# Pimp my fridge ( a incubator how too )



## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

Ok first just to say sorry to the people that were waiting for this last year I did intend to get this up sooner but
my self and my fiancé lost our baby and it took a bit of time to get back on track with the snakes and every thing ells.


Here it is at long last

*Pimp my fridge*


This is a how too on how I converted my old fridge over to fan assisted ceramic heated incubator.

Some notes before I begin:

First, This is what I consider a good interpretation of an idea from both a book ( The Complete Ball Python by Kevin McCurley ) and from my brother ( a big fat guy with bold head ) there will be a lot of you that think this is over the top and there will be some that love the idea, but no matter what this is how I do it because I don’t like heat mats lots of you do and I know they work fine but I just don’t like having hot and cold spots and this gave me some thing to do.

Second, sheet metal is not cheap it costs a bomb its not for every one and it’s a pig to work with when you don’t have the tools but I work with the stuff every day of my life and I have the machinery to hand to do what ever I want and I get this all done for free… this is just scrap metal out the bin in work. So if you cant get metal then use wood or plastic. Also try and get a fridge with clean flat sides inside.

Third, this will hatch any thing... even Chickens.

And last of all so long as what you make works and dose the job who cares? And on that note please feel free to post your own conversions and even how too guides in this thread



 Ok first off you need to rip every thing out, I didn’t get no pix of this as it speaks for its self.
 


 Next take the door off and mark out the size of the window you want to put in, in truth its not needed but it looks cool. Once you have marked out the window drill a hole in each corner but put them inside of the box you marked out as there where your going to start to cut your windows hole. I used a jig saw for this with a 24tpi blade in. then cleaned the edges up with a fine file. In my case I had to rip the inside of the door to bits so as it could close once the shelf’s were in then had to rebuild it. Sorry once again no pic on this step by step but it looked like this once done.
 
out side​








inside​











Once the door is cut and fitted out put it back on to work out where the shelf’s will have to sit to allow the door to shut, you want to do this so as the shelf’s touch the door when closed this will control air flow later on.



Before you think about putting the shelf’s in look at the inside and see if the slides are flat or if like mine there not even. If you have uneven sides bolt or screw some wood, plastic or metal to the sides to clean them up and make your life easier in the first pic you can see I placed packers around the edge of where the fake sides will sit so as too keep it all even. While your at this work out where the heat bulb will be so as you know how much room you have for your shelf’s and put the bulb in place.









Heat bulb fitted with a top hat formation Bracket. Note the packers I have placed on Sides to help hold the side panel’s in place and heat resistant cable fitted.









when your working out the self size mark out where they will be and the spacing between each also pre drill the holes and add Any back wall support your going to use.Remember this is air assisted and the shelf’s Need to be off set, I off set them by 60mm









With some luck and planning it should look some thing like this.




Once you have your sides in place or if your side were nice and flat with nothing in the way its time too fit the fake wall. Do this before you try and fit any shelf’s as you wont get it in once the shelf’s are in place









Should look a bit like this



Fake wall fitted and ceramic in place with cable you can now start to add in your shelf’s supports . To do this I used some 90deg folded aluminum brackets and just screwed them in place with 3mm x12mm pan head screws. Like so












 Hold up stop thinking of the shelf’s, you need to get the fans fitted now. Ok this is not easy as I don’t know how your going to do this but I made up two plates at work to mount 7 60mm fans on each. Every fan can move up to 17.4 cubic feet per min so 14 of them that’s 243.6 cubic feet per min... i think.? ever been in a F6 hurricane? Well if you run them at full power the poor eggs your putting in there will know what it feels like that’s why we use a dimmer. The idea here is too move a lot of air but slow and even that’s why I use so many.

This is the fan mounting bracket I made at work









and this is it with fans bolted on easy yeah











Ok now too fit them you will want one at the top and one at the bottom if you have a lot of shelf’s in there, if not then just one set at the top should do. The top set you want to blow air back into the incubator and down over the heater the bottom set if your using one will suck the air out from the back and into the unit.

Sorry to say I’m not going to tell you how to wire this up as it is down to you but ill tell you what you need in a bit.

Hmm ow yeah in this pick I forgot the fans can only go one way so I had to turn the bottom set round











Ok before you put the shelf’s in you need to wire up the fans and get the cables to where they need to be, like I said I’m not telling you how as if you burn your house down or get a jolt of this later you aint blaming me lol.

So you will need some low voltage wire I used speaker wire 30 meters was about £10 so you have loads spare when you realise you did this wrong. Some 15 amp terminal blocks will be needed or a good set of crimpers and crimps. Please note the fans will be DC so they can only spin one way.



Ok all done what took you so long? Lets get them shelf’s in. remember you have to off set them.. Like this…

Ha-ha look at my drawing skills with paint


















Note the shelf are set back and forth to allow air to Flow over each of them in turn this will give you super even temps. also at this time my shelf's were not held in place... that's why one has moved.









this is with the air flow guides they look like half pipes at the back so as too help air flow. also at this time i didnt have it in place but i have added some mesh to go over the gaps left in case a snake finds its way to the blades.



