It's alive! (The Incubator, that is!)

Yesterday I finally finished putting new casters on the bottom of the incubator (the old ones were rusty and broken). I dug around in my spare parts drawer and found a set of heavy casters that were perfect for it. Now that it was mobile I could roll it around. Dave's only request was that I not plug it in for the first time in the garage, it needed to be out in the driveway so if it burst into flames it wouldn't burn down the garage.

It was a beautiful day today, so I went ahead and wired the new cord into the fusebox (the old one looked like it had been mowed over and cut off). I rolled it out in to the driveway and hesitantly plugged it in. The fan came to life inside the drum. The light came on as the heater warmed up. Finally I threw the switch for the drum motor, and the whole thing slowly hummed as it tilted forward! It works!

Take a bow - giant drum!

I'm overjoyed to see the fan, heater, and motor working. Now I just need to replace the weatherstripping and see if the thermostat is working to hold a temperature, and if the timer works to rotate the drum back and forth. If it can hold a steady temp and humidity, and handle turning the drum, then I'll get some fertile eggs and give it a try.

Update: the timer seems to be DOA - but it's made by a company that is still in business and sells the exact same unit, so I might be able to get a new one to just swap in, or get the old one fixed. I have a call in.

_