More cooler work!

Last night after work I started work on the coolers again.  It is just an unbelievable time sink having two of them!  Twice the work, twice the fun!  But I'm sure it will be great in the heat of summer to have both coolers on both levels of the home cooling me off! 



After I opened the one that was leaking up, you can clearly see one of the probably several reasons that the water line was leaking:

Nice duct tape.  Real solid.

I'm glad that we're not even going to try messing with that line.

I was pretty determined to get the rusted-on float valves off - and they were stuck on each of the coolers which makes it a doubly good time.  Who knows how long they'd been on there and I was fairly certain they weren't going to budge.

See how tiny that rusted-on nut is?

I first tried to use my vise-grips to hold onto that little nut and turn it, but that was a no-go.  It was definitely stuck on there.  So, I brought up a couple of options: my dremel, and my reciprocating saw just in case things got crazy.  Luckily, the dremel was able to cut right through that thing and I got it off.

Dremel cutting through.

Got it off!

 After I was able to get the old float valves off, I went to work securing the new ones on.

New float valve.

Compression fitting.  From left: nut, ferrule, valve.

Nice and shiny and new, and the floats worked really well once I turned on the water.  That was about the only part of the water line that was working fine as I found that my compression fittings for the copper tubing were ALL leaking!  I always have trouble with the compression fittings -- I never know whether I need to tighten and tighten and tighten or if I need to use teflon tape or plumber's putty, etc.  All I know is that they always leak.  Since mine were all leaking at the joints, I went online to see what I was doing wrong.  I found that all I needed to do was NOT overtighten!  You put the nut on the line, then the ferrule, then put the line into the female valve or whatever it is, then just tighten until snug and STOP!  After I did that, they all worked just fine without any leaks.  Google saved the day, yet again!
 
 At this point I could call the re-routing-of-the-water-line project completed.  I saved $150, although it took me about 3 hours.  I enjoy some housework though, so it's all good.

Now I could start getting the coolers serviced and de-winterized.  That involves checking the pads, belts, sealants, float valve, blower, and motor.  It was immediately obvious that one of the belts for the blower/motor needed to be replaced.

The old belt - pretty raggedy.

Belt is torn.

So, a run to Home Depot was in order!  It was pretty easy to find the belt I needed -- all I had to do was look at the model # and find the corresponding one in the cooler section (always in the front during this time of year).

New belt at Home Depot - $5.50

Then back home to put it on!  Got that done, then filled up the cooler with water again and scrubbed the bottom with a wire brush to clean all the caked on dirt and other crap.

Gross nastiness on the bottom of the cooler.

I finally had the brilliant idea to use the shop vac to vacuum all that crap out instead of trying to get it out the little 1" drainhole like I had in the past!  3 minutes later, all clean!  Now I just need to let it dry so I can coat it with submarine sealer (tar) and fire it up! 

I'm not sure if I need to replace the pads or not.  They are the Aspen pads, which I really don't like because they're messy.  However, I did read online on a number of forums that they are the best pads to have because they retain water well, don't solidify, and actually create cooler air than both the green paper kind or those weird blue foam-like pads.  The pads that are on there are pretty thick, which is good, and although they look old they might be good for another season.

Aspen pads.

Maybe I'll do some more research on how to tell if they are old or not.  I have no idea since this is our first season in the house, but I'm sure they'll work either way.

I can't work on the coolers today since it's raining and I am not getting on a wet roof!  Hopefully I can get them working by the weekend though as it's supposed to be pretty warm.  I can tell that cool air is in my future ...