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Home > Archive > Home Repair forum > August 2006 > Swamp Cooler Problem (periodic shutoff)
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Swamp Cooler Problem (periodic shutoff)
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| byamato@gmail.com 2006-06-15, 1:21 am |
| I live in Colorado, and am having problems with my evaporative cooler.
After running for about an hour or so, the fan always shuts off, even
though the water pump continues to run. This applies for all settings
(high cool, low cool, high vent, low vent). After resting for an hour
or more it will work as normal.
The fact that the water pump is still running seems to tell me that the
problem is not electrical. Any ideas? is this normal for swamp
coolers?
Any help is much appreciated!
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| My garage cooler does that once and a while. It has electronic controls with
a remote control. I just unplug it for a while and it seems to reset.
AZCRAIG
www.vintagetrailersforsale.com
<byamato@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1150344901.511957.14190@f6g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>I live in Colorado, and am having problems with my evaporative cooler.
> After running for about an hour or so, the fan always shuts off, even
> though the water pump continues to run. This applies for all settings
> (high cool, low cool, high vent, low vent). After resting for an hour
> or more it will work as normal.
>
> The fact that the water pump is still running seems to tell me that the
> problem is not electrical. Any ideas? is this normal for swamp
> coolers?
>
> Any help is much appreciated!
>
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| George E. Cawthon 2006-06-15, 3:21 am |
| byamato@gmail.com wrote:
> I live in Colorado, and am having problems with my evaporative cooler.
> After running for about an hour or so, the fan always shuts off, even
> though the water pump continues to run. This applies for all settings
> (high cool, low cool, high vent, low vent). After resting for an hour
> or more it will work as normal.
>
> The fact that the water pump is still running seems to tell me that the
> problem is not electrical. Any ideas? is this normal for swamp
> coolers?
>
> Any help is much appreciated!
>
The motor probably gets too hot and the thermal
cutoff opens. When it cools sufficiently the
cutoff snaps shut and the motor starts.
You have a problem. When was the last maintenance
done and how old is the motor? most likely the
fan bearings or the motor bearings are going. Fan
bearings are cheap and can be easily replaced if
you are a do-it-yourselfer. If the motor bearings
are bad, the easiest and likely the cheapest
solution is to just buy another motor.
You can tell if the bearings are bad if after you
loosen the motor and remove the fan belt you can
move the motor shaft any perceptible amount at a
right angle to the motor shaft. Same with the fan
shaft.
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| Tim Killian 2006-06-16, 9:42 am |
| byamato@gmail.com wrote:
> I live in Colorado, and am having problems with my evaporative cooler.
> After running for about an hour or so, the fan always shuts off, even
> though the water pump continues to run. This applies for all settings
> (high cool, low cool, high vent, low vent). After resting for an hour
> or more it will work as normal.
>
> The fact that the water pump is still running seems to tell me that the
> problem is not electrical. Any ideas? is this normal for swamp
> coolers?
>
> Any help is much appreciated!
>
Most coolers have an adjustable pulley on the motor shaft. A good
installer is supposed to set the pulley diameter adjustment so the motor
runs at it's rated current. It sounds like your motor is overloaded and
that is tripping the built-in thermal cutoff. Have somebody who knows
what they're doing go up there and adjust the pulley for the proper loading.
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| George E. Cawthon 2006-06-16, 9:42 am |
| Tim Killian wrote:
> byamato@gmail.com wrote:
>
> Most coolers have an adjustable pulley on the motor shaft. A good
> installer is supposed to set the pulley diameter adjustment so the motor
> runs at it's rated current. It sounds like your motor is overloaded and
> that is tripping the built-in thermal cutoff. Have somebody who knows
> what they're doing go up there and adjust the pulley for the proper
> loading.
Yes the motor is overloaded, that's why it gets
hot and shuts off. But if it has been working ok
before, it has nothing to do with the pulley.
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| bearmd 2006-06-20, 3:25 am |
|
George E. Cawthon wrote:
> Tim Killian wrote:
>
> Yes the motor is overloaded, that's why it gets
> hot and shuts off. But if it has been working ok
> before, it has nothing to do with the pulley.
I live in New Mexico and have a similar problem. Just this season, when
the fan is on "high" (I only have 2 settings), it will all of the
sudden slow down to low (for 5-30 seconds) and then speed back up again
to high. This has never happened before and I have lived in the house
for 3 summers. I do the maintenance myself, but I didn't notice
anything untoward when I was setting up the cooler this spring. It
sounds like it might be the motor and/or bearings? But how do I find
out? And is it easy to replace the motor? Thanks!!
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| byamato@gmail.com 2006-06-20, 5:25 pm |
| Thanks so much for the help guys! Before the next heat wave I'll crack
that baby open and see what's going on.
George E. Cawthon wrote:
> byamato@gmail.com wrote:
>
> The motor probably gets too hot and the thermal
> cutoff opens. When it cools sufficiently the
> cutoff snaps shut and the motor starts.
>
> You have a problem. When was the last maintenance
> done and how old is the motor? most likely the
> fan bearings or the motor bearings are going. Fan
> bearings are cheap and can be easily replaced if
> you are a do-it-yourselfer. If the motor bearings
> are bad, the easiest and likely the cheapest
> solution is to just buy another motor.
>
> You can tell if the bearings are bad if after you
> loosen the motor and remove the fan belt you can
> move the motor shaft any perceptible amount at a
> right angle to the motor shaft. Same with the fan
> shaft.
| |
| coolerdoctor 2006-08-30, 8:25 pm |
| The most common reason for the motor to periodocly shut off like this is
that it is over heating and the thermol protection system kicks in to
protect the motor.
The most common cause for a motor to over heat; is the belt is simply to
tight. You could have worn pillow bushings, but if they are causing that
much pull on the motor you would hear a god awful noise from them.
To test your belt tension grasp the belt between your thumb and forefinger
and apply light up & down pressure (approximatly 3 lbs). The belt should
only move about 3/4 to 1 inch.
To adjust the belt varies, usually you will find a bolt that holds the
motor mounting bracket. It is usually in a cresent shaped slot. Loosen
this bolt "a little" and move the motor toward the pulley slightly. If
you move it too much, just redo it until you can only move the belt as
above. If the belt is too loose, the worse that can happen is the belt
might slip a little.
To learn more service and repair information on evaporative coolers, visit:
www.easycoolercare.com
Larry Galpin
The Cooler Doctor
Service, Repair & Enhance the Performance of Your Cooler Yourself and Save
$100s Every Year!
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