Ahhhhhhhhh. Living in the desert ............. it's 105 today.

My swamp cooler was making odd noises, so I checked it. The pump was
wearing out and making wierd noises.

Went to Homer's and got another. While there, I encountered a water dumper
that exchanges the water after eight hours of running time.

I believe that this cooler uses softened water, because at the beginning of
each season, it looks like Carlsbad Caverns inside. This exchanger touts
that it will make everything run better, and keep the deposits down. It
also claims that it will save water, which I find hard to believe, since it
dumps all the water after eight hours of use.

Long story short, I got one, and am going to try it on one of my swampers.
I have two. Anyone have any experience with these?

They are spendy, coming in at $48 per.

Advice and anecdotes appreciated. Puhleeeeeze, only desert rats that know
what a swamp cooler is need reply.

Steve

I spent 29 years in Tucson.
So I guess I'm qualified as a desert rat.

I used a bleeder kit (~$5). There's a "T" fitting which you put
in the tube between the pump and the spider. Most of the water
flows straight thru. Out the side of the T is a small connection for
a 1/8"(?) tube. This small tube runs out the overflow and the end
just gets stuffed into any stack pipe for the plumbing. A cheap
sheet metal pinch clamp adjusts the flow rate in the small discharge
tube.
This worked great and kept the build up of calcium to a minimum.
Ace HW had them. Home Despot too.

A friend of mine tried feeding his swamp box with soft water. Instead
of the hard calcium build up he got sodium crystals which were quite
soft and long and thin. Much easier to clean off the sides than calcium.
They also shed from the inside of the pads and got blown into the
house. His wife went ballistic.

Art


"SteveB" wrote in message
news:cguje.11188$gp.5660@fed1read03...
Ahhhhhhhhh. Living in the desert ............. it's 105 today.

My swamp cooler was making odd noises, so I checked it. The pump was
wearing out and making wierd noises.

Went to Homer's and got another. While there, I encountered a water dumper
that exchanges the water after eight hours of running time.

I believe that this cooler uses softened water, because at the beginning of
each season, it looks like Carlsbad Caverns inside. This exchanger touts
that it will make everything run better, and keep the deposits down. It
also claims that it will save water, which I find hard to believe, since it
dumps all the water after eight hours of use.

Long story short, I got one, and am going to try it on one of my swampers.
I have two. Anyone have any experience with these?

They are spendy, coming in at $48 per.

Advice and anecdotes appreciated. Puhleeeeeze, only desert rats that know
what a swamp cooler is need reply.

Steve

"Wood Butcher" wrote in message
...
I spent 29 years in Tucson.
So I guess I'm qualified as a desert rat.

I used a bleeder kit (~$5). There's a "T" fitting which you put
in the tube between the pump and the spider. Most of the water
flows straight thru. Out the side of the T is a small connection for
a 1/8"(?) tube. This small tube runs out the overflow and the end
just gets stuffed into any stack pipe for the plumbing. A cheap
sheet metal pinch clamp adjusts the flow rate in the small discharge
tube.
This worked great and kept the build up of calcium to a minimum.

I wondered what that T was for. So, it just kicks out some of the
mineralized water, and keeps the tank full with relatively fresh water that
keeps getting diluted with more fresh water?

BTW, yes, the Carlsbad Caverns formations are easy to remove. Lots easier
than the regular scale.

Steve

In article cguje.11188$gp.5660@fed1read03,
SteveB wrote:
Ahhhhhhhhh. Living in the desert ............. it's 105 today.

My swamp cooler was making odd noises, so I checked it. The pump was
wearing out and making wierd noises.

Went to Homer's and got another. While there, I encountered a water dumper
that exchanges the water after eight hours of running time.

I believe that this cooler uses softened water, because at the beginning of
each season, it looks like Carlsbad Caverns inside.

That sounds quite unlike softened water to me. Lots of mineral
in it.

This exchanger touts
that it will make everything run better, and keep the deposits down. It
also claims that it will save water, which I find hard to believe, since it
dumps all the water after eight hours of use.

