The week our swamp cooler died in June and why I'll never ignore maintenance again

Last June the temps hit 98 and our swamp cooler just gave up on a Tuesday. I had been putting off cleaning the pads since spring, thought it could wait. Three days of window fans and cold showers later, I finally called a guy from Sandia Cooling. He showed me the pads were basically caked solid with minerals, said the motor was working twice as hard as it should. $180 for new pads and a cleaning, but the real kicker was his advice. He said for the price of a cheap filter rinse every 2 weeks, I'd never have to worry. I used to think those maintenance reminders were just upsells. Now I set a phone alarm for the first and fifteenth. Has anyone else had a cooler fail at the worst possible time? What's your routine to keep them running through July and August?

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king.lisa3d ago

Those float valves are worth checking too, mine stuck once and dumped all the water out overnight. Set the rinse alarm and also give the float arm a wiggle every time you change the pads.