Champion and Essick Swamp Coolers: A Reno Owner's Reference

Champion and Essick are the aspen media side of one company, and between them they cover a large share of what is bolted to the roofs of Sparks’ 1950s ranches and Reno’s mid-century southwest. Knowing which you have decides pad sizes, part numbers, and whether that weeping pan is a warranty claim or a replacement. Every price quoted here is on the pricing page.

One company, two names

Essick Air Products and Champion Cooler Corporation share a trademark family that includes Essick Air, Champion, MasterCool, UltraCool, Super Wick, Masterstat and AIRCARE, and Champion’s parts catalog labels most items with a “previously Essick part number.” If your cooler says Essick and the part list says Champion, you are in the right place. The rigid media line from the same family is MasterCool.

Champion’s own description of its aspen pads holds up: shredded aspen in a plastic net, meant to spread water evenly over the face of the pad and keep it from sagging into hot spots. On a Reno roof, the net is what keeps water spread across the whole pad instead of running down one edge.

The models

The ducted residential models are 3000 DD/SD, 4001 DD/SD, 5000 DD and 5000 SD, where DD is down discharge and SD is side discharge. Coverage by cooling zone runs from 1,100 square feet on a 3000 up to 2,400 on a 5000 DD in the most favorable zone. How much air one moves depends on the motor and the static pressure; fit a 5000 DD with a 3/4 horsepower motor and it rates 4,780 CFM at 0.1 inches of static, falling to 3,780 at 0.5. Motors ship separately on ducted units. Window units are WCM28, RWC35, RWC44, RWC46 and RWC50, fully assembled with the motor mounted and leveling legs included, and they are the units you find in the windows of the smaller homes in Sun Valley and the older grid in Sparks.

Before deciding whether to fix or replace an older Champion, note two warranty terms. Champion’s ducted coolers carry a one year limited warranty on parts and a 12 year limited warranty on the bottom pan against leakage due to rust-through. A weeping pan on a Champion under twelve years old is worth a warranty question before anyone prices a replacement. In Reno, where a pan left full into the October freeze is the usual way galvanized pans start to go, that warranty is worth knowing about, and the fall winterization is still the way to never need it.

Part names that help us bring the right part

Champion’s catalog uses specific names, and using them saves a second trip:

• Aspen pads are sold by dimension, not model: 20-1/2 by 21, 22 by 27, 27-3/4 by 22-3/4, 27-1/2 by 27-3/4, 27 by 54, and 32-3/4 by 36-1/4 inches. Measure before ordering. The pad replacement page explains why a pad that is short on one side lets hot air bypass.
• Pumps: the UL7500 residential pump with its mesh screen at 115 volt, the UL7500-2 at 240 volt, industrial pumps, and the 14-34 screen. Purge options include the MCP44 purge pump UL5000 and the Clean Machine purge pump, which are the answer for a pan that sees TMWA’s harder areas and quarters.
• Float: the Float Valve Assembly is part 502389; there is also a 3/8 inch industrial float.
• Blower bearings, listed by shaft and blower series: 1 inch ID (the old Essick 60PB), 3/4 inch, a 1 inch industrial bearing for 100 Series blowers (Essick 583004), and 1-3/16 inch for the 150 Series (583001), along with a spider bearing assembly. This is the part behind most squeal and rattle calls on the old stock.
• Motors: 175-20 is the 1/3 HP single speed, 175-25 the 1/3 HP two speed, 175-30 the 1/2 HP single speed, and 175-40 the 3/4 HP single speed, and each one cross-references to an older Essick number. The two-speed 175-25 is the upgrade a Reno cooler wants for its 60 degree July nights.
• Controls: pump receptacle 27-132, five-wire motor receptacle 27-139, the rotary switch, and the low voltage Masterstat thermostat. These are what a no-power call usually comes down to, and the Masterstat is the fix for a house that is too cold at night.

What fails, in order, on Truckee Meadows water

1. Pads. Every season, without exception. Reno’s river water is soft, 2 to 5 grains per gallon in most of the system by TMWA’s area reports, so aspen holds up better here than in the desert through May and June. Then the wells come on from mid-April through October and some areas read 10 to 14 grains, and by August the intake side is a crust. $80 to $200 a set.
2. Pump. The UL7500 dies from scale on the impeller or from running dry after a stuck float. $150 to $400 installed. Check the 14-34 screen first.
3. Float. Part 502389 sticks on scale. $100 to $250.
4. Belt and bearings. Bearings by shaft size, oiled every spring or replaced. Belt $40 to $100.
5. Motor. After the capacitor and bearings are checked. $300 to $700, with the two-speed at the top.
6. Pan. Twelve-year warranty against rust-through; after that, the age and the winters decide it.

Aspen versus rigid media, for a Champion owner

An aspen Champion suits an owner who does the seasonal work and a cooler that is not worth a five-year investment. The honest case for staying with it in Reno is the soft river water, which is gentler on aspen than the desert utilities are, and the absence of any rebate that would tip the math toward rigid media; we could not find an NV Energy evaporative cooler rebate, and the permits and licensing page explains. The case for switching is a cooler with a sound pan that you plan to keep a decade, in which case the MasterCool or AeroCool rigid media lines are the next read. For what a repair costs on your unit, the repair cost calculator uses the published ranges.