Question about R-Com Mini 3-egg incubator

[cindyanne1]

Hi everyone! I received my R-Com Mini incubator a few days ago and today I received the fertile hatching eggs I'd ordered from My Pet Chicken in the mail, so I put them in the incubator and followed the instructions to turn it on.

I might be having a problem, but I don't know. There are two icons on the digital readout that are confusing me. The first is the picture of the egg. A zigzag, "cracking" line keeps going down through it. Is this okay or does that mean something is wrong?

The second confusing icon is the "turning" icon. It keeps "spinning"... I don't know any better way to put it. It's not flashing... I don't think.. but I've never seen it flash, so I don't know. I also don't know if it's turning the eggs when it's supposed to. I marked the top of each egg and the marks are still on top and it's been six hours. I know some auto turners just rock the eggs back and forth though, so in that case the mark would stay on top.

I'm worried the turner is stuck. I moved the incubator into the kitchen so I can keep an eye on it and hopefully hear it do something in the next hour or so.

If you have experience with this incubator, did your icons look the same as this and was that okay? Did you have any problems with it turning the eggs properly?

The instruction manual doesn't address these issues and is very vague about what is a "normal" digital display. There also isn't a troubleshooting section in the manual.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Greenwood Chick]

I am using this incubator right now! The cracking egg symbol and the blinking 'turning' symbol are normal. I think the 'turning' symbol stops blinking or goes away all together when there are only three days to go. I'll know for sure tomorrow when I'll be at 3 days left.

Anyhoo, the turner rotates the eggs every hour. Rolls them about a third of the way around. I'm thinking your problem may be that you didn't remove the plastic thay lays over the turner??? It's clear and would be easy to miss. Hang onto it because you're supposed to put it in when the turning stops at the end to prevent the fuzz from getting into the turning wheels.

Maybe this is the answer??? Let me know. I'm so curious as to what's going on with it.

 

[cindyanne1]

Greenwood... that's EXACTLY what the problem was!!

I realized it about five minutes after I posted my question and was looking through the manual of the incubator again.

So hopefully since I got the problem straightened out during the first day of incubation, things will still proceed normally in there.

Yours should be getting about ready to hatch now! Let me know if you get good results!!

 

[Greenwood Chick]

That's great it was an easy fix! Mine have stopped turning now and the turning symbol did disappear. The cracking egg is still there however.

Something else you may be interested in checking out... I have heard on this site that it's important for the chicks to have a non-skid surface when they hatch. So, I put some non-skid mesh (for under rugs or in cupboards) on top of the clear plastic tray and put the eggs on top. Not my own idea, I heard of others doing it on here.

This forum is so helpful!

I'll let you know how the hatch goes!

 

[BeckyBird]

Congrats on your new R-Com!! I have one, and it works great. Just last week, I hatched out 6 out of 6 eggs! If you ever want to put more than 3 eggs, you can't use the auto turner (cover it up with the plastic tray) and will have to turn the eggs by hand every day. That's what I did, and it worked fine.

Also, in event of a power outage, the incubator will save your information. Isn't that cool? I love my R-Com, and I bet you will too!
Here's a picture of all 6 eggs crammed in the bator. They are just as close as they would be in a nest, so all is well!

 

[Greenwood Chick]

Beckybird-

Thanks for the pic! I had to haul my DH over to look at it.

It makes me sooo excited to see one of these bators with CHICKS inside! Hopefully, in two days mine will look like that too! (only 3 instead of 6 - but it's good to know more will fit too!)

 

[Dandelion007]

I'm so glad you all posted about this. I just got one today. I was so worried it was broken. I have it going now. I also got the microscope. It's so neat. I plan after "testing" it first to take it to my daughter's class and let them experience the joy. It's really too nice to let kids around it though.

I'm just thinking how easy it will be to do fertility checks now.

Just one more question. Can the temperature be changed?

 

[Greenwood Chick]

Dandelion-
I only used this incubator that one time. It was great. All three of my eggs hatched! I didn't try to change the temp though... not sure about if you can... Maybe someone else will respond to your question. Good luck with your test hatch. Let us know how it goes!

 

[sharron]

i also have one but i can't get the turner to work, doesn't move, anyone have any idea what i can do? sorry for the highjacking but need help

 

[Greenwood Chick]

Do you have the clear plastic tray still laying in the bottom of the incubator? It needs to be taken out and put in only for the last three days.