A little splash of bleach now and then won’t hurt either way if your cooler is easily accessible. Just throw in a couple cups on your way out with it running, by the time you get back the bleach smell will have dissipated and your cooler will be nice and clean. Something else to consider, there are cardboard pads out there treated with stuff to make them resistant to mold, algae, etc. Might be worth a few extra bucks if price is less of an object than hassle.
If accessiblility is a problem, something along the lines of toilet tank bleach tablets may be the way to go, just put them in a glass dish so they don’t eat a hole in the tank where they are sitting.
When I lived with my husband, we had a swamp cooler. (We live in northern Nevada and the summers here are brutally hot.) It was heavenly. At night we actually turned it off because we’d get too cold.>>>
WHAT??? BRUTALLY HOT???
Sorry, I live in Southern Nevada where it is, indeed, unmercifully hot and I wish to God every day between June 15th and Sept 1st. that I was somewhere in the northern part of my state.
We have 2 swamp coolers and an air conditioner (in an admittedly crappy ghetto fabluous trailer with really poor air flow planning). The swamps (we use one or the other) work fantastic until about June 15th, then nothing works well until about August 31st or so.
They do stink too… but I will say they do work better in May/June than our air conditioning works in July/August.
I’ve tried cleaning the reservior without success. Regarding “pads”, exactly what are they and how do I find them? The owner’s manual for this model makes no mention of them. I’ve looked and can’t see anything accessible that might be called “pads”, although I imagine that they are used to absorb the water and allow it to be evaporated by the blower.
Furthermore, I can’t open anything other than the outer door that admits water; there is no apparent way of opening anything else, even with a screwdriver. What am I missing?
I think I can picture these cardboard pads you speak of, but I’m not sure. They’re pieces of cardboard impregnated with various chemicals that are designed to be placed in water-using devices? In what kind of store would I find such things, and what would I ask for? I’ve asked for algae, mold, or odor treatment products at places like Home Depot and I’ve only ever been directed to deodorants (which were grossly inadequate, as I’ve explained earlier).
Hmmm… Do you think this would be a better option than what you suggested at the beginning of your post?
Once upon a time, I used to work for a farm supply place, and sold a lot of them. There are cardboard pads and some made out of some sisal-looking material (excelsior). Sometimes they were also sold in a roll, and you have to cut them to fit your cooler. People snapped them up at the start of the summer, I think because they were kind of hard to find. I think I’ve seen them since at places like Lowe’s and Home Depot, although I don’t pay much attention as my landlord is really good about taking care of the cooler for me.
Mine is a rooftop mounted one and blows out the bottom, so if yours blows out the side, it might look a little different. The pads go along the sides; the water is sprayed up, trickles down the pads, and the incoming air is sucked through them.
Odd. Is it a small, portable unit or a whole-house unit? Maybe a small unit works differently but I’ve never used one of those. I have to admit that I’ve never actually worked on a big one, because I’ve always rented and that was the maintenance man’s job. Does the manual contain an 800-number to call for assistance?
Thanks for all the info. I am suffering with a window fan that is pushing warm stuffy air around (the sad part is it’s not even very hot out yet; this building just absorbs any warmth) and something’s gotta give before summer. Sounds like I should hope that they give us permission to put in portable air conditioners (sucks to have to pay for it ourselves) and use the portable air cooler as my second choice.