DIY Incubator Project #3

 More time in the shed this afternoon and the incubator is up and running for testing.

This first image shows the back of the freezer where I drilled the hole through for the heat cord and thermostat probe.  You can just see the hole pretty much in the middle of the picture to the left of the black power board of the thermostat.  I popped a couple of screws in to secure the cream power board and another to attach the black one.

I actually ended up moving the black power board a little to the right because I was not happy that the heat cord was resting on it as you can see in this picture.  So the final result is pretty functional I think.

 These next images are of the front of the freezer with the controller unit of the thermostat secured to the door with velcro strips.  I have set it to 29 degrees Celsius.  It has a 1 degree variance built in and an alarm that goes off if the probe detects temperatures 3 degrees either side of the desired value.  You can see that when I took the photo it was sitting within the 1 degree tolerance of the unit.

The final image is of the dual probe thermometer that I am using to test how well the unit works.  I have the first probe sitting next to the sensor of the thermostat on the top shelf.  In this image it is the bottom reading of 29.4.  The other sensor is sitting in the middle of the freezer and is about half a degree lower.  All of that is pretty positive because the temperatures are all fine to hatch the Bearded Dragon eggs that I hope to have to incubate in it soon.

This thermometer also tracks maximum and minimum temperatures, so I will have some idea of how stable the temperatures stay over time.  I will also be putting the probes of this thermometer at different points over the next few days, just to be sure that the temperatures are stable throughout.  I will try the thermostat probe at different levels as well.  I want to get the best results and have a little time up my sleeve as it were to get it all right.

Once I am happy that everything is as it should be, I will seal up the hole that I made to insert the heat cord and thermostat probe with silicone to insulate it as best as possible.

I am happy with the results so far and looking forward to using my new incubator in anger!