Long story short, I got one, and am going to try it on one of my swampers.
I have two. Anyone have any experience with these?

They are spendy, coming in at $48 per.

Advice and anecdotes appreciated. Puhleeeeeze, only desert rats that know
what a swamp cooler is need reply.

Well ... I am not currently a desert rat, but I remember them
from when I was growing up in South Texas. They would really freeze you
out of a house there. Back then, IIRC, they were operated as total-loss
devices -- no pumps to recirculate the water, just a continuous feed
from the fresh water supply through pipes with small holes lined up over
the filter mattes.

Here (near Washington DC), the humidity is so high that I don't
see a chance for them to do any good. I strongly suspect that the
refrigeration A/C units in this area probably *extract* more water from
the air over a season than a total-loss swamp cooler would consume over
the same period. :-)

I'm not giving either advice or anecdotes, but some guesswork.

1) Without that exchanger, as the season goes on, the concentration
of minerals will build up and up, as the water evaporates (which
is what does the cooling), leaving the minerals behind.

2) The higher concentration of minerals will probably accumulate on
the filter mattes, closing the pores and reducing the airflow, so
reducing the cooling capability, and costing you more to run it.

3) The increased mineral accumulation on the mattes *might* increase
the amount of water sprinkled to the outside (instead of
properly soaking into the mattes), and thus actually increase the
water used compared to dumping the water once every eight hours.

Note -- these are not from experience with the product, just
guesses as to what the benefits might be.

So -- please let us know what differences you experience over a
cooling season between the two. Is there any way to measure the water
consumed by each?

Enjoy,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

You got it.

With no bleed the mineral saturation level will reach
equilibrium when the rate the minerals are deposited
on the sides and pads equals the rate they are added
by the incoming makeup water.

With a bleed you lower the equilibrium level in the pan.
The higher the bleed rate, the lower the level as you
are removing more minerals. You will still get some
mineral deposition on the sides & pads but far less
than with no bleed.

BTW. It only bleeds when the pump is running so
there is no waste of water when it's off.

Disclaimer: My experience is with unsoftened well
water(high calcium content) and aspen pads. Your
experience may differ.

Art


"SteveB" wrote in message
news:88vje.12056$gp.3538@fed1read03...
I wondered what that T was for. So, it just kicks out some of the
mineralized water, and keeps the tank full with relatively fresh water that
keeps getting diluted with more fresh water?

As an Albuquerque resident for 15+ yrs I guess I almost
qualify as a "desert rat" . I think the 8 hrs is too
frequent to dump the water. It realy depends on how
hard the water is but I would think about once a week
would be enough to help a lot. The "bleeder" technique
will work to some extent but it just takes a fraction
of all the water so some of it is the just introduced
fresh water. I guess the REAL solution would be a
hardness monitor and when a certain point is reached
then dump it all. :-) (a retired electronics engineer
speaking) :-)
...lew...

As a reference point ...
Back in the sixties in Phoenix the pump on our well broke
and we had to carry buckets of water up to the cooler.
5 gallons per hour with the temperature in the hundred &
something-teens and single digit humidity.

Art

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...

So -- please let us know what differences you experience over a
cooling season between the two. Is there any way to measure the water
consumed by each?

Steve, be SURE to route the dump water to either a vent pipe on the roof
or a cleanout in the sewer system. These things work well, but make one
hell of a mess if just vented into the the yard.

Bill in Phx.


SteveB wrote:
Ahhhhhhhhh. Living in the desert ............. it's 105 today.

My swamp cooler was making odd noises, so I checked it. The pump was
wearing out and making wierd noises.

Went to Homer's and got another. While there, I encountered a water dumper
that exchanges the water after eight hours of running time.

I believe that this cooler uses softened water, because at the beginning of
each season, it looks like Carlsbad Caverns inside. This exchanger touts
that it will make everything run better, and keep the deposits down. It
also claims that it will save water, which I find hard to believe, since it
dumps all the water after eight hours of use.

Long story short, I got one, and am going to try it on one of my swampers.
I have two. Anyone have any experience with these?

They are spendy, coming in at $48 per.

