the saga of the cooler continues

I finally figure out, after trying various other things, that I can take apart the pump (duh). I clean out all kinds of hard-water deposits, and suddenly, it works. Only half of the little tubes are pumping out water, but that's better than it was before. After fiddling with it again, oiling the pump, and tweaking things, I decide that the "economy" pump, which someone installed without asking me first, I'm sure, just isn't going to cut it. I never would have bought something labeled "economy" for something I rely on for my sanity. I need that cooler to work, or I'm not a nice person. Heat makes me cranky.


I'm up there for nearly 3 hours. I have a headache, because I had too much caffeine during the work-week and none on the weekend (and I'm not having any just to cure the headache, because I shouldn't have any anyway), so I'm not happy. I want to run a cleaner through the cooler, but if the pump isn't working, there's no point, because it won't get to everything. I finally decide that half is better than nothing, as long as each pad is getting wet, I'll run the cleaner through. That means draining, cleaning, filling, running just the pump for 20 min, then draining, rinsing, and filling again. All before we can have the fan blowing cooler air. This takes forever, and I get totally soaked in the process, because the good hose, in the back, where the cooler water comes from, I can't use. Because my son can't get it unscrewed (who knows), and also can't get the tiny spigot that goes to the cooler to shut off, so he has to turn off the water in the back. Which means I have to use the front spigot for my cleaning water. The hose on the front has numerous holes in it. It's just a crappy hose, so it split, because it couldn't take the pressure of having a sprayer attachment on it. But it's all I've got, unless I want to climb down and switch the hoses myself. My head is throbbing, so I don't. I just have him hand me the other hose, holes and all, and turn it on.

Which is when I got drenched. Quite thoroughly.

I spray out the cooler base, and refill, adding the cleaner, then fuss with the pump and lines again - half are working, so all the pads with at least get a little wet. Finally, I head back down the ladder to wait it out.

I give it 1/2 hour, then go back up, empty, rinse, and refill again.

It works. But, not like it could if it didn't have that ECONOMY pump in it. Time to order a new one....