Yup, they work great, just a little messy. I just got mine up and running this week. The only problem was a little clogging in the spider from the aspen pads from last year. Cheers!

@@mrblueskynm3968 I already have mine going I'm in California in the eastern Sierra high country and it's already been in the mid 90s here

Me too

Watching again in 2022.

@@paulsalazar3765 watching from ABq 2022 first time lol

@@USIELV 👍👍

Totally disagree. those who give advice about "pad crap" must have developed their misconceptions about material science. You don't care how water is running through or water absorbing fiber PERIOD. Do care about how water is EVAPORATING. Now, different materials pad has different evaporation effect-techniques. Like you, I tried all three and realized should have understood and thought about material science. Look past manufacturer's claim and figure out how material causes water evaporation, then decide which material you use based on your swamp cooling habits. the best pad is based off of YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCES! not the just type, use or quality of material alone. a) blue pad is pure spun plastic fused, forcing water to spread out into air space (imagine waterfall- curtain) and evaporate. manufacturer states supposedly last longer [irrevelant, calcicum buildup blocks up the "curtain" passageway]: when calicified pad becomes "clogged" (preventing air to pick up water when passing through) or harder (not pressable or pinchable); time to replace. some swear it does not evaporate well... see the regardless section below. b). aspen pad does absorb water until it is waterlogged.then fiber expands, then pad begins to evaporate. THE CATCH!!! evaporates begin after pad is waterlogged [not before]. when calcium binds to wood fiber, it stops water from absorbing; thus retarding the evaporation. this creates crinkle like sounds. when pad is pressed or moved, indicates evaporation failure (not because pad is hard}. time to replace. this does mean you want the water pump to run continously to keep fiber expanded (and not to dry-up then calcify). look in regardless section below. c) there are greenish-brown pads, they are paper impreganted with something sandwiched.. some sort of waxy chemical or thin plastic??. This pad has what looks like the widest "air opening cavities" but is not because of the waxy coating is there creating invisible barrier. manufacturer claims supposedly imitate aspen pads. I discovered this is not true. is an "both" effects from blue pad and aspen pad... whereas at start pumping behaving like blue pad air curtain; then [depending on models and outside; in 10 to 15 minutes] starts soaking and expanding, behaving like aspen pad. The obvious time to replace pad is when calcium build up destroys the weird waxy coating or when paper is crumbly when pressed. this means it will calcify regardless of air curtain or swelling anyway. d) on different notes: if you are going to reference on clay and sand type materials [AFRICAN and ARABIA is using those type science]. I have not used this but from what i read and understood ::: the process relies on reuse and renew materials. example with calcified sand, just stirring up or turning over the sand. for clay, brush-scrape off calcification off the surface. That does mean cheaper expense on materials.; but the reports indicates from what i think somewhat weak cooling-evaporation [probably has to do with surface area to air evaporation factors]. by the way SAND and clay is heavy. REGARDLESS SECTION homeowner with swamp coolers should haven been told and know!!! 1) when temperature soars to greater than 97 degrees Farenheight. Water evaporates so fast and water never had chance to completely saturate the pads... this results in faster clacification build up [and ineffective evaporation and cooling.] 2) outdoor higher humidity does retard cooling; ranging somewhere 35% ish maybe 40% ish. PAY ATTENTION: resulting retarded cooling effect but does not retard evaporation, and running the machine pump during higher humidity; pad still get to suffer calcified buildup.

I used blue layer first and stengy brand of aspen inside. Worked best for me.

Thanks! I don't think I mentioned anything about the motor, or horsepower. They are super easy to replace though. I've had one go out over the years and all I did was buy a new one that had the same hp. Be sure to disconnect the electrical to the unit before working on them!

Lowes

They sell copper tubing as well

I live in Sacramento CA, my bill for summers, is from $40-50 a month, and I run it allday !!!

Hey Jose thanks for asking about that. Fortunately, the spider tubes were not clogged by calcium deposits, it was only aspen splinters from the pads. I simply removed the spider(screw is on top of cooler) and inserted the little roto rooter and reamed it out. I would recommend just buying a new spider if they were clogged up with calcium deposits. I've bought one at Home Depot and they're not expensive. Also, you can look into additives, or anodes to place in the water basin that will help reduce calcium build up if you get a lot of calcium build up each season. I haven't had to do that, so good luck and stay cool this summer!

I was wondering about that as well. Our cooler was converted to an AeroCool, so we don't have a spider or the straw-like pads, but the water hose that runs to the pads seems to be clogged. I'm new to doing this for myself, so can you tell me how to disconnect and/or clean that hose? It runs from the basin up to a PVC pipe/cover (looks like the top of a fish tank to me) that's supposed to wet the pads. The bottom of the hose near the basin feels like it's full of sand, but I'm not sure what to do. Can you help?