Hard Water and Your Swamp Cooler

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Hard water and your swamp cooler issues

If yous have a swamp libation and take hard water you need to exist very diligent about cleaning your swamp cooler and reducing scale build upwardly.  Your condolement depends on it.  Did yous know that the average h2o in the Urban center of Albuquerque is approximately 12 grains hard? If you alive in Rio Rancho information technology can exist upwards to 25 grains hard. The truth is that approximately 95% of households have hard water. While the buildup can exist cruddy in your home and difficult to clean, it can greatly touch your comfort if you take a swamp cooler.  Your swamp or (evaporative) cooler uses water to absurd your domicile. If you want to larn more near how a swamp libation works check out our Swamp Cooler 101 article. Water runs constantly through a swamp cooler when it is running, and if have hard water it is going to cling to anything it can within the unit.  When you lot are running your swamp cooler constantly similar right now when it is hot yous are pushing h2o through the water lines, distribution tubes, pads, and pump. Hard h2o buildup will develop on all those parts and can reduce the amount of water and saturation reducing the cooling capacity of the cooler.  If less h2o is being pushed through the libation and not saturating the pads you're just blowing hot air from outside into your home. When this happens you'll detect that your cooler is running but the air doesn't experience cool in your home. Here are some examples of problems that happen with hard water buildup.

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Clogged Water Distribution lines:

Overtime hard h2o can build upward in the water distribution lines this will reduce water menses through to the pads. If the pads aren't getting wet enough the blower will but blow hot air from outside into the dwelling.  There are also different types of distribution tubes for standard coolers and mastercool units. Difficult water buildup should be removed prior to each summer to maximize cooling performance. Spider lines and distribution tubes can be replaced if hard water buildup cannot be removed.

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Difficult h2o buildup on swamp cooler pads:

Difficult h2o can also buildup over time on the pads themselves. If there is too much build up the pads will once more not exist able to hold the water and again will reduce the cooling power. We recommend pads be replaced on standard coolers every year when prepping the cooler for summer. Learn more well-nigh swamp cooler pads in our post. Mastercool pads are a different kind of honeycomb media and can usually last up to a few years.  Notwithstanding, mastercool pads should be cleaned and hard water removed prior to each season equally well.  You lot'll discover that equally hard water builds up over time the mastercool pads will get very heavy.

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Difficult water buildup on water pumps:

The water pump within your swamp cooler is essential in pumping h2o from the base of the libation into the distribution tubes to saturate the pads. If hard h2o buildup corrodes the pump information technology tin reduce its ability to pump enough h2o into the distribution tubes or cause it to fail completely. The pump should be thoroughly cleaned prior to the showtime of each season.  If it is too corroded or non working properly it should be replaced.

How to reduce difficult water problems:

There are a few means to reduce difficult water problems with your swamp cooler. The first is to make sure you get a professional person to make clean and inspect your cooler prior to each flavor. Make sure they supervene upon parts that have been overcome with hard h2o and will reduce the cooling ability of the cooler.

If you lot have mild difficult h2o bug it is a proficient thought to become an inline filter to reduce calcium and mineral buildup in your cooler. There are many options available. You can always ask our professionals for recommendations and we tin install these for you when nosotros perform annual maintenance.

If you are worried about your hard water throughout your home you may want to consider a water softener? A water softener will remove the minerals from the water in your home and prevent difficult h2o buildup throughout the domicile. You will notice information technology will be easier to clean your swamp libation if you clean information technology yourself. If you would like to explore this option, TLC offers Kinetico Water Softeners and Contrary Osmosis Systems. We offer free water tests and complimentary estimates.

Swamp coolers rely solely on water and a motor to cool your dwelling and then if you are experiencing problems with the cooling effectiveness you may want to check for hard water build upwardly problems. Or if you practise not feel comfortable getting on your roof or troubleshooting yourself our friendly, professional technicians are here to assist. If you lot have whatever questions about any of data we discussed here you can always ask one of our professionals every bit well.

TLC-Air-Conditioning-Technician-Keanu

Keanu Alaniz

Keanu has been with TLC for 6 years and is a licensed HVAC technician. He has experience repairing and replacing furnace and air conditioning units.