I finally finished building my incubator. After several tests and design changes I am happy with it. I have tested it repeatedly to make sure it works properly. Over the last five days it has stayed at a constant temp of 89.6F. WARNING - I have never used it to incubate eggs but hopefully will soon.
Here is a pic of what it looks like.
First I taped an 11" piece of flexwatt to the bottom of the cooler. I am using a ESU thermostat and after placing the probe in several different locations I found the place that matches the temp. What I mean is if the temp on the thermostat is set at 89F the inside of the egg chamber is at 89F. Bricks are used to make a bridge for a shelf and 1 ltr water bottles are placed in the bottom. They hold in heat and help eliminate hot spots.
Next I placed all the water bottles in the bottom and added the egg crate shelf. I tried using water and an aquarium heater in the bottom. It didn't work well. I think I had a faulty heater because the temps were very unstabe. Also after a week I could smell mildew. The water bottles allow me to add 9 liters of water to maintain temps and eliminate hot spots without worrying about mold or mildew.
For an egg chamber I used a plastic tub. 3 pieces of egg crate are stacked in the bottom and water is filled up to just past the second crate. This creates a nice layer of insulation for the eggs, holds heat, releases humidity, and helps eliminates hot spots. The eggs will be placed in the smaller dish. Notice the excess water at the bottom of the dish. If the eggs were placed directly on the crate they would be subjected to all of that moisture. I used this same egg chamber at room temps for fox snake eggs. I decided to add the dish after noticing that the bottom of my fox snake eggs ballooned up almost to the point of bursting.
After placing the egg chamber on the shelf I put on the 1/4 inch glass lid that allows me to see the eggs without opening the chamber. (opening the chamber would cause a sudden drop in temp). Two one liter bottles are added to each side of the cooler to help with heat retention. As you can see their is not much empty space in the incubator. The heater only runs in short bursts and stays off a lot longer than it is on. This is what the inside of the finished incubator looks like.
I thought about adding a computer fan to help circulate air and eliminate hot spots but hotspots don't seem to be a problem and there is simply no room for one. I also plan to connect a second thermostat to the first one in case it malfunctions. Well, tell me what you think and let me know if you have any questions.
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