Advice and anecdotes appreciated. Puhleeeeeze, only desert rats that know
what a swamp cooler is need reply.

Steve

On Fri, 20 May 2005 16:19:37 -0700, SteveB wrote
(in message cguje.11188$gp.5660@fed1read03):

Las Vegas 28 years now and former steam boiler operator. LOTS of Calcium in
our water. IMHO the bleed method is much better than the dump method. Also, I
quit using the Aspen pads eight years ago and now use the plastic foam ones
(Buy a roll and cut to size). They last two seasons (for me). Also went to a
fiberglass/resin cooler. Won't ever rust out and the scale doesn't stick as
much as metal. Idea I haven't tried yet would put water sump, pump, and float
valve somewhere where you didn't have to climb onto roof to service; hose
from pump to cooler and return drain hose to sump. Would really help with
rust-out as that occurs at waterline. besides then only motor, belt, fan, and
pads would require going up on roof. Hope this helps.

Roger in Vegas
Worlds Greatest Impulse Buyer

In article ,
Wood Butcher wrote:

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...

So -- please let us know what differences you experience over a
cooling season between the two. Is there any way to measure the water
consumed by each?

As a reference point ...
Back in the sixties in Phoenix the pump on our well broke
and we had to carry buckets of water up to the cooler.
5 gallons per hour with the temperature in the hundred &
something-teens and single digit humidity.

At that low a humidity, I'll bet that you got *lots* of cooling
for your work carrying the buckets.

So -- now all we need to do is to compare that one with one
which dumps intentionally once every eight hours. (But under those
conditions, you would have turned off that feature, I'll bet. :-)

Thanks,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

In article t,
Roger Hull wrote:
On Fri, 20 May 2005 16:19:37 -0700, SteveB wrote
(in message cguje.11188$gp.5660@fed1read03):

Las Vegas 28 years now and former steam boiler operator. LOTS of Calcium in
our water. IMHO the bleed method is much better than the dump method. Also, I
quit using the Aspen pads eight years ago and now use the plastic foam ones
(Buy a roll and cut to size). They last two seasons (for me). Also went to a
fiberglass/resin cooler. Won't ever rust out and the scale doesn't stick as
much as metal. Idea I haven't tried yet would put water sump, pump, and float
valve somewhere where you didn't have to climb onto roof to service; hose
from pump to cooler and return drain hose to sump. Would really help with
rust-out as that occurs at waterline. besides then only motor, belt, fan, and
pads would require going up on roof. Hope this helps.

That shows another difference between what I remember from South
Texas in the mid 1950s and what you have there. These were window
units, so everything was easy to access. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On Fri, 20 May 2005 19:33:04 -0700, "Wood Butcher"
wrote:

As a reference point ...
Back in the sixties in Phoenix the pump on our well broke
and we had to carry buckets of water up to the cooler.
5 gallons per hour with the temperature in the hundred &
something-teens and single digit humidity.

In Perth, West Oz, we are getting more and more humid, but were a dry
place until a few years back. So there are many houses with
roof-mounted whole-house evap a/c units.

I was checking out these units, and asked how much water they used.
"Oh. Only about 10 litres per day".

This is what I was told by everybody I asked in the stores. When I
expostulated, they said "Well, there's a little tube that lets the
water out the bottom just to drain them"

No idea.

I think it's bad, because they are chewing up water in a city that has
real water problems, and nobody realises.

On Fri, 20 May 2005 17:12:18 -0700, "Wood Butcher"
wrote:

I spent 29 years in Tucson.
So I guess I'm qualified as a desert rat.

I used a bleeder kit (~$5). There's a "T" fitting which you put
in the tube between the pump and the spider. Most of the water
flows straight thru. Out the side of the T is a small connection for
a 1/8"(?) tube. This small tube runs out the overflow and the end
just gets stuffed into any stack pipe for the plumbing. A cheap
sheet metal pinch clamp adjusts the flow rate in the small discharge
tube.
This worked great and kept the build up of calcium to a minimum.
Ace HW had them. Home Despot too.

