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DIY incubator fan help

D

DougM

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I just picked up a Monster cooler to convert to an incubator. So far everything is working out great.

I disconnected the electrical connection to the compressor to keep it from coming on when the cooler is plugged in. Now when I plug it in the internal fan runs and the fluorescent lights will work with the switch.

I'm using a Herpstat II with a Zoo Med heat pad. The heat pad is only 8 watts but seems to be working great.

My problem seems to be with the fan. It generates enough heat on its own to get the incubator up to 98 degrees without the Herpstat feeding any power to the heat pad. The fan is nicely integrated into the cooler so I don't want to change it.

My question is: Would it be ok to wire the fan into the same circuit as the plug running the heat pad? Will the proportional output of the Herpstat damage the fan by running at 30-70% power? Then the fan and heat pad can shut off if necessary or run at less than 100%
 
You want that fan running 24/7 to keep consistent temperatures throughout.

You will find you probably can't use the interior fan for the very reason you mentioned, it puts off too much heat, that was what we found out with ours, even plugged into a rheostat to slow it down.

Our smaller true cooler is 12 cubic feet and we used the same fan in it as we do in our larger incubator, a bathroom ceiling fan plugged into a zoo-med rheostat so we have infinite speed control on the fan also, important on multi shelf incubators.
If your inc is 12 cubic ft or more you might consider doing the same, it works perfect in our incs.

I screwed a few pieces of wood to the frame of the fan so it would sit up off of the floor, pointed to the back of the incubator so the airflow wouldn't be directly on one piece of heat tape which would throw temps off on one side.

If your inc is smaller than 12 cubic feet you probably want to go with one or two computer fans to keep temps down to where the heat source is heating the inc and not the fan.

How I set it up
PICT5483.jpg


How my partners inc is set up, fan pointed up with no cover, I liked mine better, the temps seemed more stable shelf to shelf, but both ways worked really well.
SDC11496.jpg
 
Thanks, Jerry. I just ordered a rotary lamp switch like the ones on desk lamps. It's a dimmer switch.

The inc is 3 cubic feet and the fan in it looks just like a computer fan. The temps were perfect and even with the fan wired into the same circuit as the heat pad. I just didn't like the whirling sound of the fan speeding up and slowing down as the Herpstat went from 50-60% power. It sounded like a siren!

I think running the fan at 20-30% power with the dimmer may be the trick. Thanks again!
 
My home made incubator is a 5 shelf wine cooler. I hooked up a small computer cooling fan and it works fantastic. The fan runs 24/7 doesn't heat up the incubator and provides plenty of circulation.
 
no need for a fan
Click to expand...
If you have a multi shelf incubator you will want and need a fan.

The heat bubble that you get when you don't have one makes the top shelf 3-5 degrees hotter than the bottom shelf, even in a mini fridge.
 
Last year I had a single shelf and didn't run the fan, this year I hooked it up because I hope to have alot more then one shelf. I'm using a qtr hp fan on a dimmer switch.
 
Try wiring in different cell phone chargers into the fan for power. Different ratings will run different speeds and at lower temps.
 
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