How often do you add water to your Brinsea incubator?

[Tre3hugger]

Hey guys. I do not have a humidity guage, and I was just looking for some anecdotal evidence. It says in the directions to fill half the water reservoir daily, which is what I've been doing. Then fill it all the way during lockdown. That will probably work but I was just wondering if anyone here did it differently. Or if you think a humidity guage is totally necessary? If I need one, which one would fit inside my packed small 7 egg bator? I'm paranoid because the more I read the more it seems most failed hatches are due to humidity. Should I just trust the instructions that came with my high end equipment? Assurance and advice would be appreciated.

I candled and traced what I thought was the air cell today on a couple eggs. Will compare on day 8.

 

[BrinseaUS]

Do you know what the humidity is where you're located? You can use a weather app or website to check.

 

[Tre3hugger]

Right now it is 21%. In the ten day forecast it peaks at around 60% on the wettest rainiest days. Seems like the average range is 25-45%. Thank you so much for taking the time to address my numerous questions.

Do you know what the humidity is where you're located? You can use a weather app or website to check.

 

[BrinseaUS]

Right now it is 21%. In the ten day forecast it peaks at around 60% on the wettest rainiest days. Seems like the average range is 25-45%. Thank you so much for taking the time to address my numerous questions.

Okay so I'm in Palm Bay, FL and the humidity here is around 57%. I'm incubating in a Maxi II Advance right now and I have not needed to add a single drop of water to the incubator. It is maintaining at right around 40% and the eggs are losing the correct amount of weight each day. When I added water it shot up to 55%.

(if you want more info on how to measure humidity using egg weight loss check out this article: https://www.brinsea.com/Articles/Advice/Humidity.aspx) Of course for this hatch that article won't be particularly helpful since you have to weigh the eggs before you put them in the incubator.

So you may not need to add any water on wet days where the ambient reaches 60%, but you probably will for the days where it's lower than 40%. Since the humidity is at 21% right now I would definitely add water to one half of the water pot.

And I'm happy to help! That's why I'm here.

 

[Tre3hugger]

That is exactly what I needed to know. I will just check the ambient humidity each morning and act accordingly. Fill half the water pot if ambient is under 40% for the day. Thanks for the peace of mind. Here's hoping you don't hear from me for a couple days! lol

 

[BrinseaUS]

That is exactly what I needed to know. I will just check the ambient humidity each morning and act accordingly. Fill half the water pot if ambient is under 40% for the day. Thanks for the peace of mind. Here's hoping you don't hear from me for a couple days! lol

You're welcome, and good luck with your hatch!