Swamp/Evaporative cooler-"Water Hammer"

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Mike50

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This noise is loud and happens on and off. I had the same problem last year. The issue is air in the copper water line (from garage to roof). I drain the unit and recharge with water then the hammer noise goes away temporarily.
This unit is only 1 year old and generally works like a charm.

I'm not much of a DIY but would like to avoid a service call. It wakes me at night.

Mike
 
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Redwood

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Mike... I wish swamp coolers worked here! I remember them fondly from my days out west courtesy of Uncle Sam's Air Factory... I'm stuck with killer electric rates and refridgerated air due to the humidity... Not much evaporation in a steam bath!

As I recall swamp coolers are generally fed with a small dia. copper line that usually taps onto a hose bib and is strung up to the swamp cooler.

Water hammer is caused by a high velocity flow in a pipe coming to a sudden stop. This causes several occilations with poorly secured pipes banging.

That said a few cures that could help would be to increase the pipe size effectively lowering the velocity, and securing the pipe better to control the banging. Other things to do would be to not open the supply valve as much to slow the flow and also install a water hammer arrestor at the swamp cooler. Any or, all of these steps may solve your problem.
 

Mike50

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Mike... I wish swamp coolers worked here! I remember them fondly from my days out west courtesy of Uncle Sam's Air Factory... I'm stuck with killer electric rates and refridgerated air due to the humidity... Not much evaporation in a steam bath!

As I recall swamp coolers are generally fed with a small dia. copper line that usually taps onto a hose bib and is strung up to the swamp cooler.

Water hammer is caused by a high velocity flow in a pipe coming to a sudden stop. This causes several occilations with poorly secured pipes banging.

That said a few cures that could help would be to increase the pipe size effectively lowering the velocity, and securing the pipe better to control the banging. Other things to do would be to not open the supply valve as much to slow the flow and also install a water hammer arrestor at the swamp cooler. Any or, all of these steps may solve your problem.

Thanks---makes sense I will try to slow the flow first.
Yea this beauty only costs me about 25 bucks a month to run--it's a gem. My home is like a wind tunnell....and thats good walking in from the heat.

Mike50
 
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Redwood

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Just make sure that it is open enough to keep the pan full, You don't want it to run dry!

I remember when I first got mine... It needed some work but I got it cheap... The motor was missing and the pump and pads were shot... I fixed it up and turned it on the first time... WOW!:eek: The motor pulley was a tad bit oversized! The access panel for the attic was flapping up and down and the lights were getting bright and dim... I got the sizing right and it worked great!

My mom and dad came out to visit and my place was a small "U" shaped 1 bedroom. The swamp cooler came in the kitchen window flowed through the living room then the bedroom and finally the bath where it exhausted out the window... My mom couldn't figure why her son would do something stupid like have a window open while the A/C was running...LOL I finally figured out what she did and had to give a little theory of operation class...
 
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