Pro Handyman Blog

Swamp Cooler Pads Not Getting Wet

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If your swamp cooler pads are not getting wet, you are going to have warm air blowing from your cooler. The problem is obvious: the water is not getting to the pads. So it is time to investigate why not.

Let’s start with the easy things first. Make sure you have water in the bottom of your swamp cooler. This sounds stupid, but you would be surprised. I had a customer call us out for this exact reason…it turns out the landscaper turned off the water at the hose bib, which happened to be the one that supplied water to the swamp cooler. No water, no wet pads.

If you have water in the bottom of the swamp cooler, check to see that the pump is working. You should have a basket to keep out debris which could clog the impeller. You might remove the hose at the pump and turn the pump on to make sure water comes out of the outlet. If no water comes out, it may be time to replace the pump.

The last thing to check is the distribution to the pads. From the pump will be a larger tube that connects to an adapter at the top of the cooler. This adapter branches out into distribution tubes (called a spider) which go to the pads. If necessary, you can pull the tubes apart and clean them out. You can also use a pipe cleaner you might find at an arts & crafts store. Once you clean these out you should have water flowing to the pads.