Operating instructions for Grumbach Incubators

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1 Operating instructions for Grumbach Incubators Thank you for choosing and entrusting Grumbach Incubators to incubate your valuable eggs. On receiving your incubator please un-pack it and make sure it is fitted with the features you ordered. Please check all rollers are present plus mercury thermometer and dial hygrometer. Fill in the guarantee card and the I.D. number of your incubator is printed on the back cover of the incubator, send your card to your purchasing agent, all Grumbach incubators are guaranteed for twelve months from the time of purchase. Both the B.S.S. and S84 range of incubators are similar in the operating procedures with operating ease and precision at the forefront of their design. It is a good idea to store the shipping crate and pallet in case the incubator requires shipping to us for an overhaul or service in future years. Please ignore any operating instructions for features not fitted on your individual incubator. Where to site your incubator. The site chosen for any incubator is vitally important for the optimum performance of the machine. An incubators temperature control works to its optimum when its surrounding environment has a reasonably constant temperature. Grumbach incubators have great insulation properties, but large external variations in temperature will affect even these machines temperature control. Do not site your incubator where direct sunlight falls on it, as this will increase the incubators temperature due to the green house effect. As relative humidity can only be increased within the incubator, it is important that the room where the incubator is sited, has as low as possible ambient humidity. This in turn will give you a greater field of control on humidity settings within the incubator. Kitchens and bathrooms generally have high ambient humidity levels so should be avoided. The surface that the incubator is placed on, should be level to decreases the problem of egg creep on the turning rollers. Make sure you have sufficient room to open the door fully to allow removal of the egg trays. Fig. 1. Control Panel Humidity Flap Filler cap for water reservoir Drain Plug Auto Humidity on/off Light Switch Mains on/off switch Auto Turning on/off Humidity up/down control Thermo Light Coarse & Fine temperature controllers

2 Temperature Control Once your machine is sited, plug the Incubator into the mains and turn on the mains power switch. If digital readers are fitted these will light along with the power switch. Leave the incubator running for several hours to heat up and allow the internal temperature to equilibrate. The Thermo Light will be lit continuous while the incubator is heating up and will start to flash on/off as it reaches the temperature it is set at. The temperature settings will be set either at or very close to 37.5 C in the factory prior to shipment. The two knobs marked coarse and fine are your temperature controllers. The coarse knob should be used to adjust the temperature to close to the desired temperature and then the final adjustments made with the fine knob. Whenever making adjustments please ensure you check the temperature regularly after, as the increase or decrease is not instant and will take a few minutes to equilibrate throughout the entire incubator. Each incubator is fitted with two additional safety thermostats. On the left hand side panel a mechanical safety thermostat is fitted. This will stop your incubator from overheating if there was a failure with the electronic primary thermostat. This is preset at the factory and should not need altering. A third electronic thermostat is fitted close to the fan housing. This is a safety feature and will stop the any heater damage should the fan stop working. This is fitted under E.E.C. law and should not be tampered with. Thermometers Each incubator comes with a laboratory high-grade mercury thermometer. These thermometers are very precise and we strongly advise that if you have a digital thermometer fitted to your machine, that you calibrate it to the same reading as the mercury thermometer. The thermometer fits into the bracket supplied on one of the turning trays and should be viewed straight on to see the blue mercury. Whenever cleaning the thermometer only use cold water. Digital thermometers have a far quicker reaction time to small changes in temperature than mercury thermometers. Once the desired temperature established within the incubator (set by the mercury) calibrate the digital unit to the same reading if required. To calibrate simply remove the black plastic frame that surrounds the red plastic front, this clips off by mildly prising it with a knife or screwdriver then remove the plastic front. Then simply use a screwdriver to turn the adjusting screw clockwise to turn the thermometer reading up or anti clockwise to turn it down. Once the desired reading is achieved replace the front. This is safely achieved with the incubator turned on. Fig 4. Mercury Thermometer in bracket. Fig 3. Digital thermometer with front removed Adjusting screw

