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Thought I needed a new $4,800 swamp cooler after ours quit in July, then a guy on Menaul showed me the $38 part
Ours died on a Saturday in mid July, 104 outside, and the house hit 89 by noon so I figured the whole thing was done. I called two places and one quoted me $4,800 for a full replacement and the other would not even come out for a week. My neighbor Rudy came over, poked at it for ten minutes, and said the pump was shot and the pads were caked solid. We drove to a supply house on Menaul, grabbed a pump for $38 and four pads for $60, and had it running that afternoon. I have lived here eleven years and always treated that thing like a black box, and now I am kicking myself over the money I have thrown at service calls. Do you guys swap pumps and pads yourself or do you still call somebody out every spring?
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bethcarr29d ago
I used to be the guy who called somebody every single spring and just handed over a card, and honestly I never even watched what they did. Last year our pump went out and I got quoted $300 for the visit plus parts, and I almost paid it because I figured it was too complicated for me to mess with. Then my brother in law showed me it's literally two wires and a hose clamp, took him fifteen minutes with a beer in his hand. Now I do the pump and pads myself every April, maybe $100 total, and I check the belt while I'm up there too. The one thing I still won't touch is the motor or anything with the gas line, that's a real pro job. But swapping pads and a pump? That's just being a home owner, not being handy. I wasted so much money over the years thinking it was some kind of magic box.
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