How A Swamp Cooler Works
A swamp cooler or (evaporation cooler) works on a pretty simple mechanical principle. Dry air enters and passes through water, as this happens the water absorbs the heat thus cooling the air.
Below the diagram shows how the basic parts of a swamp cooler are arranged in order to cool air, design and mechanical parts will effect the efficiency and effectiveness of an evaporation cooler as well as environmental factors. For now a basic view.
The basic parts are an air tight enclosure, a fibrous pad, a sump pump, an auto fill, a centrifugal fan, and of course water. They work series to create a forced evaporation of water into air in order to cool the air. The pump carries water into the fiber pad as the blower creates a low pressure inside of the air tight enclosure sucking air through the wet pad and forcing it out of the unit. The auto fill is attached to a water source and regulates the amount of water on hand in the reservoir replacing water as it moved through the output of air. This is a cheap source of cooling because the mechanical energy needed is much less than a refrigerant condensing unit.
Swamp coolers are not ideally used as a primary source for cooling an area because of a few limitations and effects. The main limitation is environmental. Most basic models cannot create cool air in a humid environment. The more water that is already in the air the less effective an evaporation cooler can properly change the air temperature. Also most basic swamp cooler models cannot cool air to a comfortable level when the ambient outside temperature is above 100 degrees F. Although there are models that are capable of doing so, the cost and added mechanical energy do not outweigh the savings. Also it is hard to overcome the effect of a moist environment. Moisture creates a ideal habitat for bacterium, although an evaporation cooler does a much better job of filtering out dust and pollens, it is a concern about the bacterial environment specially in cooking environments or those who are susceptible to illness.
"I Have A Swamp Cooler, But Its Just Not Making As Cold Of Air As It Used To"
If your not getting a good efficiency out of your unit you may want to asses a few things before calling out a company for repair. First off is it more humid than normal? or is it a hotter day than normal? A few degrees can make a huge difference and can multiply the loss in output. If you are sure its not very different than the other week and you are still getting lousy performance than there are a few things you can look at. Go to your unit and check the pads, if you have a scale build up on the out side of the pad holders its going to be much worse on the inside. This is a typical issue for swamp coolers and is easily fixed. First turn off your unit and disconnect the power, you then want to remove the screws or undo the tabs holding in the pad retainer. If you have a fiber pad you can simply buy a new pad and replace it, they are very inexpensive and can be cut to size with a large pair of scissors. be sure to soak the new pads in water before you place the retainer back on the unit, this will help it settle in and work better. before you replace you should turn on the unit with the pads out to get a visual inspection that your pump is evenly and thoroughly moving water to the pads, you may want to stand away as you turn it on as the pump will move a lot of water. A good indicator that the lines are clogged is that portions of the pad will be dry. check your water level to ensure that your auto fill valve is operational, while on the water should still be over the full line on your pump or over the filter, As long as you are not pumping water out of the unit during inspection this will tell you if your level is okay. some units may have metal filters, they are more intensive to fix and are expensive to just replace. suggestion is a strong chemical for cutting scale and calcium or vinegar may do the trick. neither you want to waste, take thick garbage bag and place your metal pad inside, pour a liberal amount of solution inside close the bag with your hand and shake the solution around let sit for 20 min repeat and wait until you see the scale removed. you can then use this bag for your other pads. make sure your bag is acid resistant! make sure to thoroughly rinse any remaining cleaner off as it may be harmful to you and your pump. if this does not work you can try other softening solutions or replace. be sure to tap off any loose calcium while cleaning. most sump pumps for an evaporation cooler are 30- 50 dollars so if your pump is not working it is a cheap fix, but replace the tubing first, it is cheap and always good to replace when dirty and built up. As for the blower, it may be difficult for any beginner to diagnose the issues with a blower. most likely if no other fixes have worked it may need a new electric motor. these can be expensive so if your primary issue is this and your unit is it slightly more expensive than a new motor, just buy a new unit.
Maintenance
simply keep the water soft and watch for drips. cleaning a unit out once every 3 months on steady usage is a good idea. use some readily available solutions for softening. make sure there is no visible damage to the case.
