6 HUMIDITY AND VENTILATION
ADJUSTING THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY LEVEL
1:To ma intain a low humidity level do not add water
to either of the pans.
To increase humidity, first add water to the water pan
with the sliding shutter and set the sliding water pan
shutter to achieve the desired humidity level (0 =
lowest to 5 = highest).
To further increase the humidity, a dd water to the
second water pan a nd remove the s liding water pan
shutter from the first water pan as necessary.
2: To fi ll the wa ter pans, ta ke the l id off. Open the
s l iding water pan s hutter i f fitted. Ca refully pour water
into the fill points ensuring you do not fill beyond the
“MAX” (as s hown i n diagram 2).
Humi dity levels ma y be further i ncreased by placing
strips of evaporating card or cl oth i nto one or more of
the wa ter channels. Eva porating ca rd is a vailable from
Brinsea Products.
HATCHING
In a ll ca ses the humidity for hatching needs to be high.
Because of the short duration involved wa ter/weight
loss will not be significantly a ffected. High humidity is
ne cessary to prevent membranes drying and hardening
before the hatch fully emerges. Humidity will naturally
increase as the first eggs begin to hatch and internal
membranes begin to dry. This effect is i n addition to
the increased a rea of water evaporation from the
water channels.
During hatching the high humidity levels will fall
dramatically when the lid is opened and will take some
time to build up. Resist the temptation to lift the lid
frequently –l eave for a t least 6 hours between
ins pections.
In practice the minimumand maximum levels of humidity a chievable in an incubator depend upon several factors i ncluding the ambi ent
condi tions in the incubation room. You may need to a llow 24 hours for humidity to fully s tabilise a fter making changes.
If you cannot achieve the relative humidity level required consider these notes:
Humidity will not go low enough
•Ope n the adjustable air vent fully to help.
•Slide the water pan shutter to the lowest setting (0).
•Remove all water.
•A l ower limit will be determined by the moisture content of the ambient air, particularly i n warm humid conditions. This can
only be countered by dehumidification of the room air outside the incubator with a proprietary dehumidifier but is rarely a
problem i n practice.
Humidity will not go high enough
•Close the adjustableair vent to its minimumsetting to help. Remove the water pan shutter. Fit evaporating card strips avai lable
from Brinsea or your stockist.
Condensation
It i s normal for some condensation to occur on the cooler exposed parts of the clear top. This natural phenomenon is not a hazard or a
problem for i ncubation but may i ndicate the room is cooler than optimum.
