Hovabator or reptibator

[TJ_Burton]

Hey folks,
I have heard lots of things about the ZooMed Reptibator. Not all good unfortunately; I figured since I only saw one brief thread on this product on reptilescanada, I would do my best to give a proper review, as well as test and address the issues that have been found with the Reptibator in the most cost effective and esthetically pleasing way possible.

ZooMed Reptibator

Initial thoughts:
Out of the box the incubator seems to be nothing overly special. The thermostat/hygrometer and heat element look promising, but the unprotected/uncased Styrofoam box could easily be damaged, punctured, broken if not handled with extreme care. The "wells" in the bottom of the incubator to store water look as though they should work fine, although I am sure many people will use vermiculite or perlite instead of the sponge provided. The actual clear plastic lid that covers the incubator is made out of a very similar material to clear plastic packaging like you would find surrounding products at an electronics store. I was happy to see that they put a gasket between the two plastic halves containing the electronics to prevent water vapor from damaging them, but then frowned when I saw how shabbily the lid sits on the Styrofoam box. The ventilation holes are small, but I have a feeling they may release too much humidity. That will have to be proven out during use. In conclusion, from what I can see the product should perform properly with minimal modifications.

Methodology:
Materials used for initial testing
- ZooMed Reptibator
- Underwater Treasures Digital Thermometer
The Reptibator will be run as-is right out of the box for 72 hours. The only modification done at this time is the addition of a temp probe at the egg site to compare egg site temperature to that of the Reptibator thermostat. This will be done without any physical alteration of the Reptibator itself. During this time Temperature of the thermostat and egg site will be recorded, as well as the max humidity level achieved.
If there are discrepancies in temperature, or a lack of humidity after 72 hours, modifications will be designed and applied to the Reptibator in order to correct them. These modifications will be described later on in the thread once initial testing has ended.
-Reptibator will be set to 100.F
-Reptibator wells will be filled with water
-Reptibator will be refilled with water when needed and temp loss & recovery will be recorded during this process



TESTING RESULTS:
24hrs
Temp:
As suspected and noted by many users, there is an obvious diference in the Reptibator thermostat temp reading and the actual temp of the egg site. After 24hrs the egg site maxed out at 92.6F while the thermostat is set to 100.F (start temp was 71.F room temp). While the egg site quickly reached 80.4F (approx 15min) it took another 8 hours for it to slowly creep up to the max temp of 92.6F which could pose a problem if you ever decide to open the incubator to check on the eggs, add water for humidity etc.
Humidity:
With the wells full of water, the Reptibator only reached a max humidity of 54%. The water has all evaporated at this point and the humidity has dropped back down to 41% (same as the room). Once the full 24 hours is complete (another 4 hours or so) I will open up the Reptibator to add water for humidity, and record the heat lost in doing so, as well as the time it takes for the heat to reach the max of 92.6F again.

Heat loss from opening:
The incubator was opened for approx 10 seconds so that lukewarm (room temp) water could be added to the reservoir to increase humidity. The temp dropped from 100.F to 94.F on the thermostat; however the egg site temp probe fell from 92.6F to 78.F likely due to the water being added underneath it in conjunction with the heat escaping from the incubator while the lid was lifted. Below is a timeline of how long it took the temp to rise back up where it started.
Start (measurements after opening incubator)
Eggs site: 78.F
Thermometer: 94.F
Humidity: 42%
10min
Eggs site: 83.F
Thermometer: 99.F
Humidity: 50%
20min
Eggs site: 84.F
Thermometer: 101.F
Humidity: 52%
40min
Eggs site: 85.F
Thermometer: 101.F
Humidity: 55%
60min
Eggs site: 86.F
Thermometer: 100.F
Humidity: 55%
80min
Eggs site: 88.F
Thermometer: 100.F
Humidity: 55%
100min
Eggs site: 89.F
Thermometer: 100.F
Humidity: 56%
As expected it took longer than desirable for the temp to rise back up to an acceptable range once the incubator was opened (considering the starting point of 92.6F). This seems to be caused by the temp probe being so close to the heating element. As the warm air in the incubator rises, it gathers at the top of the incubator where the temp probe is located; this causes the temp probe to read the air temp incorrectly as the air at the top of the incubator quickly reaches 100.F (the set point). As a result, the thermostat turns off leaving the egg site much cooler than the thermostat temp probe. The cool air temperature at the bottom of the container slowly begins to raise over the course of an hour and a half until it reaches its max point; still considerably less than the thermostat reads (at least 8.F less).
This diagram (although not entirely accurate) helps to visually describe the issue

Another reason someone will find it difficult to keep the egg site at the correct temp is the fact that the water in the bottom of the container has a cooling effect. Using warmer water will help diffuse this issue. For instance, the max temp achieved at the egg site with water in the wells was 89.F; once the water had evaporated the temp raised up to nearly 93.F at the egg site. When water was added again the max temp fell back down to 89.F.
The max humidity reached in the incubator so far was 56% although the humidity was held at 55% on average for as long as there was water in the wells. This seems like it is reading lower than the actual humidity to me but I will test that further once the temp issue is sloved.


FAN MOD: Thermostat & Egg Site Heat Distraburtion Fix

24hrs
To try and solve the massive difference in temps between the thermostat and the egg site I have incorporated a very small aquarium light fixture fan from a coralife power compact fixture. The fan was mounted in several locations, and the one that worked best was off the center heat element bracket closest to the thermostat temp probe (see photos below). The fan corrected the temp inversion by forcing the warm air trapped in the upper portion of the incubator to move downwards and ultimately evenly around the entire incubator. (see diagram of airflow below).



With the introduction of a small fan, the max temp of the egg site (with water in the unit) went from 89.F to 98.F which is a huge improvement; this reduced the difference in temp from the thermostat and egg site from 11.F to 2.F - much more acceptable.
***An oddity I noticed is that the egg site temp climbs faster than the thermostat temp. This may be caused by the plastic housing around the thermostat temp probe sheilding the probe from the heat. As the plastic housing slowly raises, the probe would read that temperature. It may also retain heat once it has reached 100.F which could help explain the 2.F temp differance even with air circulation.
The egg site also took far less time to reach max temp, 20min instead of several hours. See below:
***You may notice I am using two temp probes at the egg site now for accuracy.
Start (measurements with Reptibator starting at room temp)
Eggs site: 74.F
Thermometer: 74.F
4min
Eggs site: 90.F
Thermometer: 87.F
5min
Eggs site: 92.F
Thermometer: 90.F
7min
Eggs site: 93.F
Thermometer: 94.F
9min
Eggs site: 95.F
Thermometer: 95.F
11min
Eggs site: 97.F
Thermometer: 97.F
13min
Eggs site: 98.F
Thermometer: 99.F
20min
Eggs site: 98.F
Thermometer: 100.F

Heat loss from opening after fan mod:
The same procedure was followed in the previous test, but this time the incubator performed much better. After opening the egg site dropped to 94.F and the thermostat read 99.F (again possibly because of the plastic housing of the temp probe retaining heat). However, after only 5min the Reptibator was back to 98.F at the egg site and 100.F on the thermostat.
The most fluctuation I have experienced at the egg site is roughly 2.F while the thermostat remains at 100.F which isn't terrible, but obviously not perfect.

Carrying out the exact same test as above with a container(s) of moist vermiculite in the Reptibator as most would use it proved to keep humidity in the egg boxes at or around 100% and the temperature was stable for much longer when the incubator was opened even for an extended period of time.