Ebo-jagger/cooler incubator fluctions

[Zoe]

Okay, I recently set up an incubator, heated with an ebo-jagger water heater in a cooler with some water, bricks and the tupperware. Now, the heater is on the highest setting, and I'm having two problems:

- The temp only reaches 83F max, and I want it to be able to hit 90 at least. What's the solution - a higher wattage? Less water?

- The temperature fluctuates by 1.5F... between 82.3 and 83.5 or something like that. What can fix that? More water? Less water? Insulating the cooler? New heater?

Thanks!
Zoe

[Piers]

I wouldn't worry about the temps fluctuating a degree or so. I had up to 5 degrees up and down with ball pythons burms and lots of different lizards with no ill effect.
as for geting the temps higher I'd insulate the box better and go to a hogher watt heater. I wouldn't use less water for two reasons, 1 water holds heat longer than air so the temps will be more stable in the box and 2 less water will evaporate faster.
Piers

[Zoe]

Should I use more water, or will that just make the temperature go down?

thanks!
Zoe

[joshm]

Hey Zoe you would want to use a heater with a higher watt rating for the added heat and also, the smaller the watts on them the harder they have to work to keepthe temps up and the faster they burn out.
Thanks Josh

[Ron]

Hey Zoe,

I don't think a higher wattage would help since all the ebo heaters, I've seen, are maxed at the same temp. I'm pretty sure your using less than 5 gallons of water so a 75 w should be plenty. A higher wattage can get you back to set point faster but that doesn't matter cause you can't get to a high enough temp in the first place.

When I set up my incubator last year I went through the same thing. All of the expensive heaters I tried were maxed at 89 degrees but none would get my temp in my incubator over 87 degrees. So I went with a cheaper submersible heater that didn't have the dial calibrated so I could turn it as high as I liked. It got easily over 95 degrees, much higher than I needed. It is more of a pain to calibrate but I wasn't in a big rush so it wasn't a big deal.

Good luck!

Ron

[Will]

Should I use more water, or will that just make the temperature go down?

Water will act as a 'heat sink', storing heat and making the overall temps more stable. More water will store more heat and act to stabalize the incubator temps better than less water can. It may take longer to get up to temperature, but it will make the temps more stable over the long run. If more water will fit, go for it. You may need a stronger heater to heat more water though.