Ova-Easy 190 Advance Series II Cabinet Incubator

This is a review of my 11 year old Brinsea Ova Easy 190 cabinet incubator. This incubator has paid for itself many times over, and worked flawlessly for many years, but for the price it has some unacceptable problems. All problems occurred outside the warranty period, and you can expect this product to perform well within that timeframe. I am not downgrading for expected component replacements like fan motors, sensor, etc. However, for those buyers for whom durability and long term reliability are expected, especially at price being asked, this review may be helpful. 1. Cabinet quality. This is a serious weakness. Rust began to appear on the floor of the cabinet within a few years, and is quite advanced at this time. Cleaning this surface after hatching is difficult and unpleasant. The cabinet walls are too thin and poorly insulated. Worse, within about five years, the cabinet became unstable when being moved for cleaning, and the door seal became compromised as the door no longer aligned squarely with the cabinet which required me to bungee around the whole door and cabinet to achieve a seal. 2. Turning mechanism. This is the failure that required me to replace the Brinsea. It’s unclear whether the problem is mechanical or computer related, but after replacing the turner motor the problem grew worse, and the turner fails to work automatically, generating a failure code each time. Because the design calls for a single motor to turn three trays, it is inherently subject to total failure. I believe that over time, three trays fully loaded with turkey eggs proved too much for it. 3. Humidity control. The Brinsea requires an add-on humidity pump which supplies a drip to a reservoir. This was effective but very slow to rebound after opening the door. Additionally the tubing had to be tensioned perfectly, and I would spend a bit of time tinkering with it every time it needed replaced. The tubing is also prone to kinks, and to suctioning to the surface of the tank, both of which render it non-functional. The little motor is quite impressive however, and lasted many years before replacement a few years ago. 4. Electronic controls. Re-calibrating the Brinsea is extremely complicated and time consuming, requiring calls to their technical support. They were patient and helpful in walking me through the process. At the end of the day however, I am less than confident in the quality of my own calibration, even though I invested in an expensive certified thermometer. 5. Price/Value. Eleven years ago I paid about $900 for my Ova Easy 190. Additionally, over the service life I spent over $350 on consumables and replacement parts. I was a bit shocked at how much more money Brinsea wants for this unit. It is simply not a value just given its low quality cabinet construction, the other issues notwithstanding. If Brinsea wants to improve its product, they should pay to have my unit shipped back to them so they can see the effect of eleven years of use on it. Planned obsolescence is not a good strategy at this price point, as indicated by my purchase of a different brand of incubator to replace my 190, which I will not mention here.