A friend of mine tried feeding his swamp box with soft water. Instead
of the hard calcium build up he got sodium crystals which were quite
soft and long and thin. Much easier to clean off the sides than calcium.
They also shed from the inside of the pads and got blown into the
house. His wife went ballistic.

Art

That's a good idea , I'll have to do that. I was in the shop
yesterday thinking that its about time to re-do the swamp again soon!
That should cut down on the fishy smell and chlorine usage. I run mine
on and off and spray the outside down before turning it on and a pinch
of chlorine , yeah I know it doesn't like metal. I just refurbish it
once a year. The wife is always ****ed that the shop is freezing while
the house isn't near so with AC. Only thing is that the machines don't
like it much.

Slap some magnets around the water line. )

I've always wondered what the best way to get the electric motor out
of the rain forest would be.

It's about time to set the alarm at 3 am again. Which brings up a
question I've wondered about for a long time. Is it possible to see
the sine waves in the street lights from say 15 miles away and them
being perpendicular and 15 miles long? They seem awfully rhythmic for
just heat convection. They go back and forth while watching way out
over the city before sunrise.




"SteveB" wrote in message
news:cguje.11188$gp.5660@fed1read03...
Ahhhhhhhhh. Living in the desert ............. it's 105 today.

My swamp cooler was making odd noises, so I checked it. The pump was
wearing out and making wierd noises.

Went to Homer's and got another. While there, I encountered a water dumper
that exchanges the water after eight hours of running time.

I believe that this cooler uses softened water, because at the beginning of
each season, it looks like Carlsbad Caverns inside. This exchanger touts
that it will make everything run better, and keep the deposits down. It
also claims that it will save water, which I find hard to believe, since it
dumps all the water after eight hours of use.

Long story short, I got one, and am going to try it on one of my swampers.
I have two. Anyone have any experience with these?

They are spendy, coming in at $48 per.

Advice and anecdotes appreciated. Puhleeeeeze, only desert rats that know
what a swamp cooler is need reply.

Steve

Hi all:

Since I just put new lines on my cooler dump system today I will tell
you what I do. My cooler(s) are on the roof, I run a 1/8" black plastic
line into the cooler (weight on the end in the cooler so it sinks) run
it across the roof and down. It goes into a manifold with 3 adjustable
taps with a ball valve shutoff on it. I widened the rubber grommet that
the supply line uses and that is where this dump line go into. This
siphons when I open the ball valve and I use the water to feed a stand
of bamboo in back of the house.
This works pretty well, costs almost nothing and the mineralized
water seems fine with the bamboo, plus no holes in the cooler to leak.
It also helps mineralization in the cooler, once or twice a month I run
it full out to get rid of high concentrations due to evaporation.
Another trick I use on the coolers in the shop is to route the pad
supply water into copper line with fins on it that is in front of the
output side (side drafts) then to the spider. This makes the output
cooler (supply water gets COLD when humidity is low) and in addition I
think it condenses out some of the humidity they blow out. Less rust on
your tooling, of course this only works in places like Tucson, where I
am.

Dave G.

On Sat, 21 May 2005 11:30:14 +0800, Old Nick
nsnsafemail#iinet.net.au wrote:

On Fri, 20 May 2005 19:33:04 -0700, "Wood Butcher"
wrote:

As a reference point ...
Back in the sixties in Phoenix the pump on our well broke
and we had to carry buckets of water up to the cooler.
5 gallons per hour with the temperature in the hundred &
something-teens and single digit humidity.

In Perth, West Oz, we are getting more and more humid, but were a dry
place until a few years back. So there are many houses with
roof-mounted whole-house evap a/c units.

I was checking out these units, and asked how much water they used.
"Oh. Only about 10 litres per day".

This is what I was told by everybody I asked in the stores. When I
expostulated, they said "Well, there's a little tube that lets the
water out the bottom just to drain them"

No idea.

I think it's bad, because they are chewing up water in a city that has
real water problems, and nobody realises.

