Re: [DIYbio] Building an incubator, would like some opinions/help

My thoughts are that the control system and sensors would be able to
easily scale to any sized incubator. From what I've read the best
incubators have fans in them to keep CO2 levels even, since it tends
to settle in a taller incubator, and this gradient can cause
inconsistencies in growth.

For this system, including temp, RH, and CO2 sensors, as well as the
small heater, fogger, and CO2 gas valve, microcontroller, power
supply, and assorted electonics.... I'm at a cost of ~$175, with the
CO2 sensor being the most expensive piece at $65 (but its got a 15
year life and doesn't need recalibration so it's an easy justification
for me not to deal with the electrolytic ones)

But of that $175, ~$45 is going towards the heater+power supply and
the fogger. These items are the only ones you'd really change around
with incubator scale, so you could use this system to control a small
1ft x 1ft incubator or a 10ft x 25 ft greenhouse.

FYI:
temp+RH sensor
$15 + ~$3 shipping
http://www.adafruit.com/products/393

CO2 sensor
$65 + ? shipping
http://www.co2meter.com/collections/co2-sensors/products/k-30-co2-sensor-module

Ultrasonic Mist Maker Fogger Water Fountain Pond 12 LED
$13
amazon.com

5V 4x opto-isolated relays
$8.87
http://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-4-Channel-Relay-Module-Arduino/dp/B0057OC5O8/

12V 12A heater
$11.73
http://www.amazon.com/Roadpro-12V-Heater-Swing-out-Handle/dp/B000IXTGHW/

12V gas valve
$14
http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Solenoid-Replacement-Pipelines-Applications/dp/B00827FP26/

12V 15A power supply
$17
http://www.amazon.com/Regulated-Switching-Power-Supply-Silver/dp/B007MJJX46/

5V power supply, arduino clone, LEDs+photodiodes, PC fan, power MOSFET
$35

plastic tub for actual climate controlled area, glass jar for RH water reservoir
$6



On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 4:35 PM, Jonathan Street
<streetjonathan@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Nathan
>
> I'm not sure we have enough information to provide useful suggestions but at first glance this seems over-engineered.
>
> How large do you intend building this incubator? What do you plan to grow in it?
>
> Have you had problems using a pan of water in the bottom of an incubator in the past?
> Is the metabolic rate and/or loading of this incubator going to be so high that the CO2 level could not be adequately maintained by a small hole in the top of the incubator?
>
>
> On 4 January 2013 16:43, Nathan McCorkle <nmz787@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 1:17 PM, John Griessen <john@industromatic.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> On 01/04/2013 02:22 PM, Nathan McCorkle wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I WAS planning on having the 12V heater and 12V fan IN the incubator,
>>>
>>>
>>> OK. 12V in the humid/mist will die with a whimper instead of a fire.
>>> Is the "window dryer" cheap to replace? How humid? Sonic fog
>>> can be like a mist of rain...
>>> Sounds like tough duty for it... but should go for a while. Tell us how long.
>>>
>>
>> The dryer was <$13 on amazon.com with free shipping. I'm planning on having the humidity around 95%, and the temp around 30 C, it looks like I'll be playing right around the dew point. I was also thinking of a mechanically coupled fan, but didn't find something like that in my searching on amazon.com
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> again:
>>>
>>>
>>> > I am thinking two dampers (one-way air valves) with a small 100mm computer fan will be sufficient for reducing CO2 levels.
>>>
>>>
>>> Don't have a picture of that... relative to the jar == ?
>>
>>
>> here ya go
>> http://nathanmccorkle.com/DIY/DIYincubator.png
>>
>> one fan provides positive pressure for the incubator, the other fan is in the incubator and is just there to swirl the air (relative to the jar, it's just near it)
>>
>> --
>> -Nathan
>>
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--
-Nathan

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