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Fixing a Swamp Cooler Water Distribution System
I love when I try to make something work, work better or pretty it up and I end up breaking a part. That was the case with this post. I was preparing to repaint the swamp cooler when I look down and saw one of the arms of the water distribution system was broken off. After a long sigh I went to Ace down the street and bought a replacement kit.
Broken Swamp Cooler Water Distributor
Getting Set Up
When buying the replacement kit, it usually is based on the number of arms. I needed a 6 arm kit.
Replacement Water Distributor Kit
The replacement kit came with
- Distribution block
- MEK gluing compound to attach the arms to the block
- Screw in adapter for the supply hose
- Screw for attaching the new kit to the swamp cooler
Water Distribution Kit Parts
If you’re lucky like me you’ll need a couple of tools.
- Hacksaw or something to cut the plastic arms
- Tape measure
- Flat head and possibly a Philips screwdriver
- Pliers
Hacksaw and Measuring Tape
Pliers and Screwdriver
Disconnecting The Water Supply Hose
Disconnect the clamp from the supply hose. If I though ahead I would have bought a new hose and just reused the clamps.
It might be necessary to use a flat head screwdriver to pry the hose off of the old distribution block.
Removing Water Supply Hose
Figuring Out Arm Cut Length
Looking at the distribution block, it looks like the same size. That means the arm length will most likely be the same. Also, make sure all the arms are close to being the same length.
Cut Length = Arm Length from the Distribution Knuckle + Distribution Joint Depth
Measuring The Arm Length From The Distribution Knuckle
Use the old water distributor to measure the arm.
Measuring Old Distribution Arm
Measure from the knuckle to the end of the arm.
Measure Old Arm From Distribution Knuckle
Measure Old Arm To End
Measuring The Distribution Joint Depth
To measure the distribution joint depth, push the arm into the distribution block joint and mark the spot with your finger.
Push New Arm In Distribution Block
Pull the arm from the joint and measure from your finger to the end of the arm.
Measure From Finger To End
Cutting The Arm To Length
Take the two measurements above and add them together for the cut length. For me, my cut length is 10 ½ inches, 10 inches for the arm length and ½ inch for the distribution block joint.
Because the new arm didn’t have a sharp 90 degree angle where the water came out, I measured for the cut further down the bend.
A screwdriver helped me figure out where to mark. (All I did was place my fingers in the spot. I didn’t think I would see a Sharpie mark on the black plastic.)
Measuring To Cut The New Arm
Cut the arm with a hacksaw.
Cutting New Distribution Arm
Test the first arm that is cut by putting it in the distribution block and measuring it to the furthest part.
Test Fitting The First Distribution Arm
For the other cuts on the arms, use the first arm on top of the other arms to measure and cut them.
Using The First Arm As A Template
Test Fitting
Before gluing the arms to the distribution block, dry fit everything and place it in the swamp cooler to make sure they are the correct length.
To check for correct length, place one of the cooling pad holders in place. The arms should feed water into the cooling pad holder.
Test Fitting The New Water Distribution Before Gluing
Glue Up And Installation
Glue it all together using the MEK glue that comes with the kit. WORK FAST!! (Sorry no pic on this one. Had to work REALLY fast and couldn’t take pictures.)
There is not much time for positioning, so make sure the arms are facing the right way when you put them in the distribution block.
Screw in the adapter for the supply hose. Make sure to check if it is going in straight. Mine started to go in crooked the first time around. This doesn’t need glue.
Screw In Adapter For Water Supply Hose
Time to reattach the hose to the adapter using the old clamp.
Re-attaching The Water Supply Hose
Use the screw that came with the kit to attach the new water distribution system to the swamp cooler.
Attach New Water Distribution System To Swamp Cooler
Installed In Swamp Cooler
Other Swamp Cooler Posts
- Fixing A Swamp Cooler Water Distribution System
- Replacing A Swamp Cooler Float Valve
- Replacing Swamp Cooler Pads
General Rise and Run Rules for Stairs
Earlier this year I built a dog step for My Helper and had to figure out maximum rise, and run dimensions when designing the stairs for her. So I thought I might as well make her steps to building code 
. Here are some notes about the International Residential Code (IRC) for building stairs. All the dimensions listed below could be different depending on local code. There is a link at the end of the post that will help find local building codes.
