# Turning fridge in incubator



## tarta4ever (Apr 30, 2017)

Hi guys, do you have any advice to build a good incubator using a fridge?


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## JoesMum (Apr 30, 2017)

How is a fridge any use as an incubator 

You need warmth in an incubator. 

A fridge insulates well, but that's all I can say for it. 

Maybe somebody will prove me wrong. Have you tried youtube?


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## tarta4ever (Apr 30, 2017)

Of course you can't use a fridge as incubator you have to do some modification.


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## JoesMum (Apr 30, 2017)

This is one of the YouTube guides to doing it


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## Markw84 (Apr 30, 2017)

tarta4ever said:


> Hi guys, do you have any advice to build a good incubator using a fridge?


What size refridge are you working with? They make good incubators. I actually use 55 bottle wine coolers as I like the glass doors, but they are hard to find used or expensive. @Tom uses a larger regular old refridgerator. The Behler Center uses the large 180 bottle wine coolers.

They are easy to set up, but you have to position things properly to get a consistant temperature. But once set up properly, you can get a great incubator that holds lots of eggs and maintains great temps within 1° of your set point.

Depending upon the size, you can either use a CHE, radiant heat panel, or old element from a hovabator style incubator. If a large unit that is 5-6 foot tall, you will need two heat elements. You will need a muffin fan (computer fan) that is very low watt, and a proportional thermostat.

Let me know what you have and we will go from there on how to set it up properly.


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## tarta4ever (May 2, 2017)

hi thanks for your help, this is the fridge that i'll use(i should incubate hermanni and marginated's eggs in summer and redfooted tortoise all year), to reach the temperature i'll use heat cable of 100W so how i could turn this in a good incubator?
thanks


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## Markw84 (May 2, 2017)

Are you just using the top section for the incubator? Since they are totally separate, if you want to use both, you would need to do two separate systems and need two of everything.

For a heat element, I would suggest heat tape. One choice is sold by reptile basics. Sold by the foot, I would go with the 12" wide and run a strip all the way up the back to give even heat over the entire space. Get the wire clips, and you can even have them assemble the tape with clips to the length you need. To properly seat the clips to the heat tape and get a good connection you need a crimping tool, or vise could work. Their double sided tape makes applying it to the inside back of your fridge easy. Looks like you need about 2-1/2 ft of heat tape, clips/ plug set, and double sided tape. about $26.00 total

http://www.reptilebasics.com/12-heat-tape
http://www.reptilebasics.com/heat-tape/ultra-thin-double-layer-tape/
http://www.reptilebasics.com/thg-amp-wireset

I really like the heat tape sold by Helix Controls. They solder the connections and then protect them with a high temperature elect tape which makes a better setup, in my opinion. Probably be about the same price from them for a better setup. They have an 11" tape. Easy and pleasant to deal with, you can call them and explain what you need and they will set it up.

http://helixcontrols.com/?page_id=51

You need a good thermostat. For incubators I only use a quality proportional thermostat. My choice is again, Helix controls as I've used them for over 30 years not with great success and reliability. They are more expensive than you simple on/off thermostats, but worth it for temperature control needed for eggs. You need the DBS-1000. Going to run $140.00

http://helixcontrols.com/?page_id=42

You also should run a muffin fan (computer fan) in there to even out the temperature in a larger space like that. Otherwise the top will tend to be warmer than the bottom. I also like that it will create and distribute humidity as I set mine to blow over a tub of water on the bottom of the incubator. Helix Controls also sells these, but a about twice the price of Amazon for a good fan. I use this one in my incubators (and in my night boxes). Runs $19.00 on Amazon vs. $40 from Helix.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009OWVUJ0/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

So just attach the heat tape to the back inside wall of your incubator.
Secure the fan sitting on the bottom of the incubator blowing across a Tupperware container of water - maybe holding a gallon or so of water.
Place, or mount on the side of the outside of the incubator your temperature control unit.
You can drill a hole and run the heat tape and fan cords out of the incubator, or simply run them out of the door as the weather-stripping on the door will easily close and seal around the cords.
Mount your temperature probe inside, a few inches in front of the heat tape in the back. Many people put the temperature probe right next to some of the eggs in the incubator. That give a readout on the unit of the exact temperature at the eggs. However, you will get a bit more temperature swings as the controller will be slower to react to changes as the eggs and center of the unit will remain warn or cool longer, and the tape will fully heat until the probe senses the difference. For the most precise control of temperatures and creating stable temps, if you mount the probe close to the heat source it will react quickly to any change, and with the proportional control, level off to a constant heat level very quickly. Your controller may read a few degrees higher than the actual egg temperature, as it is giving you the temperature at the heat source. But you should monitor temperatures with a separate thermometer at the eggs anyway for best monitoring. I use the SensorPush data sensors and simply place one right in the container with the eggs. It connects to your mobile phone by Bluetooth and gives you a readout and graph of the exact temperature and humidity of your eggs over time. I simply check my phone and open the app to see the temp and humidity and any time, and a history of how it has maintained over the past hour, day, month, and history. 

Plug in your Controller, then plug in the heat tape plug into the output from the controller. I have my fan run full time, so plug it into a power source as well, not the controller.

That's it!


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## Tom (May 2, 2017)

I'm using a stand up freezer. I removed the compressor and all the wiring to save weight. I then used an extension cord to bring power to a strip outlet mounted on the back of the unit. I run an 80 watt RHP on the ceiling and one on the floor with a computer fan blowing across the surface of each panel creating a circulating air current through the whole thing and evenly distributes the heat. The panels are hooked up to the thermostat, but the fans run continuously, and I bought back up fans in case one dies on a holiday at the worst possible time. I have tubs of water on the bottom shelf over the RHP and this keeps humidity upwards of 80% all the time.

The key element is the thermostat. I tried to use one of the $30 cheapy on/off style ones and it just could not hold a steady temp. I was getting swings of 5-6 degrees, and up to 8 degrees sometimes, which is far too much for an incubator. Upon the recommendation of @Markw84 I contacted Helix Controls and talked to the owner. I bought the DBS 1000 which is a digital proportional thermostat and hooked it up. It works perfectly. I couldn't be happier. It was very easy to set and it holds the temperature within one degree of the set point all the time, unless I open the door and let the warm air out. Even then it is back to the correct temperature within minutes, but never goes over. I can't recommend this thermostat enough for this application, or any other where a more precise temperature is needed.


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## tarta4ever (May 2, 2017)

Since i haven't too many eggs to incubate i'll use only the lower side the only things that remain to buy is the termostat, can you help me to find one less expensive?


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