Matticoopx Incubator

[member 544621]

I wanted to share my review of the Matticoopx Incubator here, because I know there are folks out there looking for a moderately priced incubator. At $125, this incubator is affordable, at least to give a try.

I have had the 'big name' incubator, and also lower end incubators, like the styrofoam types. All had their issues and none was ever consistent. I was more disappointed in the higher end one, because, well.. I expected to have a good experience with a product that is fairly pricey for a hobby type incubator. I gave up on it (or it gave up on me) and began looking at some other options.

Enter the Matticoopx - reviews on Amazon were very good to excellent for most folks and there were enough reviews for me to believe it was worth buying and trying. Besides, I could put a bunch of eggs in it and if it didn't work, return within the month for a full refund.

The product is made in China (surprised? LOL). Comes well packaged and while the instructions are not perfect, grammatically, they are pretty easy to follow.

Constructed similarly to the 'B' brand incubator, the Matticoopx seems to be well constructed.

So far (day 17) the egg turner has functioned flawlessly. You can manually turn the eggs at the press of a button, but the machine automatically turns the eggs every hour. You cannot program the turning motor, however. At lockdown (last three days) the incubator is programmed to stop turning the eggs. If you want to incubate duck eggs or other eggs that have a different lockdown day, you'd simply reset the machine to start over on day 4 or 5 (or whatever you needed). They also have directions for resetting the turner/and days when you put in a new batch of eggs.

The Matticoopx has a pretty straight forward temperature adjustment capabilities (in farenheit) but does not offer a daily cooling off period. I overcame this by manually turning down the temperature for a few minutes a day and setting the timer on my phone. Downside is that the screen is not backlit, making it difficult to read unless you have good lighting.

There is a built-in humidity sensor, also. I do not have a hygrometer to check the accuracy of this, but the humidity seems to be holding at between 40-45%, occasionally bumping to 50%. The instructions do recommend a hygrometer if you want really accurate readings and actually recommend a good/well known brand.

Adjusting the humidity level is simple, with a rotating cover plate over a slot in the lid which is very much like the 'B' brand, but better, IMO, because the hole is bigger. There are two 'holding tanks' for water under a slotted tray in the bottom of the incubator. These are individually filled through two small openings on the outside of the incubator. One of these slots has a cover that you can put over it, labeled '2'. This is for adding water during lockdown, so keeping the cover on helps to remind which reservoire to fill. The downside to these two 'slots', is that they are very small and so you have to be precise when you pour water in, or it spills -- not a huge issue, just annoying.

They also added some nice instructions and even support contact on the outside of the incubator. I thought that was a great idea - but dang... the typo! hahaha!!!

The Matticoopx has a built-in egg candler light that functions well enough, but isn't perfect. I plan to add a piece of thick felt around the edge with sticky back tape to it, so that light doesn't shine outside the bottom edge of the egg. Something like a felt pad for chairs, or maybe thick piece of foam.

The incubator holds about 32 medium sized chicken eggs. I started with 32 eggs, currently I have 31 eggs in the incubator, all viable so far.

As a note I accidentally dropped two eggs when candling on day 11, cracking both - I put one back in, and tossed the other - although both were developing as they should. I will post photos and more information when the eggs hatch. Hopefully egg 31 makes it.

I don't think the egg trays will hold anything larger than chicken eggs. However, I believe if you really wanted to put in bigger eggs, you could order extra trays, put a heat gun on them and reshape the plastic to allow for larger eggs. You just wouldn't be able to have as many trays. Something to consider, at any rate.

Overall, I give this incubator a two thumbs up. That might change in 2 or 3 more uses, or if I have humidity level issues during lockdown on my current batch of eggs .... but I definitely have no serious complaints at this time.

 

[BantyChooks]

Thanks for the detailed review! You might also want to put this in the Reviews category. Good luck with your hatch.

 

[Benny R]

The problem with Maticoopx, Harris NR360, and the dozens of other Chinese made units is they don't last and have little to no support down the road.

Then you have folks that promote these landfill brands, but never do any follow up a year(or months) later once the unit failed.

You talk smack about the B brand, while leaving out all that brand has done for home incubation, supplying decades of quality products and support.

