# Building an incubator out of a fridge



## shdybrady (Aug 26, 2011)

Wel I decided I am going to turn an old mini fridge I have into an incubator. Its your standard dorm room mini fridge you buy at walmart. But I have a few questions about regulating temperature and having turners in there.

I build an incubator out of an old cooler one time and couldnt keep the temperature regulated. I drilled holes and installed a fan. I didnt have a thermostat that would turn off the light mainly because I couldnt find one around here. So if someone could tell me which thermostat you have hopefully I can look it up. 

As for the turners is there a homemade remedy for this or is it better to just buy some that will fit? Do you have a brand or website you recommend? 

Thanks in advance


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## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

Use a wafer thermostat. Last time I bought one they were about $12. 

You can find them on Amazon and at GQF (Georgia Quail Farm Company, I believe). You want the whole thermostat and not just the wafers/disks.

If you want a fully automatic turner, I would just look into the automatic turners used for the styrofoam incubators. If you just want something to make turning easier, you can make shelves, attach them to eachother and then run a lever outside of the incubator. Make sure to put in bumpers to keep the shelves from turning too much and dropping the eggs. If you turn the lever from outside the incubator, you will turn one shelf and turn the rest(since they are attached).


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## shdybrady (Aug 26, 2011)

so the eggs dont even have to make a full revolution then right? They just have to be in three different positions to keep from sticking to the shell right?


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## shdybrady (Aug 26, 2011)

alright I looked up some egg turners and even diy ones. It just seems easier to buy the egg turners. Is there any brands I should stay away from? Also I plan on doing the simple light bulb for heat. Do I need an air circulation for it? Also should I put a fan at the top where the light will be and another fan at the bottom and use pvc to make a return back to the top?


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

I just bought this product to retrofit on my Hovabator styrofoam incubator. It's installed and working and is doing a wonderful job of keeping the temperature very steady (once I covered a lot of the holes where I removed the old heater, thermostat, etc.). 

IncuKit DC for Desktop Incubators | Proportional Thermostat, Fan, Heater Combo

However, note this is a 48 watt kit, they have a bigger one if you need it. The way to determine which kit you need is to run a 48 watt lightbulb in your incubator box and see if it will keep the temperature high enough pretty easily. 

This unit isn't cheap, but I found the wafer thermostat just didn't keep my eggs at an even enough temperature and am tired of fighting that and losing part of my hatch to uneven temperatures. 

I can't wait to put some eggs in!


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## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

I would suggest a small computer fan to circulate the air.

We once made an incubator out of a full size fridge. A light switch(to turn on and off), a wafer thermostat, and 3 100-watt lightbulbs. Then we used an old bathroom exhaust fan to circulate the air. Couple of tupperware containers and a large sponge to hold the humidity. We made the shelves pivot a couple times a day using a lever that led to the outside of the fridge. At one point we decided to play and we installed a grill routisserie motor to the top of the fridge, ran it through an outlet time and would rotate the shelves that way. Never could get the timer right for it to just rotate the shelves once, the timer wanted it to run for 10-15 minutes at a time. LOL

We called it the Frankenbator.


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## shdybrady (Aug 26, 2011)

ok so what is the best way for air movemtn to just put a fan to keep the inside air or should i put a fan on the top and bottom and have it circulate through pvc from the bottom to the top?


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## jaredI (Aug 6, 2011)

I built a cabinet incubator about 16 inches square and 40 inches tall, out of cedar. I took a power supply unit from a computer and installed it right inside the incubator. Put 3 computer fans in, 1 blowing down at the back side of incubator, and 2 blowing up at the front side to the incubator, the power supply unit pushes air down as well. I added 2 shelves, near top and bottom, and set about 10 pounds of lead ingots on each shelf to act as heat sinks. 2 100 watt bulbs to heat it, and a hot water thermostat (think it was about 9 bucks) to regulate the heat. Counting the thermometer (14 bucks at walmart) I believe I have about 25 bucks invested. The rest made from scraps laying around.


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## shdybrady (Aug 26, 2011)

so you didnt plumb the air circulation back to the top? You just caused it to circulate through the chamber itself. Seems pretty easy and straight foward. How do I know much air circulation is needed?


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## jaredI (Aug 6, 2011)

I suppose there is a formula for it somewhere, I just put some fans in and never worried about it. 2 fans are 4 inch, and 1 fan is 3 inch. After all, they are just to circulate the air around for a uniform temperature (I think). I must of done something right, most of my hatches have been a day early.


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