, so about even with the second tub up from the bottom. I've got it blowing up at the moment (I was hoping it would circulate air up, hit the top of the incubator, and return back toward the bottom). But since I do seem to have a cool spot at the bottom, perhaps I should try moving it to the top shelf somewhere if I can find room, and letting it blow toward the bottom. If my additional flexwatt doesn't correct that issue, then I will certainly try that. Thanks for the other tip!