You should see building swimming pools endlessly and I put up sprayers
around the shade over the pool and just dump the water as fast as
possible. They say pools evaporate a quarter of an inch a day out here
and their everywhere! Fly over the city and look at the backyards and
it's like pool, pool, pool, no pool, pool, pool, pool, pool, no pool.
I'd have one , but the wife pitched a fit and I built a machine shop
instead, now there isn't room for a pool. I was going to do it all
tile in some kind of design, but NOOOO.

"Lew Hartswick" wrote in message
k.net...
As an Albuquerque resident for 15+ yrs I guess I almost
qualify as a "desert rat" . I think the 8 hrs is too
frequent to dump the water. It realy depends on how
hard the water is but I would think about once a week
would be enough to help a lot. The "bleeder" technique
will work to some extent but it just takes a fraction
of all the water so some of it is the just introduced
fresh water. I guess the REAL solution would be a
hardness monitor and when a certain point is reached
then dump it all. :-) (a retired electronics engineer


Wouldn't some sort of conductivity probe give an approximation of a hardness
monitor? As the dissolved solids content in the water increased , you could
, at a certain point, open a solenoid valve and dump the lot.

In article ,
Sunworshipper wrote:

It's about time to set the alarm at 3 am again. Which brings up a
question I've wondered about for a long time. Is it possible to see
the sine waves in the street lights from say 15 miles away and them
being perpendicular and 15 miles long? They seem awfully rhythmic for
just heat convection. They go back and forth while watching way out
over the city before sunrise.

I doubt that your vision is quick enough to detect 1/120th of a
second half-cycles. TV works with 1/30th second changes of scene, and
movies are even slower, though I forget what the actual frame rate is.
I do remember that it is different between home movie cameras and the
professional ones.

Remember -- the heat convection has a lot of air to work with
between you and those lights. I'll bet that if you spotted a bright
star just above the horizon in about the same direction, you would get
the same sort of variation.

Now -- one possibility (but *very* unlikely) would be that you
are seeing the sum of light powered by two different power grids which
are not precisely at the same frequency, so the brightness of the sum
will vary, if the lights actually vary in intensity fast enough to track
the power line. Incandescent lights will not, but mercury vapor ones
probably will, and the Sodium lights probably will as well, since it is
ionized clouds of the metal vapor which is generating the light, not
overly hot metal filaments.

I say that it is *very* unlikely simply because any two grids
that physically close together would be kept in sync to allow for an
emergency transfer of load from one to the other.

Enjoy,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

Wood Butcher wrote:
As a reference point ...
Back in the sixties in Phoenix the pump on our well broke
and we had to carry buckets of water up to the cooler.
5 gallons per hour with the temperature in the hundred &
something-teens and single digit humidity.


Was that a 3 or 4 pad cooler or a single pad window type cooler?

I have a single pad window type cooler that I welded up a small dolly
for and hook up the garden hose and an extension cord when I want to use
it. I was thinking about welding up a 5 gallon tank to put on top of the
cooler, but if I have to refill it every hour, I'll live with the garden
hose.

thanks,
Bob in Phoenix

Roof mounted 6500CFM 4 pad.

Art

"MetalHead" wrote in message
...

Was that a 3 or 4 pad cooler or a single pad window type cooler?

"BillP" wrote in message
news:0exje.623$wq.15@fed1read06...
Steve, be SURE to route the dump water to either a vent pipe on the roof
or a cleanout in the sewer system. These things work well, but make one
hell of a mess if just vented into the the yard.

Bill in Phx.


Foresaw that already. Not sure if I will go bleeder or dump, but I know it
will sure make a white mess in the yard.

Steve

"Roger Hull" wrote in message
s.net...
On Fri, 20 May 2005 16:19:37 -0700, SteveB wrote
(in message cguje.11188$gp.5660@fed1read03):

Las Vegas 28 years now and former steam boiler operator. LOTS of Calcium
in
our water. IMHO the bleed method is much better than the dump method.
Also, I
quit using the Aspen pads eight years ago and now use the plastic foam
ones
(Buy a roll and cut to size). They last two seasons (for me). Also went to
a
fiberglass/resin cooler. Won't ever rust out and the scale doesn't stick
as
much as metal. Idea I haven't tried yet would put water sump, pump, and
float
valve somewhere where you didn't have to climb onto roof to service; hose
from pump to cooler and return drain hose to sump. Would really help with
rust-out as that occurs at waterline. besides then only motor, belt, fan,
and
pads would require going up on roof. Hope this helps.

