• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

HOVABATOR therms. are JUNK!!!

ForkedTung

ForkedTung

Serpent Mound Monk
OK, I just posted about my Hovabator fluctuating. It turns out, shortly BEFORE I went to raise the temperature because the thermometer read 76o, The temp. felt pretty warm to my hand, so I hit it with my Tempgun ( I used this and the Hovabator included piece of JUNK!!! to initially set it up) and low and behold I'm at 89-90o F. I ALMOST cooked ALL of my first years eggs...
So I am slowly dialing DOWN the temps, back to 82o.

Anyway I'm looking at the Hovabator thermometer and I realize that there are two tiny pieces of wire holding it on to the flimsy plastic degree marked backing and that with the slightest pressure ( Ohhh...something like pushing it into the incubating medium to get an "accurate" measurement) will SLIDE the Darn thing producing a COMPLETELY innacurate temperature measurement...There isn't even a mark on the backing to show where it should be placed, so it could be innacurate right off the bat. I almost lost more than a K of eggs for the price of a drop of glue...Needless to say it's in the trash ( there's no mercury in it)

PLEASE ADVISE ANYONE YOU KNOW WITH ONE OF THE HOVABATOR THERMOMETERS TO THROW THEM AWAY!!!

I'm posting this on a few other forums/ reptile webs, please feel free to copy this and put it anywhere else they may be used. I'm going to contact the company about this also.
 
Last edited:
I broke the little one that came with mine the first year, clumsy me dropped it on the floor and stepped on it LOL. I am using a heavy duty industrial grade one in there now. I double check it with a different one (A meat thermometer I can stick in the moss) too.
Temp gun is on my wish list ;)
 
Never trusted it to begin with... USed a digi thermomiter from the get go.. This year we are not using the HB at all..

Regards.> Tim of T and J
 
I use an indoor/outdoor thermometer. The outdoor part is on a long wire/cord. I shove it under the substrate and can read it without opening the incubator. It also tells met the min and max temps. This has worked great for me and they're less than $10 each.
 
I received this from the company GQF mfg. It was a next day reply, so at least they care and are interested in correcting the problem. If anyone would care to send them ANY info. on the therms. OR any problems they've had with the Hovabators I'm sure it would be taken into consideration.
Maybe we could get them to make a reptile version that would better suit our needs if they knew what a huge market we are?

I'm not sure, One thing would be to secure it so it CAN"T slide. Another would be to put a mark on the backing so you can see if it HAS moved. I'll post this on some of the reptile forums so anyone can send feedback also. Thanks for the timely reply. Kyle
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------
> > From: [email protected]
> > To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: RE: thermometer
> > Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:52:25 -0400
> >
> > Thank you for the good feedback. Would it help to cut the bottom of the
> > card and clear plastic to expose about an inch of the thermometer at the
> > bulb? This may allow the thermometer to be inserted without hitting the
> > card.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > G.Q.F. Sales Team
> >
> > G.Q.F. Manufacturing Company
> > P.O. Box 1552
> > Savannah, GA 31402
> >
> > Phone 912-236-0651
> > FAX 912-234-9978
> >
> > www.GQFmfg.com
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: kyle
> > Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 1:30 AM
> > To: [email protected]
> > Subject: thermometer
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi, I have one of your thermometers that comes with the Hovabator. It's the
> > one with the white plastic backing. The wires don't hold it in place very
> > well and it slides. Many, many reptile enthusiasts use it for incubating
> > their eggs also and to get an accurate measurement it needs to be pushed
> > into the incubating substrate. This causes it to slide. I may well have lost
> > over one thousand dollars worth of eggs because of this flaw and if they
> > survive may possibly be deformed. PLEASE reconsider upgrading/ not
> > including/ or at least finding a better way to affix the thermometer to the
> > backing.
Click to expand...
 
What hovabator are you using?

I'm using a 1602N and am unsure what you are talking about.

The thermostat is that thing with a wingnut, it stays where I put it - and I didn't even need to adjust it this year. The thermometer is a nice one - I just pop it in a tub with the eggs on its back and it's very accurate.

lamp_2007ABAC_0604.jpg
 
I put the THERMOMETER into the substrate, that was recommended for a more accurate temp., your reading the air in the incubator, the substrate is closer to the actual temp of the eggs. If you read my post you'll notice that when I push the thermometer into the substrate it slides in the backing...glad your having no problems...good luck. Kyle
 
I haven't used my incubators for quite a few years (just hatch the eggs on the shelf), but I don't remember having those problems. But I have never totally trusted the thermometers - we always had several, and if one had a different reading than the others, we would ignore it. It does seem like you could secure it with extra glue, once you checked it against some other thermometers to make sure it is in the right place. Too bad they were so stingy on the glue - seems like a cheap way to fix it. I don't think people should throw them away, but definitely check them against other temp guns or thermometers, and then glue in place when the reading is correct.

The one thing I remember when I was using the Hovabators is that I always taped down the temp. control once I put eggs in it. I made sure it was the temp I wanted BEFORE putting eggs in. I tell people to turn them on a week or two before adding eggs. The first couple of times I used them (back in the early '90s, I think), I tried to adjust with eggs inside, and managed to cook some eggs once or twice. No more! Once the eggs are in, the temps stay where they are.
 
I just used a digital thermometer when I used a hovabator. The thermostat itself stayed quite steady. I taped it down as Kathy suggested and had no problems at all. I only used it one year. I also just put the eggs on a shelf in the snake room and they hatch just fine. If it's cold for some reason, I've also used a styrofoam cooler with a heat mat on the side and a thermostat to keep it steady. A lot easier and I don't really have to worry about adjusting the temperature if the eggs start producing heat.
 
i havent had too many issues with these, i have used them for many years.
although i do also use home made ones aswell.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top