Evaporative Coolers

Does An Expensive Model Last Longer?

There is an old saying “ You get what you pay for.” This means that if you spend more money on an item it is not only better quality but generally lasts longer. This is usually the case with most items. But with Evaporative Coolers there are other circumstances involved. I have seen people buy the best stainless steel commercial unit that they could find. To their surprise the unit was rusted and corroded beyond use in about the same time as cheaper models. This was not the fault of the manufacturer, it was the fault of the owner. I will explain.
I have been around this industry for over 25 years and worked on many types of Evaporative or Swamp Coolers. Most models are made of galvanized steel panels that are either painted or have a polyester powder coated finish. But I have also seen units constructed of stainless steel, fiberglass, plastic, and even aluminum. I was surprised about the aluminum unit. It was a test model to see if it would be more durable than the steel models. Everywhere that the steel frame supporting the blower touched the aluminum, it caused major deterioration. So you might ask, how was the owner responsible for premature deterioration of the unit rather than the materials that it was built with?

Poor Maintenance Causes Most Of The Deterioration

Many Evaporative Cooler owners do little or no maintenance to their unit. This can cause problems very quickly. Let’s start with draining and cleaning the pan. This should be done at least once a year. It should be done several times a year if there are a lot of minerals in your water. Some people have installed an inline water filter on their water line to cut down on the minerals entering the unit. Your Cooler evaporates many gallons of water each day in the cooling process. The minerals do not evaporate with the water. When you drain and wash out the pan it not only cleans out the dirt and dust build up from the air, but also removes the build up of minerals. I have seen an eighth inch crust at the bottom of the pan from this mineral build up. You should also change the pads once a year because minerals are building up in them too. Some people drain and clean the pan and then fill the pan with fresh water. As soon as the fresh water trickles over the old pads, it brings a concentration of minerals back down to the pan. Therefore I would recommend doing all these things together on a regular basis.
You might wonder why you should worry about this type of maintenance if the cooler is stainless steel? Only the outer panels of the cooler are stainless steel. On almost all models the blower housing and wheel are galvanized steel and the frame is iron. If your aspen pads ( or whatever synthetic pads that might be used ) deteriorate and start collapsing, the mineral filled water is pulled into the blower section. The same thing can happen if you use celdek media. As dust and dirt starts clogging some of the tubes through the years, air is being sucked stronger in the open tubes. Often this can suck some of the water right into the blower section. Even though the unit still looks great on the outside it is just as rusted as the cheep models on the inside.

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