 

[member 544621]

As for the B brand model I owned, the humidity control was crappy and the unit never maintained proper humidity during lockdown. The tube broke twice, the turning motor for the humidity tube had to be replaced after just a few uses...For 500 bucks, I expected more.. a LOT more. They couldn't offer a back-lit screen, or even a built-in candler. Or a way to keep track of the number of days the eggs had been in the incubator.

I will certainly provide an update on this incubator, and be honest about what happens if and when it fails. If it makes it beyond half a dozen hatches, that's far better than my experience with the B brand because I will have spent 25% less on it.

The problem with Maticoopx, Harris NR360, and the dozens of other Chinese made units is they don't last and have little to no support down the road.

Then you have folks that promote these landfill brands, but never do any follow up a year(or months) later once the unit failed.

You talk smack about the B brand, while leaving out all that brand has done for home incubation, supplying decades of quality products and support.

 

[The Moonshiner]

The problem with Maticoopx, Harris NR360, and the dozens of other Chinese made units is they don't last and have little to no support down the road.

Then you have folks that promote these landfill brands, but never do any follow up a year(or months) later once the unit failed.

You talk smack about the B brand, while leaving out all that brand has done for home incubation, supplying decades of quality products and support.

Do you have IRL experience with those junk Chinese brands or are you just talking smack?
I have a Maticoopx, a NR360 and a Brinsea. The Chinese two have out preformed the Brinsea so far. Haven't had any of them long enough to see how well they hold up long term yet but I like all 3 brands so far.

 

[Benny R]

Do you have IRL experience with those junk Chinese brands or are you just talking smack?
I have a Maticoopx, a NR360 and a Brinsea. The Chinese two have out preformed the Brinsea so far. Haven't had any of them long enough to see how well they hold up long term yet but I like all 3 brands so far.

I have a NR360. Fan failed on my second hatch. Had it for just over two months.
They offered a free replacement, but I wanted a better quality fan, I found a used Papst NOS German fan off Ebay for less than a new Chinese fan. Works really well, as it has better flow and less noise then stock.

My Brinsea if far better, but I'm keeping the NR because I can run it off a car battery during a black out.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I have a NR360. Fan failed on my second hatch. Had it for just over two months.
They offered a free replacement, but I wanted a better quality fan, I found a used Papst NOS German fan off Ebay for less than a new Chinese fan. Works really well, as it has better flow and less noise then stock.

My Brinsea if far better, but I'm keeping the NR because I can run it off a car battery during a black out.

Which Brinsea do you have?
I have the Max II advanced but with the upgraded 4 part egg disk so it holds 24 eggs.
My NR360 was bought used so I don't know how old it is or how often the prior owner used it. I know it's the older model though.
The one thing I'm most not a fan of with the Brinsea is how crowded it quickly gets when they're hatching. Wish the dome was bigger so they wouldn't get so crowded.

 

[Benny R]

Which Brinsea do you have?
I have the Max II advanced but with the upgraded 4 part egg disk so it holds 24 eggs.
My NR360 was bought used so I don't know how old it is or how often the prior owner used it. I know it's the older model though.
The one thing I'm most not a fan of with the Brinsea is how crowded it quickly gets when they're hatching. Wish the dome was bigger so they wouldn't get so crowded.

I've got the Ovation Ex. I think the original NR360 is far better than the current version, based on many reviews.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I'd like to try the Brinsea Octagon 20 advanced.
I hear there's a lot of trouble with the cradle set up but it's such a unique design.
I think the Ovation has trough like trays that tilt back and forth right? Same kind of set up as the maticoopx.

 

[cscigu]

Have a quick and very specific question.

I have my new Maticoopx running, ready to put in eggs. The turner trays are obviously different from the old standard type with the Hovabator.

These trays seem most suited to lay eggs on side, rather that pointy end down.

What do I do? I'm used to being extra careful to leave the larger end elevated for all the usual reasons. However, Mama leaves them on their side....

I'm right now fixing to put them in, and I really don't like opening the incubator from previous experience. I have dark eggs that don't really candle, anyway.

Edit: the Maticoopx manual basically says either way. If you place eggs closely enough, the must be able to stay up without issue.

That only brings up another curious question. If you're only incubating about 12-15 eggs, should they be concentrated closely together, or spread out some? I wondered about that with the old turner also.