Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[mike h]

I tend to keep an eye out for themostats on ebay, pulses are the best but a lot of people use matstats which are half the price.
Pulse are better in long run,

mike
_________________
Check out my albino royal python website!

[Alex Thomas]

I set up this thread to ask for peoples help with my DIY incubator so Mike and Paul if you want to ramble on about your own thing do it elsewhere on your own thread.Cheers

[Lynne]

is it the drinks coolers you see in shops? thats a good idea cause you wont have any mucking around having to fit perspex or cutting windows. i have never thought about the reversing bit though? i do know you have to get someone qualified to remove the gas thingy, so maybe they could advise you on that. is a great idea though.
_________________

[colonel]

Hi Alex,
I used to have a glass doored freezer and an under counter coke fridge as incubators. The freezer was very heavy and well insulated, when it got up to working temps it was very good, the coke type fridge was much lighter and less well insulated and was not so efficient at keeping accurate temps although it is probably not that important anyway. I tried computer fans and found that natural air convection around the incubator is more effective. Also I only used a 11x11 heat mat on the base, back and each side of the units controlled by a single on/off stat

The main problem with the smaller units is they do not hold enough tubs I could only get around five clutches in the two units without having to double up clutches in containers, which I did not like doing.

Reversing the polarity of the electrical connections will not make any difference to operation and you must get it degased professionally as it is pretty toxic.

I am not a fan of polyboxes incubators although they are ok for one clutch, they are less well insulated than I would like and I do not like how you gain access to the tub by lifting the lid, causing all the heat to rise out very quickly.

I got fed up messing around with the fridges as my collection grew and bought an 18 tub pro rack incubator. It works really well and gives peace of mind if you have some valuable babies cooking. I have used it for the last two seasons and not had any problems.

Hope this helps.

[Alex Thomas]

Hi Lynne
Its the type of drinks fridge you would see in a bar.Its an under counter one,quite large and will hold about nine small contico tubs.
Thankyou Colnel,I have a few 17x11 heat mats kicking around so i might just connect them to a pulse stat. The unit is quite heavy with a good seal so i dont antisipate any big temp fluctuations.Gives me something to tinker with anyway lol.

[Lynne]

ah i know the type, i have worked with them in the past. good solid items. am interested to find out too if it can be reversed and heat instead of cool. i dont see why it shouldnt be easy enough to do for someone who knows what they are doing.
_________________

[snakeypete]

not sure if this helps or not mate ....

I adapted this a while back ...tho as already state maybe only good for five clutches at most ( does us for coming season ) .







I was fortunate in that this fridge already had been de gassed . All I had to o was remove the workings to make it lighter .
_________________
3.7.0 Royals


We do not stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing.

[alastair]

not exactly an expert, but dont fridges work by the circulation and condensation of the freon gas inside them. Therefore is it possible to use them as heaters if you take out the gas without running the risk of fire?
_________________
so many morphs, so little money
1.1 Beardies
2.1 Homo sapiens jnr
0.1 royals owned by mikey

[snakeypete]

[DrAdam]

I'd be carefull trying to take the gas out of a fridge.... Your best just leaving it off and heating with mats and a stat..
_________________
My website isn't quite there yet, as I got bored half way through writing it.

Never take life too seriously, no-one gets out alive anyway