URGENT INCUBATOR HELP NEEDED PLZ!

Im very new to all this and I just received 10 button quail eggs in the mail. I constructed a homemade incubator from a styrofoam cooler but I dont have a thermostat and just use a dimmer to get the temperatures. I have an AcuRite air temp and hygrometer and it's working very good however, I need to know how to keep my temp at a constant 100-101. My temp will often stay at 100-101 but I will sometimes come home to a fluctuated temp. It can sometimes range from 98 to 107 and I really really need help with getting the temp to stay acurate! Can anyone please help me or give me advice!



Some helpful info might be that I made my incubator from a copy of Grillmaster33's youtube video incubator that he made. He said he had good sucess but I dont know how he ever got the temps to stay acurate.

If you are using just a dimmer to control the temp you have a problem.

Incubator temp will rise and fall by as much as the temperature variation of the room that the incubator is in ( there will be a time lag due to the insulation).

Unless you are able to maintain the temperature in the room you will not maintain the temp in the incubator.

If you have an air-conditioned room with temperature control, that allows you to keep constant temp, then you can keep the incubator constant.

If you can not keep room temperature constant then you will need a thermostat.

You can find a thermostat in all sorts of electrical apliances, my first one came from an aquarium heater and it worked fine.

Have a look on the web for a thermostat.

Better luck next time.

Thanks

H-A

Totally agree with H-A. That is a big question. I started off with exactly the same problem.

Further to what he has said...

The biggest obstacle to making a home made incubator is keeping the temp as close to 37.5C as possible (sorry I'm metric and not terribly good at F). Ideally the temperature shouldn't fluctuate more than 0.5C either way (i.e. 37C-38C). The degree of temperature fluctuation within the mean is called the "hysteresis" (in context of thermostats anyway). So you want a thermostat with the lowest possible "hysteresis" (Ideally 0.5C or less).

I've read that temperatures above 40C (I think 104F) for extended periods is fatal. I'm afraid without a decent thermostat you may not have a terribly good hatch rate and you may well have cooked some of your eggs already. I would drop your thermostat down a notch or two (better a slightly lower temperature than too high) and see what happens. Hopefully you might still get something hatch.

If you don't manage to hatch anything or the chicks die soon after, don't be too disheartened. Just notch it down to experience, shop around for either a better thermostat or buy a good incubator.

The room storing the incubator is mainly at a constant temp of 76 degrees. However the incubator's temperature raises. Say if I have it running at a good 101 for a few hours and come back I will find it at 102 and sometimes the temperature can decrease drastically. going down to 95.

The incubator is a closed system (constant gain and losses) , when the temp is set by the dimmer the only thing that can alter the incubator temperature is the temperature of the room.

Your room temperature will vary during the day, unless you have 24hr central heating that can maintain temp over a tight range.(and you keep the door shut)

Usually household temp. control is not that accurate. I looked at household heating thermostats when I was making my first incubator and found they did not have enough control.

I think you will need to buy an incubator specific thermostat. (range and hysterisis critical).

Thanks

H-A

Sorry if it is a bit engineer speak, never thought I would need the thermodynamics that once had to learn.

Perhaps we can revive my faith in my former teachers by applying matrices to Quail !!!

I'm afraid a dimmer switch isn't really suitable. Even a slight fluctuation in room temperature and opening the box (I presume you are manually turning the eggs) will affect the stability of the temperature in your home made incubator drastically. With a thermostat, the temperature is at least regulated.

You can still get some hatch, eggs and chicks can be quite hardy but fluctuating conditions weakens them and is less than ideal. Also quail eggs are smaller than chicken eggs, so they will retain a constant temperature less well than a larger egg. So keeping a constant temperature is even more important.

I watched that video on YouTube. One point to note: he said he was planning to use the incubator as a "hatch box" to move the chicks when they are starting to hatch. Transferring them from his incubator to keep his incubator clean. So they would only be in there for the last 2 days of the incubation process and the box wouldn't have to be openned. I don't doubt that would work well for that, I occassionally do something similar when I have several eggs in my incubator due to hatch at different times.

Sorry, if this isn't what you want to hear

I sent him messages and he replied. He said he used a little giant at first but had no sucess and he made that incubator and he says he uses it primarily now. From day 1. I don't have the money at the moment to go out and buy an incubator or thermostats my house is generally cool and the climate isn't hot and my room stays cool night and day. The incubator will stay around 100-101 but sometimes will drop a degree. Basically, the home made one is all I have and I really need as many of them to hatch as possible.

The ony thing I can suggest is try not to open the box too much. Twice a day to let some fresh air in (10 seconds should do the trick). Instead of manually turning the eggs, tilt the box several times a day (alternate placing a stack of books underneath one side, then the other). Keep the box away from direct sunlight, heat sources, draughts and air cons to try to keep as steady a temperature as possible.

It is possible, some people used to incubate with candles. Though success rates weren't great. You need to make sure the temperature doesn't go over 40C for too long or you'll cook them.

Let us know how you get on and good luck.

Sure will. Right now my humidity is 48% and my temp is 100 degrees.

Hi i've also found a guide on a different website suggesting the use of a dimmer switch fourtunately i haven't purchased any eggs yet. Being far from an electrican how i would i go about removing and re-wiring a 'recycled' thermostat i.e from a aquirium heater as you mentioned or there an easier appliance that can be sacrified.

Thanks

Hayley.

That is a good question. I googled it. Couldn't find anything. What common house hold items usually have a thermostat?

Also, my eggs seem to be doing well. No temp fluctuations constant 101 with 49% humid. Eggs aren't too hot. Their warm and good.

quite have a few things can have thermostats; boilers, ovens, electric blankets, small heater/fans and ovens. Many operate well below incubation temperature (usually below 30C), so aren't really suitable. They are often also imbedded in the appliance and can't be taken out. The ones that can go higher usually don't operate with a tight enough temperature control. A 2 or 3 degrees fluctuation isn't critical for heating a room, but can make incubating eggs a bit hit and miss. So I'd shop around for a suitable thermostat rather than canibalise one.

i used an old habi-stat vivarium thermostat.
had a hand `probe` that i could push through the top of the incy to just above the top of the eggs.

i found it quite reliable, hatched quail, chucks, ducks, pheasants

do you ever think it would be possible that the room temperature could cause the temperture to rise because if your in a hot room the temperature is going to rise but i think you could try a colder room for the inc and check if that works.

yes, but even the expensive incubators instructions tell you to put the incy in a spot out of direcrt sunlight where the temperature dosnt fluctualte much,

i used to keep mine at the top of the stairs!

yeah mine are hidden from sun light in my room with a fan on low which keeps the temperature in my room at 77.5 24/7 and the eggs have stayed 101-102 for the past 5 days. 11 days till hatch!

Today, I stop turning the eggs, They are supposed to hatch friday the 13th =0 to tuesday. (: wish me luck. My eggsa re heavier than they were when they arrived

They should be lighter than before you started incubation. The eggs naturally loose about 1/4 to 1/3 of their moisture thru evaporation. I hope it's just psychological.

I've heard that Friday the 13th is lucky in Spain. Good luck!

I could be wrong who knows (:

I'll just move to spain and come back to north carolina

good idea get all the good luck in spain then go back to the nomral luck of carolina lol

My eggs started making chirping noises, no sign of movement but I can hear them they do it every once in a while

Just leave them and don't open the incubator(or it will lose heat and humidity)

good luck

sam

hope you get a great hatch mate good luck.