I need some help with this:
I am hooking up a thermostate to a wooden box that had been used as a dehydrator. I have converted the whole thing and I think this box is going to be great. At least a *&^% better than the stupid hovabator I have been fighting with now for many weeks. I am about ready to take that hovabator and make a nest box out of it. I won't buy another one. I have had so much trouble with this one, even with a whole new thermostat and snap switch assembly.
I have hooked up the wiring white to white, black to black of course.
I still don't know how to hook up all of the wires though. I have one extra wire that I can't figure out what to do with. The white wire on the thermostate goes to the white wire circuit. This is so confusing because whoever wired this thing before used a hot water heater thermostat. There is also a large fan to wire in to this configuration also.
Also has anyone ever wired in two wafer thermostate's one for main and one for backup?
Thanks for your help.
copper
Does anyone know how to wire a wafer thermostat?
I have no idea sorry but i will bump up so maybe someone can tell you.
Copper, the wafer thermostat and water heater thermostat can't go together.. you will need one or the other...
The white wire is usually a ground wire..
I finally got my Hova stable.. it was the thermometer, not the Hova. I like the Hova better than my Little Giant cause the water reservoir is so much bigger and easier to keep the humidity up.
Before you totally destroy it.. You might try just hooking up a fan in the Hova... The temp is much more stable that way. I had a Little Giant that couldn't keep a constant temp for me or Catscan.. I put a fan in it, and now it's perfect!
You have Dmail.
I have 3 themomoter's in the bator. They all say the same temp most of the time. The hovabator will loose it's heat very quickly and then it goes down to 99 degrees within just a few minutes. I then try to get the heat back up to 101 for the Serama egg's and of course, when it does kick back in, the heat goes nuts. I think my eggs are dead now.
Then it will drop back down to 99 degrees and stay there. I am ready to destroy it. I am so sick of this.
I have a small little fan inside the heater, and I also have a large heater in the room to keep the temps even. I built a wooden box and then insulated around the hovabator bottom to keep the heat in. So far, nothing has worked. This bator is a piece of *&^%. To make matters worse, my next door neighbor is giving me some crap about me messing up the bator and that's not helping at all.
I am in tears, I am so sick and tired of fighting with it and yes I guess my neighbor's mouth as well. I told him the other day, to shut up about it or he would wear the piece of 8765 for a horse collar. That's how bad it's getting.
I know that the thermostat's need to be one or the other. However, the wiring is not the same. I don't know what I am going to do yet anyway. I may well have to take the old hovabator apart to see how this is wired. And I can't right now because I have eggs in it.
I had so wanted to get this other one going so that I can at least have one hatch of eggs in the last 6 hatchings.
ZZs as near as I can tell the whole thing is grounded through the cord and into the electrical outlet. The big incubator will be grounded by a green wire and I will need to provide something for it to be grounded to as the heat source is light bulbs in procelian sockets.
Frustrating to say the least.
Can anyone say, Sportsman?
Thanks for your help everyone.
copper
Copper --tell me exactly what color wires you have on each piece? I've wired houses, not bators, but I may be able to make sense out of it...
ur dealing with ac power not dc power so there really is no possative/negative. as long as ur wireing an ac componant to ac current it doesn't matter which wire goes on which side. the way ac current works it switched from + to - 60 times a second. use no more than 2 waffers the second is a back up. set the main at 99 mabe 100 degrees as long as u have a fan. the back up at 102 degrees as a percaution. if ur useing a 3 wire white/black r same and green is grounder. can u take pics? if so me or mike can tell u how it needs to be wired up.
hope that helps,
silkie
Remember, a few degrees one way or another is okay.. the temp inside the eggs takes a while to change..
I hope things settle down for you!
Do post a pic of what you're dealing with if you can, it will be easier for us to help.
My eggs didn't hatch again. They were to hatch today. Temp's were too extreme again. Sick of this.
This is the last time I will hatch anything in that incubator. Going to give it to my mouthy neighbor since he thinks that he's so doggone good at everything. I have had it.
copper
Easy. Do you have a Home Depot or Lowe's near by. They could maybe help you out.
hmmm. just looked at my 1202 sportsmans our wires r red and blue on both which would be ur black and whites. there should not be a 3rd wire there. try to wire nut it or electric tape it and not use it and see if that makes a difference cuz we don't think u need that wire.
it could also be ur wireing it wrong series or parallel. mike said he needs to know what all components u need wired in and how many of each piece and he will draw u a wireing diagram see if that helps.
we have to oil the one fan motor so i will take pics of the inside to post for u mabe u can see from that what's needed or how to fix it too. don't give up. i admire ur heart for trying. i want to make some homemade ones to but haven't got that far yet. ignore the jerk neighber and prove him wrong, just breath deep and keep trying.
i know u can do it!!!!
silkie
Copper, I can so relate to the frustration. I hope you can get it figured out. Spring will be here soon and lift everyone's spirits.. AND Silkiechick will have Serama eggs! :)
lol., ZZ u r a hoot and always make me laugh and smile. soon as spring is here yes my serama girls will be at it again.
i can't take pics of the inside of the sportsmans the kid's stole all my batteries and drained them, uggg!!! but mike looked at the inside and is working on drawing it up to show u how ours is hooked up.
Having thought this all out, and looking at the old thermostat, I am begining to think that the "extra" wire is a "power" wire, is going to be hooked up to the black circuit. I will continue to ponder this and eventually I will figure it out.
Then once I get this hooked up and running, I will post a pic of it so that everyone can see what was done.
Thank you again, everyone, for your help and your ideas.
Really appreciate it. :)
Oh yes, and Spring isn't to far off here anyway as I seen a whole bunch of Robins in a tree today!! Robins. yeaaaaaaaaa.
I am going to call the local feestore and see if they have some Silkies I can buy. I just can't deal with that piece of junk hobabator anymore. It's killed to many eggs for me to use it.
copper
Way to go.
Please have some one else there and when you plug that thing in, for safety.
Hey Wren, fire hose ready.
hahahahahahaha
I' m on the way with it.
Some of my DD so called friends who said they know how to rewire his workshop, did it wrong. Fried a lot of stuff in there. Luckily no people, where hurt in that quest for a Darwin Award.
So please be careful we like you around here!!!!
Too bad you can't drive down and get some silkies from me! I just hatched some... I named this one Betty Davis.. check out the huge eyes!
Here is one with a vaulted skull
