"K Barrett" wrote in message
...
Apropos of nothing, but its been so quiet here I thought I'd say what Ive
been up to.

Fixing that dang ugly swamp cooler is what. I showed pix here last year,
I think.

I must have bought it 8-9 yrs ago and never - I mean never- did any sort
of maintainance to it. The cooling pads were completely encrusted in
CaCo3 crust even to the point it was creeping under the paint in a layer 3
mm thick. Over the years various home renovations created airborne dirt
and dust, which was sucked through the pads, making them a dirty, crusty
brick.

So, it came to pass that on the hottest day of the year (so far) with the
GH receiving little or no benefit from said swamp cooler, I chose to
replace the cool pads. The motor still works great, but the air through
the pads was only a few degrees cooler than ambient temperature. Indeed,
the GH in full sun was at the same temp as it was on my patio in the shade
(on July 4th that was 95F, might have been higher, I tend to block out bad
news). July 5th I found a hardware store that carried cooling pads, and
working in the horrid heat, for it never occurred to me not to - am I
stupid or what? - I set about tearing the cooling pads out of their
panels.

Luckily the metal holding the pads in place were totally corroded and
rusted so bending it open was easy work, many times bending it by hand.
The old disgusting pads fell away from teh panels and now the real work
began.

After several trips to the hardware store I finally got a wire brush that
mounted to my cordless drill to scrape the paint and CaCO3 away. An old
bottle of Naval Jelly helped a bit, replacing my 1st attempt to dissolve
the CaCO3 with vinegar. If I was smarter a layer of paint remover would
have moved the project forward faster. It was on one of these hardware
store trips that the man at the store said, 'you aren't working on this
*now* are you?' meaning wait till the sun goes down you idiot. But my
heat stroked countenance must had marked me as a liar when I answered 'Of
Course Not!'. He kindly allowed me to save face. (I have always depended
on the kindess of strangers.)

July 5th saw the 1st panel of 3 cleaned of CaCO3, the preponderance of
cruddy paint removed, a new layer of paint sprayed on, and the new pads
cut to size and installed. Placing that one panel back in the swamp
cooler at 8 PM dropped the GH temp 5 degrees in 2 minutes. Yes, the swamp
cooler was still running at 8PM. Interior temps (operating w/o one
panel - so it was sucking ambient air into the GH), had gotten to 100F
inside the gh. By 8PM the interior temp had dropped to 85. Installing the
one panel dropped it to 82, the thermostat's set point. July 6th saw the
second panel repaired in the same way, and today July 7th I'll complete
the project, which I've gotten pretty quick at, though the cordless drill
isn't happy. I think its suing for new rechargable batteries.

What are you doing this weekend?

K Barrett

I should mention that today the marine layer has moved onshore and its now
freezing outside. Had I but sat and dithered for 48 hours I could have
saved myself a ton of work... *G*! Never do today what you an put off till
tomorrow.

K Barrett