How do I restart a swamp cooler?

Question:I've never used one before, but bought a house with one already installed.

Answers:
remove pads, ( side panels ) local hardware places like ACE or home depot or lowes will have either the Aspen or the green paper pads, I like the paper honeycomb ones, they hold water well, and since you want to evaporate as much water as you can to cool your house,, spray out the bottom of the pan, remove the black over flow tube to clean the pan out well, use a light weight oil, again local hardware, and Walmart sells some cooler stuff too,

make sure the belt has about a inch of play,, too tight and you will ruin the brass bearings,, they cant take stress, I always wire brush out my cage too, *( remove cords from sockets if you can, that way no one will accidently turn power on )

on the louvred pads, insure the top is clean and the small elongated hole are free from calcium, I use a high pressure washer on mine, if you dont own one the car wash works good too, make sure all those holes are clear, this is where the water will drip onto the pads,

check the " spider" for blockage, and the pump motor for performance, these get calcium deposits in them and unless taken out and cleaned every year, they last a couple years, they are cheap under 20 bucks usually,

if the pan is rusty clean all rust out and coat with cooler coating, again at the hardware store,

put it all back together, run the pump to soak pads otherwise you will get a fish smell,
I use a cooler block to soften the water too,