On 6/20/2016 6:51 AM, KenK wrote:
Temp read 135 on my thermometer yesterday. My swamp cooler failed - started
blowing hot air. Checked water in reservoir - cool as could be expected and
water flowing through all the pads. If I turned it off for a while, then on
got cool air for a bit, then hot again. All I can think of is pads got hot.
Never had that happen before. But never had 135 before either, previous
hottest 125. Supposed to be even hotter today. Hope they're wrong.

The pads dried out -- in whole or in part.

The original cooler we had (four sided, down draft) couldn't keep up
when it was hot and dry. It had a four-sided spider (instad of center
fed) so i added a second pump to feed the spider from the opposite
corner. In effect, doubling the amount of water that I could run over
the pads.

And, raised the float level as high as practical so the pumps wouldn't
suck air with all that water up in the pads.

On hot/dry days, water would continuously flow into the reservoir at
a steady clip. Amazing to consider how much water it was putting into
the air!

What sort of temperature delta are you seeing when its working?