Brooder Box- incandescent vs heat light

[DutchEggs]

Hello! I found this neat brooder box at an estate sale last weekend. I am planning to put my hatch, coming in a few days, in this box to grow out. I am wondering if anyone around here has seen this set up before, and if they could tell me the style of light I will need to use to provide warmth. I am trying to decide between an incandescent light or a heat light. I do have the top which comes with the box.
Thank you!

 

[NatJ]

I am trying to decide between an incandescent light or a heat light. I do have the top which comes with the box.

The common heat lamp bulb are incandescent bulbs. They just use more watts than many other incandescent bulbs, to make more heat.

But for the question I think you are asking, I would suggest you try a bulb that does not make much heat. The less heat the better, in my opinion, for the first test of how it works. You can try other bulbs if it turns out you need to.

Hello! I found this neat brooder box at an estate sale last weekend. I am planning to put my hatch, coming in a few days, in this box to grow out. I am wondering if anyone around here has seen this set up before, and if they could tell me the style of light I will need to use to provide warmth.

That brooder looks to be a style similar to these:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/poultry_brooder.html
https://www.strombergschickens.com/...-five-deck-poultry-game-bird-battery-brooder/
https://www.gqfmfg.com/item/0540-deck-game-birdpoultry-battery-brooder/

It is probably not exactly the same, but I think definitely similar.

Brooder like that do not generally use a light bulb to provide heat. Instead, they have a different heat source, and the light bulb is to attract the chicks toward the heated area. (Notice "attraction bulb" in the descriptions on all three of those sites.)

For an initial test, I would probably put in any light bulb you have handy that will screw in properly, plug the thing in and turn it on, and see what happens.

By putting in a light bulb, even if the bulb is small-wattage or LED or compact fluorescent, you can start to figure out if the electrical parts are working properly. Does the bulb light up? If not, look for an on/off switch somewhere. If you can't get it to light up at all, you have an electrical problem to find somewhere.

If you get it to light up, let it run for a few minutes, and test with your hand to see if anything gets warm or hot. If you find that part of it does have a heating element, put a thermometer nearby and watch for a while. The heat may automatically go on and off to stay about the right level (good), or it may stay on continuously and get scary hot (bad, unplug it and start troubleshooting the thermostat parts.)

I expect the actual heat source is that long metal thing that runs from side to side, that the lightbulb socket is attached to.

I see a wafer (part of a thermostat setup, to control the temperature.) They are used in some styles of incubators as well. There is something inside the wafer that gets larger when hot and smaller when cool, similar to how liquid works in some styles of thermometer. When the wafer is working properly, it gets wider when hot and pushes a switch to turn off the heat. As it cools down, it gets narrower, and that releases the switch to turn the heat back on. There is usually a screw to move the wafer closer to the switch or further away, to adjust the exact temperature setting. But if the wafer sprang a leak and lost the (whatever-it-is) inside it, then it will not work properly and you will need to replace the wafer.

Here is an example of one page that sells a replacement wafer for one kind of incubator:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/replacement_parts.html
I don't know if they are all interchangeable or not.

 

[DutchEggs]

The common heat lamp bulb are incandescent bulbs. They just use more watts than many other incandescent bulbs, to make more heat.

But for the question I think you are asking, I would suggest you try a bulb that does not make much heat. The less heat the better, in my opinion, for the first test of how it works. You can try other bulbs if it turns out you need to.



That brooder looks to be a style similar to these:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/poultry_brooder.html
https://www.strombergschickens.com/...-five-deck-poultry-game-bird-battery-brooder/
https://www.gqfmfg.com/item/0540-deck-game-birdpoultry-battery-brooder/

It is probably not exactly the same, but I think definitely similar.

Brooder like that do not generally use a light bulb to provide heat. Instead, they have a different heat source, and the light bulb is to attract the chicks toward the heated area. (Notice "attraction bulb" in the descriptions on all three of those sites.)

For an initial test, I would probably put in any light bulb you have handy that will screw in properly, plug the thing in and turn it on, and see what happens.

By putting in a light bulb, even if the bulb is small-wattage or LED or compact fluorescent, you can start to figure out if the electrical parts are working properly. Does the bulb light up? If not, look for an on/off switch somewhere. If you can't get it to light up at all, you have an electrical problem to find somewhere.

If you get it to light up, let it run for a few minutes, and test with your hand to see if anything gets warm or hot. If you find that part of it does have a heating element, put a thermometer nearby and watch for a while. The heat may automatically go on and off to stay about the right level (good), or it may stay on continuously and get scary hot (bad, unplug it and start troubleshooting the thermostat parts.)

I expect the actual heat source is that long metal thing that runs from side to side, that the lightbulb socket is attached to.

I see a wafer (part of a thermostat setup, to control the temperature.) They are used in some styles of incubators as well. There is something inside the wafer that gets larger when hot and smaller when cool, similar to how liquid works in some styles of thermometer. When the wafer is working properly, it gets wider when hot and pushes a switch to turn off the heat. As it cools down, it gets narrower, and that releases the switch to turn the heat back on. There is usually a screw to move the wafer closer to the switch or further away, to adjust the exact temperature setting. But if the wafer sprang a leak and lost the (whatever-it-is) inside it, then it will not work properly and you will need to replace the wafer.

Here is an example of one page that sells a replacement wafer for one kind of incubator:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/replacement_parts.html
I don't know if they are all interchangeable or not.

Thank you thank you! I was wondering what the long bar was. I had suspected it might be a heater, but I couldn’t find a match for this brooder online.
Also, good to know about the wafer. I guess I better get testing things out.
I love that whenever I come here with a question there is someone who knows the answer.
Thank you again!

 

[NatJ]

Thank you

You're welcome!