Roger in Vegas
Worlds Greatest Impulse Buyer



What are we calling "aspen" pad? I used the blue plastic one, and the first
year, it got all clogged up. I powerwashed it, but the second year, it
seemed like it didn't wet as good as the first year.

This year, I got the green paper looking pads for one cooler. The other
came with the "excelsior" or what looks like fine wood strands. The kind
that were common and the only ones available long ago. I will use the
excelsior pads this first year, and see how it looks next spring.

Steve

On 21 May 2005 00:39:54 -0400, (DoN. Nichols)
wrote:

In article ,
Sunworshipper wrote:

It's about time to set the alarm at 3 am again. Which brings up a
question I've wondered about for a long time. Is it possible to see
the sine waves in the street lights from say 15 miles away and them
being perpendicular and 15 miles long? They seem awfully rhythmic for
just heat convection. They go back and forth while watching way out
over the city before sunrise.

I doubt that your vision is quick enough to detect 1/120th of a
second half-cycles. TV works with 1/30th second changes of scene, and
movies are even slower, though I forget what the actual frame rate is.
I do remember that it is different between home movie cameras and the
professional ones.

Remember -- the heat convection has a lot of air to work with
between you and those lights. I'll bet that if you spotted a bright
star just above the horizon in about the same direction, you would get
the same sort of variation.

Now -- one possibility (but *very* unlikely) would be that you
are seeing the sum of light powered by two different power grids which
are not precisely at the same frequency, so the brightness of the sum
will vary, if the lights actually vary in intensity fast enough to track
the power line. Incandescent lights will not, but mercury vapor ones
probably will, and the Sodium lights probably will as well, since it is
ionized clouds of the metal vapor which is generating the light, not
overly hot metal filaments.

I say that it is *very* unlikely simply because any two grids
that physically close together would be kept in sync to allow for an
emergency transfer of load from one to the other.

Enjoy,
DoN.


I'll try filming it this summer. I've had other people with me and
they see it also. IIRC it goes back and forth and like clock work.
I've watched for long periods of time and just can't see how
temperature variations could flow in consistent planes. If they slowed
down and sped up down the line I could understand.

I keep telling myself that it should travel way to fast to see it the
way I have. Just something that make me go hmmm.

On Fri, 20 May 2005 16:19:37 -0700, "SteveB"
wrote:

Ahhhhhhhhh. Living in the desert ............. it's 105 today.

My swamp cooler was making odd noises, so I checked it. The pump was
wearing out and making wierd noises.

Went to Homer's and got another. While there, I encountered a water dumper
that exchanges the water after eight hours of running time.

I believe that this cooler uses softened water, because at the beginning of
each season, it looks like Carlsbad Caverns inside. This exchanger touts
that it will make everything run better, and keep the deposits down. It
also claims that it will save water, which I find hard to believe, since it
dumps all the water after eight hours of use.

Long story short, I got one, and am going to try it on one of my swampers.
I have two. Anyone have any experience with these?

They are spendy, coming in at $48 per.

Advice and anecdotes appreciated. Puhleeeeeze, only desert rats that know
what a swamp cooler is need reply.

Steve


I use a simple t connection off the pump, with a 1/4" line running out
of the cooler over to a stainless steel box, that my cats drink from
in the summer time. It helps to bleed off the water, giving a regular
change, keeping the accumulated Spooge from hard water down to
managable levels. A couple times a each summer, I dump a pool
clorine tab in. This helps keep moss and other nasties from growing.

My MasterCool 6500 single pad has been running off and on for the past
month or so. I had to rebuild the motor bracket, and replace a bearing
and belt a couple weeks ago. Its only 20 yrs old, so I was a bit
surprised it needed maint.

