Swamp Cooler Smell (store, water, environment)

[motoracer51]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

And pay about 10 times the utility cost during the cooling season.

My advice: scrap the pads and go buy some "standard" aspen pads. They will smell (like fresh cut wood) for a day or two and then that's that.

It's a small price to pay for comfort. I miss the simplicity of the evap coolers. I don't miss the constant replacement of cheap parts nor the spring/fall startup/shutdown.

Best bet for the OP is the aspen pads and learning to live with the smell. I always thought it was fresh smelling. The first few days was strong, but I never noticed it afterwards.

[Ripperly]

I really need to find some rigid media pads size EM1 for a Breeze Air evaporative cooler that do not have this problem. DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A BRAND FREE OF THESE PROBLEMS????[/quote]

I've used 'Air Cool' brand without problems. I had a coupon so I picked up some Max Cool pads - what a mistake! The smell is awful! My mistake, never again!

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Ripperly

I really need to find some rigid media pads size EM1 for a Breeze Air evaporative cooler that do not have this problem. DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A BRAND FREE OF THESE PROBLEMS????

I've used 'Air Cool' brand without problems. I had a coupon so I picked up some Max Cool pads - what a mistake! The smell is awful! My mistake, never again!

I order humidifier cores on-line, same for water filters for our refrigerator.

I found AirCool on the internet, you can probably get them that way as many brick and mortar stores don't carry much in the way of filters.

[bluebiker78]

Wow, I am so glad I came across this thread. I have the same problem in the house we just moved into. I've been here for about 2 mos, and shortly after I moved in I started smelling a cat urine odor coming through the vents when the AC would come in. (I have central air). Now I'm wondering if I am going to have to put up with this smell for the next year until my lease is up. I'm having reservations about entertaining and having my family come to visit due to the awful smell.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by bluebiker78

Wow, I am so glad I came across this thread. I have the same problem in the house we just moved into. I've been here for about 2 mos, and shortly after I moved in I started smelling a cat urine odor coming through the vents when the AC would come in. (I have central air). Now I'm wondering if I am going to have to put up with this smell for the next year until my lease is up. I'm having reservations about entertaining and having my family come to visit due to the awful smell.

If you have central air you have a different issue, though similar in nature. First thing I'd try is to replace the air filter, every central forced air system has one. Open up the air handler and see what size you take but especially see if the one in there is clean or filthy; it's most likely filthy. You can get new filters cheap at most large supermarkets, hardware or home improvement stores. If that doesn't fix it, there may be an issue with a humidifier (if there is one) where the evaporator pad is crudded up. Most are easy to open and remove the pad, which you won't need until heating season. That should do it, but it could be that cats peed in the air ducts.

[bluebiker78]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

If you have central air you have a different issue, though similar in nature. First thing I'd try is to replace the air filter, every central forced air system has one. Open up the air handler and see what size you take but especially see if the one in there is clean or filthy; it's most likely filthy. You can get new filters cheap at most large supermarkets, hardware or home improvement stores. If that doesn't fix it, there may be an issue with a humidifier (if there is one) where the evaporator pad is crudded up. Most are easy to open and remove the pad, which you won't need until heating season. That should do it, but it could be that cats peed in the air ducts.

Thanks so much for the reply! I was thinking that a cat peed in there, too. I'm quite sure the previous tenant had a cat because I found some hidden cat urine spots on the carpet after i moved in! Ugh... I have called the maintenance crew over 3 times to check it out to no avail. They said it probably smells that way because the unit hadn't been used for a while (which I know is untrue). Funny thing is is that I smell that same cat urine smell coming out of my dryer vent when it's drying clothes. This is going to be one long year...

I am definitely going to try your suggestion--thanks!

[jazzlover]

First, a swamp cooler achieves cooling by evaporating water into the air. For the cooler to function properly, enough square footage of windows must be open to allow the quantity of humidified air to exhaust the house that the cooler is bringing in. If that is not happening, a) the cooler will not cool efficiently and b) the relative humidity inside the house will skyrocket. That latter point is important because very high interior humidity can amplify smells from things like pet urine in carpet, etc. Few people allow sufficient air to vent from the house to allow an evaporative cooler to function properly. For the record, I grew up around evaporative coolers; my father designed evaporative cooling systems for large scale agricultural and commercial buildings.

[motoracer51]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

First, a swamp cooler achieves cooling by evaporating water into the air. For the cooler to function properly, enough square footage of windows must be open to allow the quantity of humidified air to exhaust the house that the cooler is bringing in. If that is not happening, a) the cooler will not cool efficiently and b) the relative humidity inside the house will skyrocket. That latter point is important because very high interior humidity can amplify smells from things like pet urine in carpet, etc. Few people allow sufficient air to vent from the house to allow an evaporative cooler to function properly. For the record, I grew up around evaporative coolers; my father designed evaporative cooling systems for large scale agricultural and commercial buildings.

My old house, which is a rental now, had a return branch via a plenum like an A/C system ducted to the outside. No need to open windows. There was a supply vent from the evaporative cooler and return in each room. This is the best, but most costly setup if one wants evaporative cooling.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by motoracer51

My old house, which is a rental now, had a return branch via a plenum like an A/C system ducted to the outside. No need to open windows. There was a supply vent from the evaporative cooler and return in each room. This is the best, but most costly setup if one wants evaporative cooling.

I've had that setup, too. One still has to make sure that the exhaust to the outside is of sufficient capacity to FULLY exhaust the air, without restriction, being drawn through the evaporative cooler.

[COclimb8]

After installing new swamp cooler filter pads it made the house stink like adhesive. It was eye watering and I couldn’t stand to be in the house while it was running. The next morning we removed the filters and hosed them down for a few minutes. Then we mixed a capful of unscented liquid laundry detergent in a 5 gallon bucket full of water and slowly dumped the mixture over both large filters. We repeated this wash twice more (so a total of three-5 gallon buckets of the soap mixture) and then hosed the soap from the filters until the water ran clear. I was prepared to do this for several more days, but surprisingly the smell has gone down so much that I can barely smell it. We also have the purge cycle set to every 8 hours so that should continue to help reduce the smell.