Ok well that’s the inside of the unit all done. Next is hooking up the power and the thermostat once again I’m not telling how but ill tell what you need.

Ok left to right, thermostat with probe, 12v 8A dimmer, 240 too 12v mains dropper. ok this really matters, if you using the dropper and not a power pack you need the droppers out put power too be 12v and more amps than you fans add up too. I.e. my fans are 0.4 amps so 0.4 x 14 = 5.6 amps so my dropper needs to be more than this total.











Ok how these will work. 240v-12v dropper wire with a normal plug and fuse. Next wire the dropper to the dimmer the voltage is now only 12v so you can use some more of that speaker wire if you like, next wire the fans into the dimmer. Now what you have made here is a transformer just like the kids have on there model trains but with the benefit of safe around the clock use with out over heating. Next thermostat. work out where you want it wire up the heat unit and the probe and wire this up with an earthed mains lead.
Now if you want to you can just use a habistat pulse proportional thermostat its just as good but cost a lot more and you need to sit there for a day or two to get the right temp. but what ever you do use a pulse stat not on off as the temp will swing more.
This is mine.









All done


*My pimped fridge*



















now post your own ones in this thread. no matter how you have made it as people are always asking for a how too so why not place all the types of incubators in the one thread

enjoy 
shane​


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## beckettjordan (Jan 30, 2012)

*Wow*

I'm impressed mate! I was thinking about making a fridge incubator for the upcoming season but wasn't to keen on just heat mats and stat, luckily I work for a little engineering firm so can get the shelves and body made up! Idea stolen :Na_Na_Na_Na:.


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

the idea is free too own. it great being an engineer lol
and thank you

just to add i have been running this for a week now and the temps have not moved, not even 0.1c unless i open the door.... eggs due in about 3 weeks so i got it done just in time.


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## Barlow (Sep 23, 2010)

Here's mine. I made it from a plywood box insulated by polystyrene and heated by 2 50W heat cables on a pulse stat. 2 x 4" fans circulate the heat and it also doesn't drop 0.1 of a degree unless I open the door.

































It works pretty well!!!:2thumb:


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

too barlow.
what ever that is hatching i want one lol.

yeah im thinking on building my own box next time as i could do what ever i wanted then.

any way what are they as there really cute... they look a bit like ackie monitors.


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## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

Not one i made, i bought it off some guy who was selling off all his snake room :2thumb:. Had it running a while now it holds the temps pretty good.


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## Replika (Dec 28, 2005)

Very impressive but a hell of a lot of work just to incubate eggs when you can do it wth a poly box half full of water, an aqaurium water heater, a thermometer and a plastic sandwich box filled with vermiculite but well done anyway; each to their own :no1:


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

Replika said:


> Very impressive but a hell of a lot of work just to incubate eggs when you can do it wth a poly box half full of water, an aqaurium water heater, a thermometer and a plastic sandwich box filled with vermiculite but well done anyway; each to their own :no1:


 
not that much work really.
and when you need to incubate over 100 eggs at a time a poly box is kinda small. lol


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## Replika (Dec 28, 2005)

spider shane said:


> not that much work really.
> and when you need to incubate over 100 eggs at a time a poly box is kinda small. lol


Good point well made. Excellent bit of kit though. How long did it take to make it and how difficult to replace the ceramic if it packs up as it seems very well hidden round the back?


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

to replace the bulb i just unscrew the back wall and it drops down.
to build it was about 2-3 days once i got started, the hold ups were when some thing didnt fit and i had to make a new bit at work.

if you were to bulid your own box then i would say not even a day as you wouldnt be working around the design of a fridge and there would be nothing to get in the way.


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## Barlow (Sep 23, 2010)

spider shane said:


> too barlow.
> what ever that is hatching i want one lol.
> 
> yeah im thinking on building my own box next time as i could do what ever i wanted then.
> ...


They are peacock and ackie monitors. 


Replika said:


> Very impressive but a hell of a lot of work just to incubate eggs when you can do it wth a poly box half full of water, an aqaurium water heater, a thermometer and a plastic sandwich box filled with vermiculite but well done anyway; each to their own :no1:


Not the greatest way to incubate monitor eggs I'm afraid.


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## chewy86 (Mar 12, 2009)

I was thinking of building mine out of ply, lining it with poly and using heat cable all around to evenly heat it. Using mesh shelves to allow heat to circulate easier?


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

Barlow said:


> They are peacock and ackie monitors.
> 
> 
> Not the greatest way to incubate monitor eggs I'm afraid.


 
do you have any baby ackie monitors as im looking for 2 or 3... my tegu is too big for my gf too deal with


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

chewy86 said:


> I was thinking of building mine out of ply, lining it with poly and using heat cable all around to evenly heat it. Using mesh shelves to allow heat to circulate easier?


 
yeah ill be building another in say 6 weeks as im init, i already have both of my incubators close to full and there are more eggs on the way,

so yeah 15mm ply outer skin 25mm poly installastion skin and 6mm internal ply skin then build off the 6mm skin the same way i have done with my others. i like the design im using but i guess that what you say will work.


