Our evaporative cooler is spraying oil and water through the vent. We replaced the pump and the motor and the pads, but this has not improved the problem. Any suggestions on what could be causing the problem? This is a window mounted 5,000 cfu cooler.

Thanks

 

The first thing I'd do is slow the fan down if it has the variable pitch motor pulley. The oil can only be coming from over oiled fan bearings.
As for the water,check for leaks in the hose running from pump up to the distributor,check for leaks in distributor lines and see if one of the pads is overflowing and spilling water that can be sucked in by the fan.
HTH,
Mike

 

We have already replaced the hose and the distributor lines, still same problem. We switched out the pads, from the aspen pads to plastic pads, and I think that it got worse. Could there be a cracked ball bearing in the axle? Is that the same as the fan bearing? If not, where are the fan bearings? I don't see an adjustment for the fan speed- What sort of pads would you recommend?

Thanks very much-

 

Fan brg is the same as axle brg. and they are usually sleeve or bushing type bearing.
If yours has a speed adjustment the motor pulley will have one side of it secuered w/ a setscrew and when the setscrew is loosened you should be able to turn one side of the pulley so it will move closer or further away from the other half,which will change the position of the belt in the pulley to make it larger or smaller in diameter,thus changing the speed of the fan. If you adjust the pulley to move the two halves further apart,the fan will run slower.
I still think one of the pads next to fan intake is overflowing and water is being sucked into the fan.If the holes in the trough in the top of the pad get plugged the trough will overflow. As for the oil, too much oil in axle brgs will cause oil to be sucked into fan.
I have used aspen pads for a lot of yrs w/ no problem. There are as many opinions as there are brands and types of pads.
HTH,
Mike