Anatomy of a Step
Anatomy of a Step
Riser – The vertical elements in a set of stairs.
Tread – The horizontal part of a stair, also known as a the step.
Nosing – The horizontally projecting edge of a stair tread.
Riser Height
The finished riser height is measured from the top of the starting tread to the top of the next tread up the stairs.
Measuring Riser Height
- The finished riser height can be no more than 7 3/4 inches.
- The International Residential Code (IRC) does not mandate a minimum finished riser height.
- Keep in mind that there might be a height difference if different floor coverings are used. This usually occurs at the top and bottom landings.
Tread Depth
Measuring Tread Depth
- Finished tread depth should be at least 10 inches.
- If treads have no nosing the tread depth should be at least 11 inches
- It is measured horizontally from the leading edge of the adjacent treads.
- There shouldn’t be more than a 3/8 inch variance between any two treads in the flight of stairs. This doesn’t apply to consistently shaped winding treads in the same flight of stairs.
Tread Nosing
Measuring Tread Nosing
- There must be a finished tread nosing of at least 3/4 inch and not more than 1 1/4 inches for stairs with a solid wood riser.
- Tread nosing is not necessary if the tread is at least 11 inches deep.
- There shouldn’t be more than a 3/8 inch depth difference between any two treads for all the treads between two stories. This includes floors and landings.
- For the finish detail on the tread nosing, the curvature radius should not exceed 9/16 inch and 1/2 inch for a bevel edge.
Notes
In researching this article I’ve come across some variations that people have posted about local building codes. I believe it was Alabama that allowed a finished riser height of 8 inches. Here are some links that might help.
- Local Building Code Reference – There are links, if available, by state for local building codes.
- Codes for Homeowners: Electrical Codes, Mechanical Codes, Plumbing Codes, Building Codes
– A really well put together basic code reference with a lot of good pictures and easy to understand language. If you don’t buy it, at least check it out at the library.
- Residential Building Codes Illustrated
– An easy-to-use illustrated guide to the building code requirements for construction of residential structures.
- Stairway Manufacturer’s Association – This has some useful charts on riser heights, tread depth and stair gradients.
In-ground Container Gardening Irrigation Comparison
I found out quickly that one of the key things to keeping plants alive when it comes to in-ground planters is making sure the plants get enough water on a regular basis. Especially in a desert climate like Las Vegas. When the first summer came and temperatures reached over 100, it was easier to keep the plants alive because I could adjust the watering schedule. I know myself, and I would forget to water in the morning or the evening and end up with withered plants.
These are some observations from my experiences with using each type of container garden irrigation. Please take a look at this post if you are interested in how I ran irrigation stubs to my in-ground planter pot garden along my back wall.
Soaker Hose
This is what I started out using for my in-ground containers because I’m using ¼ inch soaker hose on the raised bed gardens I have. For the raised beds I wanted as much coverage as possible when watering so I left the hose above ground.
As seen in the picture, if the soaker hose isn’t covered by some type of mulch there is a lot of over-spray. When I was using this style of irrigation for the older in-ground pots I covered the soaker hose with shredded leaves for mulch.
Soaker Hose Irrigation Without Mulch
Drip Line Emitter Tubing
Drip line emitters have a drip put in every 12 inches for ¼ inch tubing and every 18 inches for ½ inch tubing. They are supposed to regulate the flow of water to usually 1 gallon per hour (gph).
Truthfully, I had this line emitter tubing from I’m not sure where. What it was supposed to do and what it did were two different things. Here are the reasons I really didn’t think this type of irrigation would be good for containers.
- There ends up being a lot of tubing coiled in the pot to get a couple of emitters in it.
- My hose must have been cheap. It had slices in it instead of a punched hole. This probably made a big difference when it came to water flow.
- The tubing I had definitely needed an in-line water pressure reducer. The pressure coming out of the emitters would have torn up seedlings.
Drip Line Emitter Tubing
Adjustable Drip Emitters
Adjustable drip emitters allow you to change the water flow usually from 1 gallon per hour (gph) to 6 gph. This is the solution I liked the most so far, but it is a little expensive compared to the other solutions. Each emitter is about 50 – 75 cents each and it requires a T connection to branch off.
