Evap. Cooler Question - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

A+ Texture · 04-24-2009, 03:17 PM

Hey guys, I'm setting up my cooler for summer and had a few questions. 1. Do you guys ever add fabric softener to the water to soften the pads and help absorb the water, I've seen it done and was just wondering. (in particular with a mastercool style pad, it's like a hard honeycomb material)
2. My old cooler had a little deal on it to reduce mineral deposits. I believe it was filled with water softener salt. So could I just take a couple handfulls of water softener salt and throw it right in the water kind of near the pump?
And no, I'm not just a HO, I'm a contractor.

flashheatingand · 04-24-2009, 05:13 PM

I never heard or seen fabric softeners used to help soften the pads. Perhaps it would help with prevent the damp smell that can be associated with swamp coolers, but nothing as far as absorbing. If there is a problem with the softening of the pads, it is likely due to water flow through the lines and trays.

I would not think the tablet is salt, as salt water is likely to cause rust. I don't think it's a good idea to throw a couple of handfulls in the tray, but that's just me. Good luck

A+ Texture · 04-24-2009, 10:24 PM

Yeah, I guess it could have more to do with the smell. As for the mineral deposits, I didn't really mean rust, I was talkin more along the lines of scale and calcium build up. The filter I mentioned was an inline (water line) type filter. I could be wrong but it looked like rock salt inside.
But salt is whats inside water softeners isn't it?

beenthere · 04-25-2009, 07:50 AM

Salt is not use to soften water.
Its used to regenerate the softener/clean the deposits out of the softener resin.
And then is flushed out of the system.

RCPainting · 04-25-2009, 08:51 AM

I have a well and the calcium really builds up in my swamper. I run CLR thru it every spring and flush it real good. I did find some cleaner meant for swampers one year at HD that did not smell as bad, nor clean as well.

SLSTech · 04-25-2009, 09:19 AM

Never heard of using fabric softener - but the rock salt will dissolve & build up on the pads

Mine had two pumps, one that flushed out the water every 24 hours or something like that - it helps out for a while but the pads still get caked up, I think we added vinegar every-once in a while which helped out (sorry its been 4 years)