Gunner


"Considering the events of recent years,
the world has a long way to go to regain
its credibility and reputation with the US."
unknown

"Gunner" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 May 2005 16:19:37 -0700, "SteveB"
wrote:

I use a simple t connection off the pump, with a 1/4" line running
out of the cooler over to a stainless steel box, that my cats drink
from in the summer time. It helps to bleed off the water, giving a
regular change, keeping the accumulated Spooge from hard water down
to managable levels. A couple times a each summer, I dump a pool
clorine tab in. This helps keep moss and other nasties from growing.


Hmmm... hard water (with dissolved "spooge"), chlorine, and "moss and other
nasties" all draining into your cats' drinking dish. They must really love
you!

- Michael

On Fri, 20 May 2005 19:51:13 -0700, Roger Hull
wrote:

Las Vegas 28 years now and former steam boiler operator. LOTS of Calcium in
our water. IMHO the bleed method is much better than the dump method. Also, I
quit using the Aspen pads eight years ago and now use the plastic foam ones
(Buy a roll and cut to size). They last two seasons (for me). Also went to a
fiberglass/resin cooler. Won't ever rust out and the scale doesn't stick as
much as metal. Idea I haven't tried yet would put water sump, pump, and float
valve somewhere where you didn't have to climb onto roof to service; hose
from pump to cooler and return drain hose to sump. Would really help with
rust-out as that occurs at waterline. besides then only motor, belt, fan, and
pads would require going up on roof. Hope this helps.

I would not buy one of the plastic coolers - I'm told VERY nasty
things happen if they catch fire... 8-O

I worked on an all-Stainless downdraft swamper once (everything but
the blower wheel) and tried to track down a few for myself. But they
were only made for a short time, before they realized they were
cutting their own throat by selling people a lifetime cooler. Much
better for the manufacturers that they rust out every few years.

L.A. City tap water is pretty decent, we just drain the cooler
manually a few times through the season and that's the end of it.

We've been running swampers for decades on our houses, and laughing
at the neighbors chewing up electricity by the ton while we just spin
a couple of half-horse blowers...

But the Valley is finally getting too humid for them to be effective
on the really bad days. The 5-ton split system goes in at the end of
the month - for the bad days. Spring and fall, I'm leaving one
swamper in service.

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.

On Sat, 21 May 2005 12:16:03 GMT, "DeepDiver"
wrote:

"Gunner" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 20 May 2005 16:19:37 -0700, "SteveB"
wrote:

I use a simple t connection off the pump, with a 1/4" line running
out of the cooler over to a stainless steel box, that my cats drink
from in the summer time. It helps to bleed off the water, giving a
regular change, keeping the accumulated Spooge from hard water down
to managable levels. A couple times a each summer, I dump a pool
clorine tab in. This helps keep moss and other nasties from growing.


Hmmm... hard water (with dissolved "spooge"), chlorine, and "moss and other
nasties" all draining into your cats' drinking dish. They must really love
you!

- Michael

Actually, they do. G And the small clorine tabs when dissolved in
the 10 gallon reserve of the cooler itself then piddled out a small
bit at at a time doesnt seem to bother them either.

Considering what the water quality is here of puddles left after a
rain storm..seriously alkyli ..that doesnt seem to stop them from
drinking either. That 5 gallon box of water, if left untended during
the summer months, will evaporate in less than 36 hours..and its in
deep shade.

Gunner



"Considering the events of recent years,
the world has a long way to go to regain
its credibility and reputation with the US."
unknown

"Gunner" wrote in message
...

Considering what the water quality is here of puddles left after a
rain storm..seriously alkyli ..that doesnt seem to stop them from
drinking either. That 5 gallon box of water, if left untended during
the summer months, will evaporate in less than 36 hours..and its in
deep shade.

Those are some hardy cats you've got. Actually, the dissolved minerals might
help them replace electrolytes lost through perspiration.

Where do you live Gunner? From past messages, I have the impression that
you're somewhere in the desert region of Southern California. I lived in the
California high desert myself for three years while stationed at China Lake
(post Persian Gulf War I).

- Michael

On Sat, 21 May 2005 19:51:07 GMT, "DeepDiver"
wrote:

"Gunner" wrote in message
.. .

