# Brinsea



## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

I'm am going to get an incubator for New Years. I am looking at the octagon 20. 
Does anyone have experience with this model and of so what ware your thoughts.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I had that one and never settled in to it. I plugged the GQF back in until I bought the turn-X. 

But there are others that absolutely love them. 

I think its more about what we're comfortable with, it wasn't the Brinsea for me but it was the turn-x.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

Curious as to what made you decide that. What features does the turnx have that made you like it over the brinsea. 
I am leaning towards the brinsea as I can buy the basic and add on to it as I hatch and can afford it.


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## kessy09 (Jun 16, 2013)

I have the Brinsea 40 advance with the humidity pump. I also have a Roll-X which is the same company as Robin's Turn-x. The roll-x is a great incubator but I've only hatched shipped eggs from it so I can't really give an accurate review because with shipped eggs anything can happen. It would regularly get me 50-60% hatch rates. My Brinsea is amazing but you lose a bit of "connection" with the eggs as you don't have to do anything with them ever. But that's worth the regular 100% hatches. The only negative thing I have to say about the Brinsea is that it's difficult to open. You have to lift the whole lid off and with the wire connection between the turning mechanism it makes it really awkward to move the lid off.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

What i like most about the brinsea is that I can buy each upgrade separately. Which is important right now as u do not have a lot of money but would like to reliably hatch eggs to be able to sell chickens for extra cash come spring time. 
Right now I am only needing to hatch 20 eggs tops, so the 40 would be a bit much for me. 
Glad to see I am be on the right path here, as several others have recommended the brinsea for me to get.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Can 20 large fowl eggs even fit in that Brinsea? Its been a few years since I sold my old one.

Kessy listed my biggest issue, lifting the whole lid off to add water and water needed to be added often. You couldn't see how much water was existing in the bottom until you had it running all over the counter. 

I had the turner with mine and it quit mid hatch. 

While I'm not crazy about turn-x and the way it supposedly rotates eggs, I didn't like the set up in the Brinsea for how the eggs were placed. It wasn't easy to keep the eggs in position unless the row was completely full. 

You can add to the turn-x but the base unit is still quite pricey.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

According to brinsea the octagon 20 holds 20 hen sized eggs, less waterfowl, more gamebird. 
Hearing that opening the bator is a challenge I may look into other options. I mean if I'm dropping money on it, I want the easiest interface I can find.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If you weren't forced in to the base unit and could get the auto filler it wouldn't be such a hassle. 

The turn-x has the water bottle so that one was easy and I didn't have to see how much water was in it.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

I have now watched too many videos on incubator reviews. 
If anything I am more lost. I know that right now I do not need to hatch more then 24 eggs so a cabinet set up is simply not worth the money. 
I am unsure if there is any difference in rolling vs tilting for the eggs. It seems like the ocagons more set and forget then the Lyons. Not that I wish to be detached, I do essentially want it to be once I place eggs in, 21 days later I have chicks.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I think you're beginning to over think this now. I mentioned some time back that you can be just as successful with the styro incubators if you have the instruments needed to measure temp and humidity. I hatched probably several hundred out of mine until I decided to do staggered hatches and got the Brinsea. I hated the Brinsea and got the Turn-X. 

If I was starting all over again, know what I know now and had a limited budget I would go with the Styros. Even with the turner they are an inexpensive choice. Sometimes they make too much about this turning thing. I've forgotten for days to turn mine and still had successful hatches.


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## kessy09 (Jun 16, 2013)

The Brinsea's opening/closing issue is only a problem if you want to regularly open the incubator. Which isn't recommended anyway. I bought the humidity pump so I didn't have to open it to fill the water channels. It is a total set and forget. Every thing is controlled digitally. The last few hatches I didn't even bother to candle at all through the process. It set me back $900 for the 40 advance with the turner and humidity pump. That's included taxes, duty and shipping to get it into Canada. I'll be renting it to a school in June for $100. The kids will get to experience hatching eggs as their last science project before summer and they'll be using my eggs. Any leftover chicks that aren't adopted out will come back to me.


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## ladycat (Aug 6, 2012)

I haven't found lifting the top to be a hassle.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Its the lifting the tray of eggs out to see the amount of water that makes it too much of a hassle. Without the pump to maintain humidity its just not all that user friendly.


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## ladycat (Aug 6, 2012)

Oh, I see what you mean. But I had even more hassle with the Styrofoam 'bators, trying to get water into the wells when the wire mesh liner was full of eggs.

At least with the Brinsea, I can just lift out the entire tray. Although fortunately it only has to be done once every few days.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

I just ran a small water line into the lower level where the water goes, it makes it so the water can be filled without opening the styrofoam. 
I imagine similar results can be achieved with the brinsea, or you can get the humidity pump.


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## Renee97038 (Jan 25, 2014)

Did you ever decide on which incubator? I am a new user of the Brinsea Octagon20 Advance with humidity pump. I have eggs set in it right now. When you buy it with the pump it comes with foam cushions to go between the eggs. They really works well to position the eggs. I only have 10 eggs in it though because I like for the chicks to have more room when they are in lockdown. Set up was very easy and the quality of the unit seems excellent. The only issue I am having is the temperature inside seems to be a couple degrees off from the digital displayed temp. I am working on this, have it set to 100.5 right now to get the inside temp up a bit. Directions say not to trust anything but the digital readout but a friend has the same incubator and her's always reads about 2 degrees off. The inside thermometer is brand new, glass one made by Brinsea. I will update you later to let you know how my hatch went.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

I have not yet made a hard decision. I was recently in a car accident and had to reallocate those funds. Let me know what you think of your brinsea. 
The only issue I have heard about the octagon is in regards to humidity. The pump solves that issue, but at that price, I'm wondering if there is not a better option that allows for Better humidity control.


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