Swamp cooler wiring concerns

[Mace]

My mother has an old swamp cooler set up in her house. It has not worked for a while due to an electrical issue that she can't relate to me (the previous person that was helping here was not exactly the greatest).
I went up there yesterday to see what was up.
The Swamp cooler is controlled by a older mercury thermostat in her house. In the swamp itself, there is the motor, and I believe a relay/contactor and something else I am not positive of function. But it looks to cause the contactor to "turn on"


The contactor will start the electric motor if you hold the middle down, but it does make nice sparks when you do that, so I think it is dead. The other piece I cannot find online because I have no clue what to call it. The white and blue wires are also not hooked up to anything on the piece to the right. The setup seems to run by a 12 V circuit.

From what I have read already, this is not exactly a conventional setup. But it did work for a very long time very well.



Any ideas?

 

[fj40charles]

Hey Mace,

Check the voltage output from the 12v transformer. The transformer puts out 12v and closes the contactor providing 120v power to the swamp cooler motor.

Charles

 

[Mace]

So yellow wires is the 12V transformer, gotcha..

Any good sources for picking up a new one?

 

[fj40charles]

So yellow wires is the 12V transformer, gotcha..

Any good sources for picking up a new one?

Need to verify input/output power specifications for the transformer before you buy one.

Test it with a meter to make sure it is not working. Also, check connections on the contactor to make sure they're not corroded.

 

[cody c]

ya check for power to the transformer, to the contactor on the line side as well.

Then try and see if the thermostat and controls will put power to the relay (it should make a click sound when its energized).

By the amount of crap on it, I would guess it could be a corroded connection somewhere. So check those first, with a meter to see if there is power as there should be, then disconnect the power and check the terminals.

If you do find a part that is toast, they are pretty simple parts and should be easy enough to replace from an electrical wholesaler (so pull it out and take it with you, a knowledgable salesman should be able to find a replacement), though you may need to know the horsepower for the relay (before you make a trip)

 

[rusty_tlc]

Actually that's a pretty nice set-up since you don't have to run 120V through the thermostat.

A couple of thing that haven't been mentioned yet;

1. Check the contactor coil for continuity, it should be a very low resistance. (I'd do this first.)
2. Check for 12VAC at the thermostat, assuming the xfmr is putting out 12V.

Also, I don't know what the pan looks like but they generally rot out pretty fast from the alkali water. You might want to consider;
downdraft swamp cooler very big champion 4000

BIONAIRE SWAMP COOLER


I miss having a swamp cooler.

 

[cody c]

Actually that's a pretty nice set-up since you don't have to run 120V through the thermostat.

A couple of thing that haven't been mentioned yet;

1. Check the contactor coil for continuity, it should be a very low resistance. (I'd do this first.)
2. Check for 12VAC at the thermostat, assuming the xfmr is putting out 12V.

Also, I don't know what the pan looks like but they generally rot out pretty fast from the alkali water. You might want to consider;
downdraft swamp cooler very big champion 4000

BIONAIRE SWAMP COOLER


I miss having a swamp cooler.

Swamp coolers are quite an enigma for us up in the rockies. We really would only turn on air conditioning for a month or two of the year and most of us would add a wood stove to the house before A/C.

Are these things of real benefit down there? You must get some pretty hot weather before to really enjoy them.

 

[splitshot]

Looks like all that is mounted on the squirrel cage, not the best environment for contact points. If it were me I would relocate both the transformer and contactor in an outdoor box outside of the cooler. Ice cube relays are also an easy to replace option over the contactor. The base is screwed in place, all you need to replace is the 'cube' when the contacts fail.

 

[DSRTRDR]

Are these things of real benefit down there?

in Southern Arizona, they are

You must get some pretty DRY weather to really enjoy them.

fixeded

 

[rusty_tlc]

Swamp coolers are quite an enigma for us up in the rockies. We really would only turn on air conditioning for a month or two of the year and most of us would add a wood stove to the house before A/C.

Are these things of real benefit down there? You must get some pretty hot weather before to really enjoy them.

