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And how was your day?

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judow

judow

Darth Vader - R.I.P
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Started day at 4:00 AM. Bad smell woke me up. Something was burning I thought and it smelled electrical. Woke up hubby. Turned on light (not smart but okay in this instance) and house was filled with smoke. Don't know why detectors didn't go on. In a state of panic checked every electrical outlet/plugs/etc. as no flames. Then opened all windows and the conclusion was that it was coming from the heating/air conditioning ducts. Hubby outside as perhaps a fire in area and evaporative cooler picking up the smoke and venting into house. No - cooler on fire. Motor literally still working on fire and melted not only part of motor but the plastic casing that holds the filters - thus the awful smell. End result new motor, etc. for $800.00 and back breaking work of cleaning soot before the cooler was fixed and silly us, again after because the blower blew the last of the soot into the house AGAIN! I am a clean freak but even I have to admit the house is probably the cleanest it's been in all areas at the same time. Fortunately guesthouse is on a separate cooler. Now to argue with the electrical motor manufacturer as evaporative cooler manufacturer said they sell the cooler unit only and not the motor. Company that manufactured the motor sold to another company last year and stated clearly that new company is responsible. Bottom line and according to the company that fixed everything - never should have happened and he/they had never seen anything like it. Will let you all know what transpires. The first argument is well the motor is 16 years old. My/our response was that while we understood that, it should have stopped working and that is what it is supposed to do via a capacitor but it did not, it actually caught on fire. Then let them know it was contained to the cooler which is on a concrete pad in the back of the house which had we not caught it might well have become UNcontained and did I mention, we have a log home??? Much faxing and e-mailing of photos. So, how was your day???
 
Can't top that!

Glad you're OK.
 
A potential disaster in the making... glad everyone is safe.
Should have been some thermal cutoffs when max temp is exceeded to shut it down.
 
Yikes! waking up to a room full of smoke... :nonod:

In case this helps: Maine has something called the "implied warranty law". Not many people know about it but I successfully used it when the radon mitigation system that treats my well water failed. This was a brand new, $5,000 system that lasted 16 months before a major failure. When the company I bought it from diagnosed the problem and handed me the $600 estimate I countered with an explanation of the law. Disbelief and glazed looks ensued...I said that's ok, here's a printed copy, take it home and read it. The next day the seller AND a representative from the manufacturer were at my house installing the new part. For free.

Your state may or may not have something like this. Maine's law ultimately holds the seller and not the manufacturer responsible. I won't try to explain it beyond that. Here's a link: Implied Warranty
 
just glad you are safe!!
 
Must have been something in the air yesterday.
I started off the morning with the brake light flashing on in the Toyota (its at the shop getting new rear brakes now)

Continued with a nasty argument with another engineer in my group (brilliant but a total psychopath arse)

Left work a few minutes early to get some errands done only to find a flat tire...

Nearly caused an accident driving home.

Came home in a REALLY nasty bad mood.
 
Hi Judy - really glad to hear you're all ok. That could have been *much* worse.

Question for you: why the heck didn't your smoke/fire alarms go off? Maybe the humidity in the cooler air (from the evaporative cooler) somehow prevents detection?

Also, does your homeowners insurance cover the expenses of smoke damage repair? If so, then I'd let the insurance company argue with the motor/cooler companies.

Take care.
Tom
 
Got me beat, only bad thing that happened to me was my wife wouldn't watch The Fisher King with me.
 
Life is good. Evaporative a/k/a swamp cooler is functioning, no more soot or smell. We didn't bother with insurance as we have a $1,000 deductible so it just didn't merit filing a claim. Have been communicating with the company that bought out the company that made the motor. Of course they argue its age but I am holding fast to the fact that the motor did not just cease to operate, it went up in flames and that it should never have happened. After much correspondence via e-mail and phone calls the company representative spoke directly with the technician who just happened to be at house dropping off the motor and attached items. He no sooner ended his call and our phone was ringing. She asked for photos and we obliged. When the response was again "Well I'm not sure we can do anything... age again" I responded with a letter succinctly saying I didn't care if it was 116 years old, it failed in a manner that caused damage and had it not been for my keen sense of smell could have been catastrophic and that if we couldn't come to terms it would be in our best interest to file a small claims action in our court and let the chips fall where they may. I also added that we were not seeking a windful but rather just the cost of the motor and it's attached sundries - a mere $280.00. I also said that would we go via legal means we would certainly request payment of all our damages including a new evaporative cooler which by the way now needs to be sanded and painted as the top of the cooler actually burned and the paint peeled off. The last correspondence is that they will take it up with legal and would we send the motor back if they requested. I said yes but not until we reached a settlement. I suspect that they will reimburse us the cost that we are asking for but if they decide not to, we will file suit. The whole event was needless to say quite scary and the clean-up was backbreaking. If they were smart, they would settle and ask for return of the motor and then have their engineers take a good look/see to determine the probably and perhaps correct whatever went awry.

70 - I guess your day was not so good. The bright side to all our woes is that we got up this morning, stood erect, recognized our surroundings and onward we went to a better day.

Enjoy your weekend folks and do stay safe!
 
Tom, that is a puzzler as they are all functioning and they do go off if a battery is weak. They are both wired and battery operated. We have very high ceilings and I think the smoke hadn't reached the detectors yet. I was also puzzled as to why the circuit didn't pop and there isn't an explanation. We had an electrician friend of ours check the breakers and his only thought was that because the fire hadn't reached the wiring to the inside of the house, it didn't detect a problem. Indeed the pump was still running for a time even when it was smoldering, when the flames jumped and hit the wire is when it shut itself done. All of this happened in a matter of seconds and husband saw the whole thing as he was popping the top off the cooler. It never occurred to him that the motor was on fire. It sure was a shock. Husband is a definite handyman. So much so that I always tell him if he gets sick of flying he can hire out as a handyman.
 
Found my Spitfire was stolen this morning....

sounds like you fared better than I did....though you had the potential for much worst...
 
Don, that's terrible news. On a lighter note, have you been watching the Addams Family?
 
The threat of a fire can be scary, I am glad it stayed semi contained. I hope that a speedy conclusion is reached with the company.
 
Glad you are okay! Nothing much worse than waking to smoke-filled home.
 
Judy, if I may, $280 isn't worth your time or aggravation.

I understand you are upset. If I had to venture a guess, I'd would say that if taken to court, there is a better chance of you losing than winning. If that were to happen, it would upset you even more.

I think the shock and fright of the ordeal is what's causing you to go down this path. It's not worth the hassle. Be done with it by your choice and you'll feel much better.

(If anyone here understands the NEED for a pound of flesh, it's me. :wink: )

You have much more productive ways to spend your time. (Checking the guest house cooler motor comes to mind. I'd have a problem with the smoke alarm people myself.)

All in all, thank God you are o.k! Your house burning down is bad enough, but the thought of you and the hubster...well, let's not go there. Suffices (sic?) to say, you'd be better off getting your car stolen.


Don, man that sucks; were you at home?
 
Oh my. Did you notify police? It is a high profile vehicle. Not sure what the chances of recovery are. Quite frankly this sucks.
 
I was at work...permanent 3rd shift....

police report was filed....nothing to do now but wait....
 
judow said:
70 - I guess your day was not so good. The bright side to all our woes is that we got up this morning, stood erect, recognized our surroundings and onward we went to a better day.

Enjoy your weekend folks and do stay safe!
Click to expand...

:iagree: My usual motto, we woke up in the morning so we already are doing much better than almost everyone who has ever lived.
 
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