Maintenance Makes a Difference in the Lifespan of An Air Cooler
Voila! You have bought a new air cooler this summer. Have you ever thought about its maintenance? Don’t worry. The good news is that an air cooler is not as expensive as an air conditioner. Moreover, its maintenance hardly needs expert help. If it’s, it’s seldom.
Reason? It’s a simple mechanism.
An air cooler consists of a water tank to store the water, a water pump to send water to cooling pads, cooling pads to provide a large surface to evaporate water, a fan to blow air to circulate cooled air in ambiance, a moving panel to give air a rotatory direction, a body to provide a framework to support all its components, and the stand with wheels to change the location. It has an electric supply to run fan and water pump. Of course, it’s with an electronic control panel with switches and nobs to provide extra functionality.
That’s all.
Now, let me know the critical tasks involved in the maintenance.
Dusting:
Once, Ahmedabad was known as Gardabad due to heavy dust floating in the air. Fortunately, today, it is not, but compared to other areas, dust is high in the city and requires daily cleaning of your water cooler.
For the same reason, water in the water tank also gets dirty, and you need to change the water if your cooler is left unused for some days.
Wipe the dust from the outer surfaces of the air cooler using a dry or wet cloth, if possible, every morning for the entire summer.
During the off-season period, it is better to cover the cooler within its packing materials or wrap it in a big piece of cloth or paper and put it in a safe space in your home or office.
Air particles also consist of pollens, molds, and bacteria besides sand. It means we must pay close attention to cleaning different air cooler parts. Let’s learn all.
Cleaning Water Tank:
When the air cooler is not in use, please drain the water from the tank and let it dry completely to save the tank from corrosion and gathering dirt from the air.
If the cooler is used, cleaning the water tank periodically is the best option to extend its life. A weekly or fortnightly cleaning schedule is enough for metal or plastic bodies.
First, drain the water from the tank and start cleaning using clothes or a sponge soaked in cleaning solution. Rub edges and corners thoroughly. If the inner surface has any stain, scrub it gently using a soft brush. Once you finish the solution, use clean water to remove any soap residue and let the tank dry completely.
Cleaning Honeycomb Pads:
Many old-fashioned air coolers, particularly custom-made wooden coolers, use paper grass or ‘Khus’ material in cooling pads. It needs to change in every season. Remove old and used grass and replace it with a new one before the onset of summer.
However, the majority of modern custom or company-made air coolers use honeycomb cooling pads made up of cellulose strips/corrugated cardboard arranged in a honeycomb pattern. It provides a large surface for cooling water and lasts long for years.
You can clean honeycomb pads using a soft brush soaked in detergent and softly rubbing the brush. Once you remove all stubborn stains from the pad, rinse them thoroughly with clean water to remove detergents from its inner and outer surfaces.
It’s good you clean honeycomb pads prior to summer each year. It may extend its working life and increase cooling efficiency to the next level.
Accumulation of molds and bacteria is the biggest challenge to the self-life of the honeycomb pads. Therefore, many air-cooler experts prefer to replace old pads with new ones every two years. Follow their schedule and get the best results out of your investment.
Cleaning Fan:
The fan in the air cooler is the worst affected part by the dust in the air. Dust accumulates on the fan’s blades, and it needs periodic cleaning. You can use a gentle detergent solution to remove stubborn stains on the blade. You must take care not to put extra pressure on the blades while cleaning; otherwise, they will band or get damaged. You can use a damp cloth first and then dry the blades with a dry cloth or sponge.
Cleaning Water Pump:
If your water is salty, the water pump might be affected by salt deposition as the pump always remains submerged in the tank’s water. Using sandpaper to remove deposited salts on the surface is good. If it seems more affected by internal salt deposition, get help from your air cooler supplier or any air cooler technician available.
Precaution:
Take care that no water should enter into any electric component of the air cooler, such as switches, nobs, fan body, etc.
If you have disassembled different air cooler parts for cleaning tasks, let them dry fully and reassemble them as before. Check them for proper functioning once you finished everything.
If you face any difficulty during air cooler maintenance and cleaning, feel free to contact the Sagar Air Cooler service team for technical help.