power outs and incubators

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lauraschram

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Hi all, just a quick question.

Just set up my incubator with my first clutch ever (5 storrs eggs)

we have had a few power outs recently and i was just wondering roughly how long and how cold eggs can get without dying, and what people do when their power goes out?

also how much variation is it safe to have in normal day to day incubation temps?

figured it was worth asking before it happens seeing as i wont be able to get online and ask if it does!

cheers
laura
 
go get yourself a deep cycle battery. it trickle charges when the power is on then when the power goes out it will keep everyhting on for I think a day or two
 
I don't know about monitor eggs,but I had some carpet snake eggs in the incubator and the power went out and the temp dropped to 19c for about four hr's and they still hatched out ok.

I went out latter on and got myself a cheap generator (GMC $100) and have never needed to use it.If you are home at the time i think a cheap generator is good insurance.
 
Good Point Mate. Just out of interest where did you get the generator, is it a battery powered one and how long does it last once in use??
 
I got it from mitre10,bunnings have them aswell.It runs for a couple of hr's before you have to refuel.It's 240 volt-750 watts max and it has a pull starter on it,just a cheapie.
 
I got it from mitre10,bunnings have them aswell.It runs for a couple of hr's before you have to refuel.It's 240 volt-750 watts max and it has a pull starter on it,just a cheapie.
So it petrol driven then?
 
UPS - uninterrupted power supply.

Pretty easy to build one yourself, cost $100-$300 and will turn on by itself when the power goes out... Battery will last a fairly long time depending on size :)
 
Anything like my place (rural and end of the line) go for a little genset as dodgie mentioned. UPS and battery backups are ok but when they run out you're poked. Another advantage is you can use it lots of other stuff.
 
Hi all, just a quick question.

Just set up my incubator with my first clutch ever (5 storrs eggs)

we have had a few power outs recently and i was just wondering roughly how long and how cold eggs can get without dying, and what people do when their power goes out?

also how much variation is it safe to have in normal day to day incubation temps?

figured it was worth asking before it happens seeing as i wont be able to get online and ask if it does!

cheers
laura
get an inverter and make up a back up power supply theres instructions on there:) http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/em...BackUp_Power_Outage_Equipment_Information.htm
 
UPS - uninterrupted power supply.

Pretty easy to build one yourself, cost $100-$300 and will turn on by itself when the power goes out... Battery will last a fairly long time depending on size :)

Be careful with these, I was talking to David Kirshner about this before he presented to the AHS. He tried using a UPS with an on/off thermostat and found that the UPS shut down its power outlet as soon as the thermostat switched to the off position. An idea that he thought of using was to hook up a low powered, always on lamp in parallel to the incubator.
 
Be careful with these, I was talking to David Kirshner about this before he presented to the AHS. He tried using a UPS with an on/off thermostat and found that the UPS shut down its power outlet as soon as the thermostat switched to the off position. An idea that he thought of using was to hook up a low powered, always on lamp in parallel to the incubator.

Very good point.
 
could u also build a bit of thermal inertia into your incubator? eg covering the heat cord on the bottom in an eski type incubator with sterile gravel? this should help store some heat so that if the power is off for a couple of hours the incubator wont cool dowmn heaps?

from some of the stories i have heard, reptile eggs are not very sensitive to some temp shifts (as long as it dosn't get too hot) so i think the occasional short power outage wont be a big prob?
 
could u also build a bit of thermal inertia into your incubator? eg covering the heat cord on the bottom in an eski type incubator with sterile gravel? this should help store some heat so that if the power is off for a couple of hours the incubator wont cool dowmn heaps?

from some of the stories i have heard, reptile eggs are not very sensitive to some temp shifts (as long as it dosn't get too hot) so i think the occasional short power outage wont be a big prob?

Exactly.......as long as they don't sit as these low temps for hours and hours on end it should be fine.

Think about what happens to snake eggs over winter when mum hopes off to take a crap or go get a drink. She could be gone for awhile and out in the open during winter they will drop temperature VERY quickly.
 
you may also want to consider a decent computer UPS (uninteruptable power supply)
they have bike batteries in them and depending or ratings can run an incubator for a day, possibly more without power. they output 240v.
(can be modified to use truck batteries if you're dedicated, will run for days that way)

you want to spend at leas $300 for something though, the higher the VA rating, the better (longer it will run unpowered)
 
thanks so much guys - allot of good suggestions. i will be looking onto it but they normally only lastfor 1 to 3 hours so sounds like its not too much of a problem.
 
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