Hi folks - I naturally don't want to pay top dollar for an incubator - and working with engineers in my day job has given me the opportunity to pick their brains (and quite a bit of internet research) on how to make your own incubator.
Possibly!!!!
Unlike other posts ive found on various forums and the net I’ll hopefully be able to tell you everything, even down to the components – just a free exchange of info.
It’s a bit of a long post and and an ongoing one, as Ive not assembled it yet, but will keep you posted on problems / successes as they happen, however it should be built and tested (without eggs) this weekend.
The story so far.............
1. Build a box, and insulate it (quite simple so far)
2. Ensure there are air holes top and bottom, and that this flow of air is unrestricted.
3. Get a 12v adaptor (if you’re like me you’ll have lots of these knocking about the place from old radios, pc speakers etc etc).
4. Get a 12v fan from an old pc (your local council refuse site will have plenty of old pc’s, alternatively you can buy them for about £2.00)
5. Get a 12v, 10 Watt bulb and holder – an old lamp lurking around in a cupboard somewhere or you can buy them for literally a couple of pounds.
Now it gets a bit more involved.
6. Buy a Velleman MK138 thermostat from Maplins £4.99.
This will need adjusting / adapting because the temperature limit is 30. c and we need 37.5. c.
so......
7. Buy a Velleman VR3SS1A solid state power relay, and replace the relay on the thermostat (basically we are upgrading the unit to better cope with our requirements – this, and step 8 will require a soldering iron).
8. Now we need to replace the resistors on the thermostat, by doing this we enable the higher operating temperature to the range we need.
(I’ll let you know which type of resistor to change to when ive done the testing over the weekend – I say “ive done the testing”, I mean my engineer friend!)
http://www.velleman.be/downloads/0/manual_mk138.pdfThe thermostat schematic is on the link above to help with replacing these components.
9. Attach the fan, bulb and thermostat to your box ensuring these can all operate freely. The fan and lamp should be on the same circuit so when the bulb comes on, so does the fan - to circulate the warm air throughout the incubator to ensure a good even temperature.
10. Plug the 12v adaptor into the thermostat.
11. Put a thermometer in the incubator, leave to operate for a few hours and adjust the dial on the thermostat until a constant 37.5. c (or your preferred optimum temperature) is achieved. It’ll take a bit of fine tuning.
There you have a basic incubator.
We can posh this up by adding a viewing window (glass or Perspex).
Moving on a stage, humidity may be a factor, measure this with a hygrometer – ive got a fancy one I can borrow, but Maplin has one for a fiver, with a thermometer on it too (I don’t know how accurate it would be though – you get what you pay for after all)
http://www.maplin.co.ukHumidity wise we want….
55% to 60% for the first 18 days
65% to 70% for the last 3 or 4 days
Chances are the humidity in your incubator will be lower than required, so pop a small container of water (egg cup sized) in the incubator.
If you need more humidity, increase the surface area of your water by putting a bigger egg cup in.
If you need less humidity, decrease the surface area of your water vessel.
As I say, ive picked brains and read up on various web sites and im confident this will work, I’ll do another post next week on progress – but ultimately the proof of success is hatching chicks and we’ll have to wait a few weeks for that.
Needless to say - ensure all components are clean and be careful!
Any comments / superior knowledge gratefully accepted.
Daemo
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December 15, 2008, 10:37