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

insulation not installation


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## Barlow (Sep 23, 2010)

spider shane said:


> do you have any baby ackie monitors as im looking for 2 or 3... my tegu is too big for my gf too deal with


I will have some available in 5 weeks or so.:2thumb:


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## Madhouse5 (Jun 6, 2011)

*My incubaters*

here my two 










my small one 

here my large under counter fridge 










made a light box on the back fans blow the heat in 











Paul


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

hi paul

thats real interesting i hadn't even thought about adding to the original structure of the fridge it would make fitting ever thing so much easier and give loads more room in the unit.


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## Madhouse5 (Jun 6, 2011)

spider shane said:


> hi paul
> 
> thats real interesting i hadn't even thought about adding to the original structure of the fridge it would make fitting ever thing so much easier and give loads more room in the unit.


yeah i put two ceramic light fitting in there got 2 60 watt small spots so the box could be small works well


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

forgot to add in the cost of this.
for my fridge i got that free people are all ways getting rid of ones that dont work so you can find them for free
plastic for the windows 2 sheets striped from my old stick insect tank. 

all the parts i had to buy
240v to 12v 13A converter £8.10
Light Dimmer for DC 12V 8A £2.88
Mini Digital Thermostat heating and cooling used for Incubators £14.90
PC case fans ill be using 60mm fans 14 off them £1.07 each
ceramic light bulb holder £1.90
ceramic heat bulb 250w £11.10
temperature resistance cable 10m long £8.98
speaker wire 30m £10

all from ebay and postage is in the price speaker wire was BnQ

the cost for the shelving in wood would only be around £15-£20
you could build one like this for under £100
and this one holds 30 corn clutches or 14 royal clutches so its good for size.

P.S once have some free time ill be making one from scratch out of wood and poly only if any one is interested.


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## chris_wade (May 23, 2006)

im in the process of building mine, got an undercounter fridge, just cleaned it out and gonna run heat cable all round it and put a couple of fans in, but how the hell do i wire fans to a power source? im useless at that sorta thing .


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

chris_wade said:


> im in the process of building mine, got an undercounter fridge, just cleaned it out and gonna run heat cable all round it and put a couple of fans in, but how the hell do i wire fans to a power source? im useless at that sorta thing .


 
hmm not really wanting too tell you as im not that great and if you gt shocked ill be to blame lol.

any ways you can do it one of two ways.
go on ebay and buy a power pack with varying voltage and just hook up too that, but i found i burnt the power packs out in the end as they get really hot.

second is ebay again, get your self a 240v too 12v dropper make sure the rated amp out put is more than all your fans need you will also want a dimmer i use ones for LEDs this must have a higher rated amp out put also.

i guess if you really want i could post some pix on how to set them up?

shane


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## chris_wade (May 23, 2006)

i was thinking of using one of these 
Low Power Multi-Voltage Plug Top Power Supply : Multi Voltage Power Supplies : Maplin Electronics

and just having 2 fans on 2 of these (1 fan to 1 adaptor) should no way burn that out?


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## Madhouse5 (Jun 6, 2011)

*Fans*

all you need to power the fans is a old mobile charger strip it back connect to the fans in a strip connector and your away will run two easy 


Paul


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## chris_wade (May 23, 2006)

Madhouse5 said:


> all you need to power the fans is a old mobile charger strip it back connect to the fans in a strip connector and your away will run two easy
> 
> 
> Paul


 
you make this sound simple but you havnt seen my wiring skills etc :blush:


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## Madhouse5 (Jun 6, 2011)

chris_wade said:


> you make this sound simple but you havnt seen my wiring skills etc :blush:


its easy here you go Guide to connect a pc fan to a mobile charger

Paul


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## chris_wade (May 23, 2006)

ok i reckon i can pull that off . not sure about how id add 2 fans to one though using strip connector?


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## harvinator (May 22, 2011)

very dissapointed i did'nt get any recognition for the pimp my fridge idear :bash:


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## Madhouse5 (Jun 6, 2011)

chris_wade said:


> ok i reckon i can pull that off . not sure about how id add 2 fans to one though using strip connector?


i used a strip connector on mine got 4 fans running in my fridge good luck 

Paul


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

harvinator said:


> very dissapointed i did'nt get any recognition for the pimp my fridge idear :bash:


 
"pimp my fridge" trade mark of harvinator (all rights reserved)
loaned too spider shanes shack.. lol


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## harvinator (May 22, 2011)

spider shane said:


> "pimp my fridge" trade mark of harvinator (all rights reserved)
> loaned too spider shanes shack.. lol


 
now that's more like it :lol2:


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## spider shane (Apr 16, 2010)

chris_wade said:


> i was thinking of using one of these
> Low Power Multi-Voltage Plug Top Power Supply : Multi Voltage Power Supplies : Maplin Electronics
> 
> and just having 2 fans on 2 of these (1 fan to 1 adaptor) should no way burn that out?


 
yes mate that will work great.


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