That old swamp cooler finally gave up the ghost last Tuesday

I grew up with swamp coolers in Albuquerque and always thought they were simple enough to fix yourself. But last week during that 95 degree stretch, my 15 year old mastercool just seized up. The motor was humming but the belt wasn't moving. I spent a whole afternoon taking it apart, replaced the bearings, and put it all back together. It worked for about 4 hours then started making this awful grinding noise. My neighbor came over and pointed out the shaft was bent, probably been that way for years. Ended up calling a guy from over in Los Lunas who put in a whole new unit for $1,200. Has anyone else noticed the newer coolers just don't seem built as tough as the old ones?

2 comments

2 Comments

torres.jason21d ago

Wait but did the old motor actually have a bent shaft the whole time or did you maybe bend it yourself when you were wrestling with the bearings? I've messed up a few repairs by getting rough with stuff I shouldn't have.

wren_carr21d ago

My uncle bent a crank once trying to jam a pulley on with a sledgehammer, just sayin'.