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Mini fridge incubator not staying at right temp?

A

Araidia

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Hey, anyone have some tips to get a mini fridge incubator to stay at the right temp? Room temp is 78, fridge starts out at 87-88 where I want it but in a few hours goes up to 90-92+. It has one heat pad at the bottom of the fridge run by a herpstat 2 and a small fan on the top shelf. The probe is on the heat pad, that's whats kept it cooler so far but it's still too hot. There's lots of water bottles on the bottom and the door to stabilize the temps to. The temp goes too high even though I've had the herpstat set on 82 all week and it doesn't even turn on most of the time. Digital probe inside of top egg box says 90-92, temp gun read higher. Is the fan heating things up over time? Should i use more fans or different ones that run cooler? I'm about to just put the ac in that room. My old incubator was downstairs where it's cooler so maybe that's why I didn't have a problem with it.
 
Try relocating your thermostat probe first. I hang it around the very center of the incubator.

Also, I would try putting the heat pad on the back and see if that helps. I like to keep it in a location where it has room to breathe.
 
I originally had the pad on the back wall, maybe i'll try it again for a bit, and the probe was in the middle of the fridge for a while but them temps were even higher, they got a little better the lower I put it, it was 2 inches above the pad for a while then i just taped it right on it. I'm trying to figure out why the temps keep rising even though the pads not on 90 percent of the time. How much would small fan heat things? Without the fan on it's 78 on the bottom and 90 on the top.
 
Araidia said:
Hey, anyone have some tips to get a mini fridge incubator to stay at the right temp? Room temp is 78, fridge starts out at 87-88 where I want it but in a few hours goes up to 90-92+. It has one heat pad at the bottom of the fridge run by a herpstat 2 and a small fan on the top shelf. The probe is on the heat pad, that's whats kept it cooler so far but it's still too hot. There's lots of water bottles on the bottom and the door to stabilize the temps to. The temp goes too high even though I've had the herpstat set on 82 all week and it doesn't even turn on most of the time. Digital probe inside of top egg box says 90-92, temp gun read higher. Is the fan heating things up over time? Should i use more fans or different ones that run cooler? I'm about to just put the ac in that room. My old incubator was downstairs where it's cooler so maybe that's why I didn't have a problem with it.
Click to expand...

Focal said:
Try relocating your thermostat probe first. I hang it around the very center of the incubator.
Click to expand...

:iagree: I have mine directly in the middle of my incubator. I have a fan on the top and bottom to make sure the air is constantly circulating. Mine's built from an old stand up freezer.

Araidia said:
I originally had the pad on the back wall, maybe i'll try it again for a bit, and the probe was in the middle of the fridge for a while but them temps were even higher, they got a little better the lower I put it, it was 2 inches above the pad for a while then i just taped it right on it. I'm trying to figure out why the temps keep rising even though the pads not on 90 percent of the time. How much would small fan heat things? Without the fan on it's 78 on the bottom and 90 on the top.
Click to expand...

I would check the seals on your fridge to make sure they are working properly. I don't know what kind of fans you have but I have 2 small computer fans. They work great!
 
Thank you :) I'll try moving things around and add a fan. Where do you get computer fans from? Mine's a mini wire fan so idk if those run hotter. I'm bringing the ac in there tomorrow to just in case, it seems to run better when its cooler out. My old incubator was a full sized fridge and that ran fine but it's too big to fit in the room up here and we're remodeling down there. If this one doesn't behave in the next week I'll have to find somewhere to put the big one lol
 
I got mine from some random website, can't remember where. You can pick them up at any store that sells computers though like best buy, staples, etc.
 
So I was playing with everything all day and I think it's the fan. I disconnected the heat for awhile but left the fan running and opened all the windows so the room was only 70 and aired the incubator out for a bit so the temp was down to 82. I put the temp probe right in the middle and a few hours later it was up to 88 already and going up another .1 every 20 min or so. I guess the fan worked ok in the big incubator but this one heats it up. It looks like this fan but has no brand name on it, it says 12w on the back. http://i.walmartimages.com/i/mp/00/04/88/94/04/0004889404075_P255045_300X300.jpg

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll have to pick up some computer fans :)
 

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Araidia said:
that one looks awesome, i like the speed control thing it has. Thank you :)
Click to expand...

Honestly the only reason I got those is because they come with the AC plug so no converting from the computer connections. Once I had them though I realized how great they worked. I have the speed control mounted outside so I can control them without opening the door.
 
Focal said:
Try relocating your thermostat probe first. I hang it around the very center of the incubator.

Also, I would try putting the heat pad on the back and see if that helps. I like to keep it in a location where it has room to breathe.
Click to expand...

Nick is spot on, as usual. It also sounds like it's definitely the fan. Is your incubator big enough that you actually even need one? You might be just fine without it.
 
I typically run the computer fans with 6-7w. You can yank one out of a computer and use an old cell phone charger or most AC/DC adapters that have an output of less than 12v. You can also find some adapters that have an adjustable output. More output equals a higher fan speed. Just make sure you understand the differences between AC and DC when wiring. AC rheostats will not work on a DC fan and will blow.
 
Thanks for all the help, you guys are awesome :) I think I'll pick up the one with the regular plug, I'm electronically retarded so I need something simple lol. It's a 3.5 ft mini fridge, I've had the fan off all day and it's keeping the correct temp in the middle where the probe is but there's a 3 degree diff in the temps of the top and bottom boxes, last time I used a smaller incubator I had a lot of condensation form when the fan was off so I'll try it with a new one first. I have a month to get everything working good. I think I'm only getting two clutches this year but they should be awesome ones so it needs to be working perfectly.
 
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