- If a container isn’t being used the emitters could be turned off, and the water usage can be close to none. I’m sure there will be a little leaking if any.
- The coverage is good. The emitters being used now cover about a 4 inch diameter area when they are opened up. The entire container surface area is almost covered using 4-5 emitters.
- The flow from the emitters is slow enough not to damage seedlings.
Adjustable Drip Emitters
Fixed Drip Emitters
I’ve used these for herbs like Basil and Rosemary that were started 4-5 weeks under the grow lamp setup I built.
- Fixed drip emitters usually com in 1 gph and 2 gph flow rates.
- Multiple emitters might need to be used based on how long the watering cycle is and size of the plant.
I had some success with these last season. One thing to note is the plants only received half a day’s sun.
![Fixed Drip Emitter](http://diy-images.adventuresindiy.com/in-ground_container_gardening_irrigation/fixed_drip_emitter.jpg" "Fixed Drip Emitter")
Fixed Drip Emitter
In Ground Planter Pot Gardening – Installation and Irrigation
Last year I put a couple of large 4 gallon planter pots in the ground for container gardening. The plants in these fairly inexpensive, around $5, nursery pots grew really well. They allowed me to use my normal plant soil mix to more easily control the soil. The results were great! We were eating heirloom and cherry tomatoes, basil and eggplant all season from these containers.
This time around I used two different plastic nursery pots sizes, 4 gallons like before and one closer to 5-6 gallons. Both types were purchased and Home Depot from the gardening area. The 4 gallon one was around $5 and the 5-6 gallon one was closer to $6.50. They were tucked away near the tomato cages and not near the normal pot and plant container area.
Layout
After I removed the sandstone rock that was being used for mulch, I placed the pots along the back wall to try to judge a good spacing.
Rough In Ground Pot Layout
Bringing Irrigation to the Containers
To make the installation easier I used funny pipe. I really didn’t feel like gluing PVC pipe and having to deal with adapting the connections to go to the plastic nursery pots.
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100 Feet of 3/8 Inch Funny Pipe
I was able to use a PVC to irrigation funny pipe connector to tap into what used to be a sprinkler. The grass in that area is gone, but luckily I was too lazy to dig up the existing irrigation.
Irrigation Hook-up
In Las Vegas I’m sure the freeze line is pretty shallow. The irrigation funny pipe was run in a 6 inch deep trench in front of the planters since there was already a funny pipe irrigation line behind the planters that was on a different water schedule, one that runs a slow drip system for a long period of time.
Funny Pipe Irrigation
A barbed coupler was used to pierce the funny pipe for the ¼ inch line that will go to each of the containers.
1/4 inch Barbed Coupler
I made sure to over estimate the length so I wouldn’t run out of ¼ inch line.
1/4 inch Irrigation Lines To Pots
Putting Pots In the Ground
When digging the holes, I tried to make sure when it was filled in that the planter pot would stick about 3-4 inches from the ground. Also, a small trench in front of the pot allowed for the irrigation to easily reach the container.
Pots In The Ground
After this project I ended up taking about ½ a truck bed of dirt to the dump. Unfortunately I had no use for it in other places.
Finishing the Containers
After the pots were all in the ground a 4 foot wide weed barrier was put down. When installing the weed barrier, it was stretched the length of the area and holes were cut for the gardening containers.
An edging, that was purchased at the end of last season for 50% off, was installed to keep the rock mulch from creeping on to the sidewalk.
The usual raised bed / container gardening soil mix was used to fill the pots.
Filling Containers With Soil
The irrigation stubs were capped off so the rest of the garden could be watered while I was figuring out what to plant in these.
Irrigation Stub In Container
Lessons For Next Time
- I should have used string as a guide to keep a consistent center line from the back wall.
- Measure and mark the center line of where the pots will be finally placed on the string described above. Let’s just say my pots don’t have an exact placement .
- Test the irrigation by capping off all the ¼ inch tube with a plug and turning on the water. This is to test the connection point on the funny pipe to make sure you don’t bury a leak. Conserve that water!
- Mix in any time release fertilizer you want to use when filling the containers.