heat sink in incubator

[HepCatMoe]

water absorbs and releases heat much slower than air.

take some large tupperware containers of water (with their lids on!) and place them in the incubator to help keep the temperature constant (or at least slow down the temperature flux).

say you want your incubator at 82 decrees.

after a period of time the water in your incubator will heat to 82 degrees.

at that point if the heat drops below 82 the water will give off heat as it cools down.

if the heat goes over 82 the water will absorb heat as it warms up.

if you look at a graph of heat in your incubator versus time you will see the heat goes down steadily untill it reaches a certain low, then your thermostat will kick on your heating element. then the heat increases steadily untill it hits a certain high. at that point your heating element turns off, and then without the heat on, the temp start going down again.

hopefully with your incubator this flux is only a degree or so. but if you zoom in the graph will look pointy.

if you put heat sinks in the incubator, the graph will look more rounded as the sink absorbs and releases heat.

also, your heat sink will cause the heater to turn on and off less often, since it takes longer for the water to heat and cool.

so with the heat sink you will get a smaller variation in temperature and also the change up and down will be slower. :main_thumbsup:


wiki link: heat sink

edit: yes, i wrote this post myself, im currently studying thermodynamics (aerospace) at asu.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I use double gallon zip-lock bags with water in them for my heat sync. Works great!

 

[shadowx362]

I just taped 3 water bottles into a pyramid type thing and it works great.

 

[HepCatMoe]

dang i hoped i was the first to think of it!

 

[MSMD]

I also use ziplocks full of water under the grate.

Thanks for sharing, though, I'm sure there are some people that aren't aware of doing this and it could really help them out this breeding season!

 

[ElapidSVT]

i use 1/2" thick pieces of slate to add mass to my foam box incubator as well as storing heat energy.

 

[GeckoJunkie]

Yep, been using gatorade bottles full of water in the cooker for several years now!!!!!

 

[GECKOFREAK]

I use double gallon zip-lock bags with water in them for my heat sync. Works great!

This is what I use also:main_yes:

 

[acpart]

I haven't been doing this and even with the proportional thermostat I get about a 2 degree fluctuation. I incubate at 80-81, so I put a ziploc of water in there and within 10 minutes my heat was up to 85.9! I took it out, needless to say. Should I not have used warm water? Could my probe have been too near the bag (the probes were on top of a container, about 6" away from the bag but the bag was touching the side of the container).

Aliza

 

[HepCatMoe]

depends on how warm the water was, if it was over 80-81* then it will let off heat. the incubator is designed to hold in heat. sounds like your water was at least over 85.9*.

i added room temperature water. the heat element will keep the air at 80-81* untill the water catches up.

definately keep an eye on it though!

also please come back and let us know what happens!

 

[acpart]

THanks, I'll try it again.

Aliza

 

[fallen_angel]

I also use ziplocks full of water under the grate.

Thanks for sharing, though, I'm sure there are some people that aren't aware of doing this and it could really help them out this breeding season!

I am one of those people!!


Gonna go make a heat sync right now, thanks!