Old Rotobelt Swamp Cooler

I have an old rotobelt swamp cooler that I got from Sears years ago. I can not find any model or serial number on it anywhere, or the book that came with it when I purchased it. I have purchased new rotobelt pads in the past, but without the book to get the part number I can't look anything up. What I need is new rotobelt pads for my old swamp cooler so that I can make it work and cool the house again. If anybody knows if the rotobelt pads are still available and where I can purchase replacement pads I could really use some help.
Thank you.

 

Welcome to the forums.

Sears/Kenmore used several different vendors. I'm not familiar with the style of belt they used but another member might be. If you can post a few pictures of your unit... it may jog someones memory.

How-to-insert-pictures

 

That cooler was made for Sears by the essick/champion cooler corp.
Call essick and give them the dimensions of the cooler and they'll be able to help you out. Don't know how much longer parts will be around for those things and as much as I always liked them, it may be time to think about replacing it.

 

Thanks Sammy..... good to see you still checking in.

 

I haven't been in here in a while. Lol I'm still around

 

Thank you. I did check with essick/champion and they said that the cooler (pads) rotobelts are no longer available. I was just hoping that somebody had heard of another vendor that was making them. No such luck I'm thinking.

 

My landlord has the exact same set up and we have the exact same problem! So I ordered a role of cut-to-fit blue foam cooler padding, and I sewed it together on the ends and made my own

 

Welcome to the forums.

Very ingenious. Probably will work adequately for that purpose.
The true test is if you can get enough humidity into the air using that foam.

The stuff used for roto belts is a media and is very dense to hold a lot of water.

 

Actually it works great. I considered that before I chose the blue pad type. It's rotates and stays wet anyways. There was enough on the roll for good set. 😊

 

 

I just posted a bit ago about the same issue. Has anyone made any headway on this?

 

I kept checking eBay for the 6294 pad but only found the next size up, 6295 or EP60. I cut the larger one and sewed it to the dimensions of the 6294 instead of using the blue duracool pad.

 

That was good thinking.

 

Tia Owens, i just read your post about making your own roto-belt cooler pads. I have the same issue as the rest of you , I can't find the pads because they are no longer made. You are a genius to come up with your own solution. Would you please share with me exactly what the material is, where I can buy it and how you went about sewing them together.
Thanks for what ever help you can give me. Lee

 

Welcome to the forums.

You don't want your email address in public on site like DIY. You'll get spammed by the bots.

Go up to the person you want to contact and click on the name. Select "send a private message to.....". You'll get a replay much faster that way leaving a private message.

 

I made rotobelt replacements using the blue foam material. The problem with it is it stretches over time due to the heavy roller on the bottom. I made slick plastic inserts and installed them in the lower roller slots. Working so far. When I sewed them together I used paper on top and below so material wouldn’t catch in sewing machine. I think next season I am converting the roller to spray bar and installing a pump. All of which would have been less expensive than the roll of blue foam.
The rotobelt was an incredible design, just sad pads are no longer available!

 

Welcome to the forums.

Thanks for adding info to this thread. Most rotobelts are disappearing.
I'm guessing not enough of a demand.

There was one company that was still making custom pads..... cooler pads

 

Hello, all.
I tried with blue pad. But, as one stated, it stretched when wet and would get stuck around the upper roller.
I did not try replacing the lower roller.
But, after suffering the Summer heat, I tried making many narrow strips making several belts. I went to a fabric store, and bought a few varieties of ribbons. I cut them and sewed, made belts. I wanted to see which ones work better. So, I bought Jute(?) materiala, Cotton/Polyester. I also got cheap thin Jute rope from a hardware store. Also, I could salvage one strip from my old damaged original pad. I spaced them over the two rollers.



Additional options I did was to put plastic ties around the upper roller, here and there, to keep each strips of pad not slide too much. Also I put heavy duty weather resistant duct tape(gorilla tape) on the upper roller before installing the belt strips. It was to insure smooth rolling. But, it may not be necessary.
It has been several weeks, and it is working well so far. Of course, it is only half cool, at best. Perhaps you could use more effective materials, and cover more area.But at least it is rolling good, and it is much cooler than just vent.
I am very happy with the result.
Perhaps you could make it even better with more details.

 

I forgot to share another tip, regarding my post on Sep 16, 2023.
It is about Strips of pads. I forgot to mention that I pre-washed fabrics, before measure, cut, and sew.
I washed them in Hot water to pre-shrink, just in case especially if the fabric contains cotton.
Then I dried them completely before measure, cut, and sew. It has been several weeks, and it is working fine.
The Jute material seems to slide a little bit on the rollers, but holding OK. Thanks.