Brinsea Mini Advance - temperature way off??

[Purin]

Hello everyone,

I tried to hatch a few quail eggs a few weeks ago but unfortunately non of them hatched. (here is my thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/735388/coturnix-late-hatch-when-should-i-float-test-them/10)

I'm using Brisnea Mini Advance and we want to give it another go with Silkie and coturnix button quail eggs at the same time. Before setting the eggs I wanted to check the temperature thoroughly this time so I decided to use a few different thermometres and the results are reaaaaly confusing..
The Incubator is set on 37,5C and when the temperature stabilised, the incubator showed 37,5. Apart from that, a digital, a bit expensive thermometer that we bought and put inside exactly where the eggs would go shows only 35,4C !? can the mini advance built-in thermometer be that much off?
Other three thermometers (cheap ones) that I put inside (more out of curiosity than rany eal expectation of them being accurate) show accordingly 36,5, 35,0 and 34,0. ... can someone tell me what is going on with the temperature in this thing ... I'm really confused which one to trust... and now I'm starting to think that the temperature could have been the problem the last time.. because even though some chicks developed they never made it through

Has anyone had these problems?

Thank you for any advice and forgvie me the long introduction.

 

[chocolateeggs]

OK so don't feel bad my incubator does the same thing, it is not the same brand, however. Here is what mine is reading... 90 degrees on built in thermometer, 101.5 on factory given mercury thermometer, and 99 degrees on expensive digital thermometer I bought. So my last hatch was pitiful and I have a sneaking suspision it was a combination of too low of a temp and humidity. Don't trust the thermometer they gave you, trust the others and use the average temp as what to go on.

 

[StarrWulf]

I am no expert but I will put my 2cents in with a background in electronics. Digital thermometers can be all over the board if they work at all. I have 4 on mine and they vary by 20 degrees F. One I KNOW is at least 1 degree low and I was using it to test the others. If your sensor is built in, and it does not have a calibration function, you are out of luck. I prefer the sensors with an external sensor for a number of reasons. The main being there is a simple way to check your thermometer. Take a large cup and fill it with ice *crushed preferred but not necessary* and then top it off with water. Let it set for 10 minutes to stabilize. Then take the probe on your thermometer and stick it in the middle of the cup away from the sides and top or bottom. Your thermometer should go to 32 degrees *0 C* . If you cannot calibrate, note the difference and remember to add the difference to it when you measure the temp. This will get you about as close as you can within a few points. Accuracy varies with temperature. You can always check it with a digital oral thermometer from the local pharmacy.

The next thing to watch is your hysteresis. This is how much of a temperature swing you have between turning on and turning off. The closer together, the better. Mine has a swing of 1 C so it is set to turn off above the temp I want and turn on a little below. It varies +/- 0.5 C, You can read some of the other threads on how others worked around wider swings to maintain a steady temp.

I don't know what thermometers you are using, but if it has a built in thermometer , laying it flat on the bottom defeats the purpose. It has no air circulation as most are designed to be vertical. I have 2 of mine with internals mounted onto the sides of my box. They are very slow to register temperature change unlike my ones with external probes.

Hope this helps some... I am working on hatching my first batch of barnyards.

 

[chocolateeggs]

That is a really good idea with the ice water! Now I am paranoid to test my thermometers... I think I will just let them go and test them next time bc I am too far in on this hatch to go back now lol.

 

[TweetyNPetey]

I have a Brinsea Mini Advance and it's the best incubator I have ever had!! It keeps the temp at exactly 99.5 degrees, or whatever I set it to!

 

[aka Rachel]

I had a mini adv. as well, but my problem swang the other way.

As I continued doing hatches, my chicks were coming earlier and earlier. Like finally they were hatching on lockdown day. I had to turn the temp on the dispay down to 99.1 and then they would hatch on time.

I prefer to check temps using mercury or alcohol thermometers simply because they don't change as fast as the digital ones. My favorite method is actually a small fish tank thermometer inside two small baggies of water.

 

[StarrWulf]

it was just something I learned in chemistry class in college that impressed me. since you cannot test yours now, and if you are curious, you can get the oral thermometer from the drug store for under $10. That will give you an idea how close you are. Thermometers are not accurate all through the range they cover. That is why they always state what their accuracy is. Dead on in some temps, high or low in others. This is true of ALL thermometers.

 

[StarrWulf]

I actually use a fish tank thermometer in my box. Its my most accurate one (other than the oral). It reads ever 3 seconds. The internals I have don't read but once a minute and that is too slow when I am trying to make adjustments. As for your hatching time, you are right, probably too hot or your hysteresis was too wide for the setting. Since you have more experience than I in this, I was wondering if a heated floor would not be better for brooders? You could use an aquarium heater to keep the water temp where you want it and when the chicks get cool they just lay down to get warm.....

 

[dronan]

The same thing just happened to me. Not one egg hatched. All the other reading are 3-4 degrees less.
I am calling the company.

 

[gbartha]

Old thread but this also happened to me about 6 weeks ago. All eggs died. I sent it back and had them recalibrate it (there were other issues too). So far I am day 4 into a new set and its spot on. The only issue I have now is that it holds the humidity too well.