# Swamp Cooler wont cool



## astephen11 (Jul 6, 2014)

I got this house about a year ago and in the garage someone had installed a swamp cooler.  Now it was not as hot last year however it would blow hot air.  Since it wasn't as hot as it is this year, I decided to wait and I would look at it over the winter and clean it up and replace all the part.  Well I did, almost new everything...still same problem, warm to hot air.  Now I live in a very dry climate.

I have never seen one installed in the garage before though.  Who ever did this took some time to install it.  They piped duct work through out the house to get the air to different parts of the house and there are vent in the ceiling where the air is dumped out.  It is a nice system if it worked...

Also they installed a nice sized fan in my hallway by my back bedrooms, which is on the opposite side of the house from where the swamp cooler is, which pulls the air up through to the attic.  It pulls hard enough that it will close my doors to my bedroom.

Should I be using this in conjunction with my swamp cooler?  Now I just got the fan working as someone had disconnected it.  I hooked it up thinking that it may help pull the air through the house.  I have ran the swamp cooler with the fan running and with the fan off and get the same results...HOT AIR.  

Again who ever installed all of this seemed to know what they were doing.  It is not just thrown together...all of it seems to look like whoever put in the swamp cooler and fan were in the construction trade maybe even did this for a living or they hired someone to install it.

If anyone has any ideas I would be all ears.  I have spent a lot of time Googling to really get the same answers.  

Thanks for your time

Adam


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## Wuzzat? (Jul 6, 2014)

astephen11 said:


> I have ran the swamp cooler. . .and get the same results...HOT AIR.


No water flow through evap. pad?
Pad is gummed up?
Air downstream of the pad has more humidity than upstream air?


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## carnuck (Jul 9, 2014)

Swamp coolers don't work well in high humidity conditions.


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## Chris (Jul 10, 2014)

Op says dry climate so I agree it has to be not getting water where it needs it.


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## slownsteady (Jul 10, 2014)

pads could be clogged by hard water residue??


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## nealtw (Jul 10, 2014)

Never having seen a swamp cooler, am I right in thinking that they would be cheaper and less effective than a AC unit and then do they come in different sizes.
So my thoughts are, maybe it is not working for some reason that can be fixed.
Maybe it never worked because of size or length of runs and maybe because those runs are in the hotest place in the house, the attic
Does it produce cool or cold at or near the unit itself, Have you checked the ductwork in the attic for holes and insulation?


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## Chris (Jul 11, 2014)

Neal it doesn't get any simpler. A fan blow or sucking air through a wet membrane. Evaporation is causing the air to cool. They work great in our desert here but even the slightest humidity and they don't blow cold. When we had one we would throw in block ice to get it even colder. Out here they have some that are six feet tall to help cool warehouses. Way better than a fan alone but still not ac.


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## bud16415 (Jul 11, 2014)

You can even get one for your automobile. They used to rent them on both sides of the desert for the drive thru. 

http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,387284,387306

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_cooler

Thermador was the big name in them.


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## astephen11 (Jul 23, 2014)

Wuzzat? said:


> No water flow through evap. pad?
> Pad is gummed up?
> Air downstream of the pad has more humidity than upstream air?



I put in a new float, new pads and basically checked everything to make sure it was working.  Now correct me if I am wrong but it works on evaporation and with it being in the garage and no direct sunlight then it really is just passing the hot air from the garage through the pads and that air is being blown into my house?  

 This is all I can figure out...

 I truly believe that whoever constructed this put some time in it...just by all the work so one would have to assume that research had to be involved.  I can find no where anywhere that talks about putting one in your garage to cool your house.


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## astephen11 (Jul 23, 2014)

nealtw said:


> Never having seen a swamp cooler, am I right in thinking that they would be cheaper and less effective than a AC unit and then do they come in different sizes.
> So my thoughts are, maybe it is not working for some reason that can be fixed.
> Maybe it never worked because of size or length of runs and maybe because those runs are in the hotest place in the house, the attic
> Does it produce cool or cold at or near the unit itself, Have you checked the ductwork in the attic for holes and insulation?



Great points...thank you.

 I never thought about the duct work being in the hottest part of the house.  Maybe that is why there is this big fan that goes up to the attic, to cool it off.  I was up there and when that fan is going it is not hot up there at all.  The air coming out of it is lukewarm at best.  Feels like a fan blowing warm air...

 Thank you for replying...if you think of anything else, please share.


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## nealtw (Jul 23, 2014)

I think it was built without the required research, AC isn't even set up like that.


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## nealtw (Jul 23, 2014)

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-the-Air-Colder-in-a-Swamp-Cooler-Home


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## Wuzzat? (Jul 23, 2014)

astephen11 said:


> I put in a new float, new pads and basically checked everything to make sure it was working.  Now correct me if I am wrong but it works on evaporation and with it being in the garage and no direct sunlight then it really is just passing the hot air from the garage through the pads and that air is being blown into my house?


The water in a wet rag or pad will evaporate fast in dry air and the rag/pad will thereby cool down.

With forced air the process works faster and the cooled air is distributed.

You must be overlooking something very basic.


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## Chris (Jul 23, 2014)

I think if you are getting water that is covering every bit of the pad and the pad is large enough that warm air can not be sucked around it and you don't have a lot of humidity the air should be cool. Is the air cool just in front of the unit when it is running? Do you have a thermometer you can use in different location to check the temp? Can you take a picture of the set up?


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