Vinegar ok to clean out swamp cooler lines?

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one of the lines that distribute water onto the pads, is clogged up. I've got a snake line going up and starting to get drops of water out of it, but I've also heard that putting vinegar in the water at the bottom is good, to clean away some of the hard water deposits.

Would it be ok to do this? I'd rather not complicate things for myself at this point.
 
Just take the line out and use the garden hose to spray the crud out.

Or just get new lines, they're cheap.
 
White vinegar only.

You could also use (very) diluted muriatic acid

How much lime & scale is built up in the swamp cooler?
 
Not sure how much is there, it has taken several pushes up with the snake line to get just one drop coming out.

Originally Posted By: Linctex
White vinegar only.

You could also use (very) diluted muriatic acid

How much lime & scale is built up in the swamp cooler?
 
If it's a flexible line, remove it and coil it up and put it in a pan of vinegar. It will dissolve it pretty quickly. I use vinegar to clean all our shower heads, faucet heads, etc. every year or two. Very, very effective and no need for specialized products.
 
What is the cause of the clogged the lines? I had swamp coolers running well water for the past 17 years, high mineral content,super high . What pads are you using?
 
I think it's just hard water. It is the straw-type pads, so it might be a bit of that that got pushed up the line, although I believe there is a filter that would have caught that...
 
Originally Posted By: paulri
I think it's just hard water. It is the straw-type pads, so it might be a bit of that that got pushed up the line, although I believe there is a filter that would have caught that...
I would have the pad material clog up the lines every once in a while.Have you tried to increase the coolers performance by doubling up the pads?
 
What Nick said. You'll spend 3x longer trying to get it unclogged and replacement lines are cheap. Dump the water once a month or if not difficult twice a month and greatly reduce the mineral buildup on the pads, pump, lines. Do swamp coolers and hard water go together everywhere?
 
I use an old speedometer cable to clean the spider lines. Flexible enough and big enough to do the job.

Smoky
 
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