[bio.dros] Fly incubator breakdowns?!

[ITO, Kei]

> We have been having a long standing problem with our incubators that we are
> using for fly stocks.  Several have had problems with their heating/cooling
> systems.  This seems to be due to build up of some kind of residue on the
> heating/cooling(?) elements inside of the incubator.   We imagine that
> maybe something in our fly food recipe (possibly propionic acid) collects
> on and corrodes the metal elements.  Has anyone had similar problems?  any
> solutions?

Yes, fly foods are not the best friends of the metal elements.
There would be two solutions:

1: Purchase incubators that feature stainless-steel elements.

2: Ventilate the incubator. Many incubators feature small holes
    on their wall for installing cables of the electric devices. If
    yours have such holes, leave them open. For even better
    ventilation, you could also install a small fan (such as those
    inside your computers) at the hole. If yours have no hole, ask
    the people in the workshop to drill the wall!

    Such ventilation should, of course, affect the colling/heating
    performance to some extent. You may want to put a thermometer
    to check the temperature stability with ventilation.

Good luck,

Kei
National Institute for Basic Biology, Japan