3 Auto Turning When setting up the turning tray with the rollers, make sure that the rollers are at right angles to each other. Simply count the number of spaces between rollers so each end of the rollers are the same number of slots apart from each other. The desired distance between rollers is dependant on the size of egg you are incubating. The egg should sit on the rollers with the bottom of the egg not touching the turning tray. To minimise egg creep along the rollers it is best to alternate each egg so the top of one egg faces the front of the incubator and the next the back and so on. When placing the turning tray into the incubator make sure that the brass rod on the turning tray enters into the fork on the turning arm. The auto turning will only work when the switch on the control panel is turned on and it lights up. To set the frequency and length of turn the timing clock on the side of the incubator will have to be set. The 24-hour time clock has I digit per 15 minutes around the out side of the clock face. When one digit is pushed in this is equal to the turner moving for that period of time. 15 minutes of turning equals approximately half a stroke. For small eggs such as quail and partridge this is about a 180degree turn. For the larger eggs a full stroke (two digits pushed in) will be needed for each turning session. Please remember to start the turner at one side for larger eggs as if set off in the middle of its stroke each 30-minute turn will end back at the middle of the incubator. As a rule of thumb a chicken egg will need two digits in then the next four out (no turning) and so on around the clock. This will give you half an hour turning (one stroke) and one hour of no turning. But the frequency and amount of turning is down to your individual choice. Fig 4. Eggs on rollers Fig 5. Turning Timer Fig 6. Turning Fork with tray in correct position

4 Humidity Control On incubators where the auto-humidity feature is not fitted the humidity can be increased via filling the bottom tray with water. As relative humidity is directly proportional to the surface area of water, small receptacles may be placed on the floor of the incubator with different surface areas until the desired humidity level is obtained. On auto-humidity incubators the reservoir should be filled using distilled water to combat lime scale build up within the reservoir. Opening or closing the Humidity flap to various degrees can alter the humidity level to suit most incubation needs. If when the flap is fully open (white line is at three o clock) the humidity is still not as high as you require then switch on the Humidity on/off switch. By turning the Humidity up/down switch this will increase the humidity level up to 100%.. Once the on/ off switch is turned on there is a small heater situated under the water reservoir, which warms the water, and so assists in evaporation hence increasing the humidity level. The up/down switch is a simple thermostat that allows you control over how warm the water gets. By using this facility in conjunction with the flap, you can control the humidity level to your exact requirements Make sure the water level is topped up this is easily viewed through the plastic filling tube. Whenever the incubator is not in use or is being moved, empty any water from the reservoir into a bowl by removing the drain plug at the base of the filling tube and tilt the incubator forward slightly. To calibrate the dial humidity gauge, wrap it up in a damp cloth for 15 minutes. Then with a small screwdriver turn the pointer via the screw in the back off the gauge to 100%. Then leave for it to drop to ambient humidity level (generally between %). To calibrate the digital Hygrometer remove the front the same as the digital thermometer. The two calibration screws are found on the side of each digital digit. Calibration Screws Fig 7. Dial Hygrometer Fig 8. Digital Hygrometer Calibration

5 Cool Down Timer Cool down timers are only generally used when incubating waterfowl eggs The time clock is set the same as the turning/ timer, with each digit inserted equalling 15 minutes of no heat Air vent. The air vent is a circular rose on the top front of the S84 incubator and a larger oblong grate on B.S.S. models. This allows you to manipulate how much fresh air enters the machine. For most eggs this will be left fully open, but some geese and other waterfowl eggs seem to require a slightly stale air environment, so the flap may be either partially or fully closed to suit your individual needs. Cleaning your incubator Each incubator has been designed for ease of cleaning. All surfaces can be cleaned with warm water and a mild disinfectant. Fumigation with Formaldehyde gas is recommended between hatches. Please do not place the rollers in a dishwasher as they will bend and distort. The filter gauze should be changed annually under normal conditions but under heavy use this will require a more frequent change. A water-sanitising tablet may be used in the water reservoir. Essential Spare parts Grumbach incubators are built with reliability in mind. However over time certain parts may become warn and fail as with any other machine. This always seems to happen at the most inopportune moments and we strongly advise you to have a small number of spare parts to hand to get the incubator back up in use swiftly. These include a spare fan motor, turner motor, thermostat card and a few 3amp fuses. A quick problem and answer guide. Problem Temperature fails to reach desired level. Discrepancy between mercury thermometer and digital thermometer Turner not working No power to incubator. Probable cause or answer 1. Fan failure 2. Thermostat card failure Calibrate Digital thermometer. 1. Make sure turner is switched on, on control panel 2. Make sure turning tray is engaged in turning are fork 3. Make sure digits are pushed in on timer. 4. Turner motor failure. 1. Check and change the two 3 amp fuses inside left side panel near where power cable enters the back of the incubator. Warning unplug power source before removing any panels 2. Make sure cool down timer is not engaged.

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