Hot weather in Nevada? You might say that. Reno is a lot higher than Las Vegas so we have a shorter hot season and it cools down at night here. In Vegas it can stay above 100 F all night long.
Evaporative coolers are very efficient in dry climates, not so much in humid places. They cost about 1/3 as much to run compared to AC. They also add humidity to the air which is a huge benefit.

I have one in my garage and I love it. The house has AC and IMHO it's not nearly as comfortable.

 

[Trollhole]

Take the transformer and contactor out. Take them to an HVAC supply house. Show them to them and tell them what kind of thermostat you have. Tell them you want something that works good and is expensive. They will go pull two boxes for you and hand them back to you. Wire them back up like you have it. Most likely they will give you 24v components. As they are cheaper and easy to find. And most likely what you currently have.

Keep it simple. Don't go crazy on over thinking it. If you pay more than 40 dollars I will be surprised.

Buy this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-HARTLAN...356?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a620e8ea4


and this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MARS-5035-T...uit_Breakers_Transformers&hash=item3a6f517806

 

[BrotherRob]

I had a similar set up on mine. The complication is that you don't have line voltage into the house. Converting to a traditional switch requires running new wires. One of the only t-stat options left is this one, see https://www.dialmfg.com/Thermostats.html see PN 7624.

Lowes sells them here for ~$95 (you won't likely find them on their website). The relay box is sealed so it can be mounted outside of the cooler so it won't be subjected to so much moisture. I ripped everything out of mine and rewired it with one of these about a year ago and it's still working great. I'll never be mistaken for an electrician, so if I can do it......

If you need assistance, this site is moderated by some HVAC guys that know their stuff. Evaporative Water Coolers - DoItYourself.com Community Forums

 

[BrotherRob]

Hot weather in Nevada? You might say that. Reno is a lot higher than Las Vegas so we have a shorter hot season and it cools down at night here. In Vegas it can stay above 100 F all night long.
Evaporative coolers are very efficient in dry climates, not so much in humid places. They cost about 1/3 as much to run compared to AC. They also add humidity to the air which is a huge benefit.

I have one in my garage and I love it. The house has AC and IMHO it's not nearly as comfortable.

Modern AC is almost as efficient as a cooler. Mine drops the electric bill a bit but increases the water bill about $15/mo. The biggest advantage I see is the ventilation, you can flush out the warm, stagnant air with cool evening air. That way you can take advantage of the wide day/night temp swings in desert climates.

IMO, coolers or whole house ventilation systems should be mandatory for homes in desert climates. It always irritates the s*** out of me when it's 70 outside and 85 inside and I have to run the AC to bring the temp down. Coolers solve this problem very efficiently. I've even used the cooler blower to warm the house during spring and fall when there is an impending cold snap. That usually buys me a day before I need to turn on the heat.

x2 on the garage cooler. I have a Bonaire side draft on my garage. Keeps the garage pretty bearable in the summer. Since my garage shares a 17ft wall with my kitchen, it's also helping cool the house. I actually put an AC return vent in the door between the garage and the kitchen and have used the garage cooler to cool the entire house. It works well in the spring and fall, but since the garage is not insulated, I have to block it off once it gets real hot.

 

[Land Shark]

my bet is a bad coil

 

[Mace]

Picked up a new transformer and contactor. Got the installed without letting any smoke out. Tried the thermostat, everything clicked, and hummed. I gave the motor a push start and it started spinning away.
Looks like the starter on the motor is not working properly. No big deal..

So I pulled the cover off of the wiring section of the motor and found this..

lol

Someone else let the smoke out a while ago. One of the main power leads to the motor was arcing out on the case of the motor..
Looks like a new motor is going in lol

 

[alia176]

I'm late to the party but did you get this sorted out? I'd suggest replacing the belt and couple of drops of oil in the pillow block bushings. Since it sat for some time, a little TLC will go a long way. I'd also swap out the pump as they're pretty inexpensive these days.

If you think you'll get nickel and dimed to death on the little part replacing, may consider buying an used one off of CL and swapping the parts. Shoot me an email if you want to discuss further.

 

[Mace]

All fixed up and cooling nicely