Considering what the water quality is here of puddles left after a
rain storm..seriously alkyli ..that doesnt seem to stop them from
drinking either. That 5 gallon box of water, if left untended during
the summer months, will evaporate in less than 36 hours..and its in
deep shade.

Those are some hardy cats you've got. Actually, the dissolved minerals might
help them replace electrolytes lost through perspiration.

Where do you live Gunner? From past messages, I have the impression that
you're somewhere in the desert region of Southern California. I lived in the
California high desert myself for three years while stationed at China Lake
(post Persian Gulf War I).

- Michael

I live 30 odd miles west of Bakersfield in Taft. About the same
terrain as China Lake in parts, and about the same elevation. I think
we are about 100 miles to the west of CL, give or take 20 or so.

Gunner



"Considering the events of recent years,
the world has a long way to go to regain
its credibility and reputation with the US."
unknown

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Sunworshipper wrote:


Now -- one possibility (but *very* unlikely) would be that you
are seeing the sum of light powered by two different power grids which
are not precisely at the same frequency, so the brightness of the sum
will vary, if the lights actually vary in intensity fast enough to track
the power line.

I don't know how much truth there is to it, but when I was in the Navy I was
taught that adjacent light fixtures were intentionally wired to different
phases. This was to prevent pump / turbine shafts from appearing as if they
were not moving. Was I being fed a load of BS or is there some merit to
this?

Shawn

"Shawn" shawn_75ATcomcastDOTnet wrote:


"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Sunworshipper wrote:


Now -- one possibility (but *very* unlikely) would be that you
are seeing the sum of light powered by two different power grids which
are not precisely at the same frequency, so the brightness of the sum
will vary, if the lights actually vary in intensity fast enough to track
the power line.

I don't know how much truth there is to it, but when I was in the Navy I was
taught that adjacent light fixtures were intentionally wired to different
phases. This was to prevent pump / turbine shafts from appearing as if they
were not moving. Was I being fed a load of BS or is there some merit to
this?

Shawn

There is a little merit to it. It is for fluor and discharge type
light though. Two different phases, it will still look stopped, but
you well "see" two different views of the shaft at the same time. Same
thing you get from a stroboscope at a submultiple of shaft speed.


jk

On Fri, 20 May 2005 22:22:59 -0700, "SteveB"
wrote:



What are we calling "aspen" pad? I used the blue plastic one, and the first
year, it got all clogged up. I powerwashed it, but the second year, it
seemed like it didn't wet as good as the first year.

This year, I got the green paper looking pads for one cooler. The other
came with the "excelsior" or what looks like fine wood strands. The kind
that were common and the only ones available long ago. I will use the
excelsior pads this first year, and see how it looks next spring.


I've gone to refrigerated in the house do to increase humidity in
this area. However before I did I put nylatron lathe shavings in the
pads held in place by some 1/4" mess hail screen. I'm currently using
the same two swamp coolers in my shop with the original set of
shavings in the pads about 8 years later. I just blow and wash the
pads out at the first of the year each year. The shavings actually
work better with a little bit of deposit on them since it provides a
absorbent surface for the water.

Before that I tried both kinds of green pads (the paper and the
scotch pad style) but had build up problems which restricted air flow.



Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook

On Sat, 21 May 2005 12:16:03 GMT, "DeepDiver"
wrote:

"Gunner" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 20 May 2005 16:19:37 -0700, "SteveB"
wrote:

I use a simple t connection off the pump, with a 1/4" line running
out of the cooler over to a stainless steel box, that my cats drink
from in the summer time. It helps to bleed off the water, giving a
regular change, keeping the accumulated Spooge from hard water down
to managable levels. A couple times a each summer, I dump a pool
clorine tab in. This helps keep moss and other nasties from growing.


Hmmm... hard water (with dissolved "spooge"), chlorine, and "moss and other
nasties" all draining into your cats' drinking dish. They must really love
you!


Actually you'd be surprised. The animals around my place prefer the
drink from the nasty looking water in my slack tank even with nice
clean water if available a few feet away.

Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook