no electric, no water

[micky]

A place where I go to meetings remodeled a little and bought what must be the top of the line water fountain. Looks like this:

But it does not include the two girls.

Specifically, it looks like this, more than $900

But they have frequent power failures, beyond their control (and a generator is not an option), and when the power is off, no water will come out of the bubbler, or, I believe, the bottle filler, since that seems to work only when the sensor detects a bottle.

It says " Non-pressurized water tank is located after bubbler valve, so that tank is subject to line pressure only when Easy-Touch Control is pressed."

Do you think there is any way to bypass the valve so the water works even when the power is off, but doesn't make the water run all the time?

My feeling is that there is no way to do this, but I'm asking anyhow.

I haven't been able to find a wiring diagram. They knew about the power failures before they bought it, but I guess it never occurred to them that it wouldn't work then.

... What's really a shame is that they sell this too: M E C H A N I C A L L Y A C T I V A T E D Bottle Filling Station with ADA Cooler The ezH2O works alongside our mechanical cooler. Convenient hydration with a mechanical cooler means water is always available. Self-closing, mechanically-activated push bars on the front and sides operate even during power disruptions.

[Mo Power]

Install a UPS on the water valve?

[Ed Pawlowski]

Depends on the water supply. If the water is town supplied and always pressure, you can do it. If it is well water and the well pump stops, nothing you do at the bubbler will matter.

Plug it into a UPS of the proper voltage if on town water.

[Wade Garrett]

How silly; what a waste of money. An $8 Home Depot angle spigot/handle will work just fine.

Why do people insist on spending a lot of money to complicate their lives?

[trader_4]

Because it's more of a public place that accommodates lots of people, as opposed to your house? I see drinking fountains in lots of places like that, an angle spigot sticking out of the wall, not so much. And it cools the water too. I can't stand tepid water.

[micky]

Yes, it's town water.

Good idea, you too.

To avoid running down the UPS, I'd like to isolate the valve from the rest of the device (since the cooling part uses a lot of current). If the valve were on DC current, I could use diodes to isolate the valve from the rest of it. I wonder if I could rectify the AC that goes to the valve now and run the valve on what?, 70???volts DC. Assuming several people line up and drink for 3 to 5 minutes straight, is the valve's electric winding going to overheat or anything?

Plus there is the feature for filling water bottles. That must be on a separate valve.

[trader_4]

Have you considered the potential liability issues when you start modifying UL listed equipment that's used in what appears to be a public or at least semi-public place? Apparently it's a brand new fountain. What happens if it has a problem and they tell you the warranty is void because you modified it? Is the need for a fountain that urgent during a power outage? Plastic cups and the faucet or having some bottled water available seems a workable alternative to me. Or the UPS suggestion, if you can turn off the compressor.

[micky]

It's funny how this is represented as a feature. Are leaks common in the tank because of line pressure? Is it bad to have a tank connected to city water pressure all the time? My water heater is in that situation and I didn't think the water pressure *caused* the eventual leak. And I've seen water coolers all my life and don't remember ever seeing one that was leaking. Sure, they turn off the water when that happens, but I've almost never seen one where the water was off.

Semi-public. They get maybe 1000 people a week. More on some weeks. but I doon't know how many are thirsty.

Good points.

They probably woouldn't let me do it anyhow, and I only go there about once a year. (I think I was there a year ago, but I don't keep close track. This was the first time I saw the new water cooler. But it's just so annoying to me that they bought the wrong thing.

And I can see how easily it happened. The plumber or salesman didn't know about the power outages and he thought this was a better cooler. It's probably the one he uses all the time. The literature says that one like this is their most popular, and there's an even more expensive one

It is for me. I'm one of the few people who will admit to drinking out of a public bathroom sink. You don't even need a cup, just the palm of your hand, but I hate to do that there.

They haven't done that. I don't know how long the cooler has been there.

Not without taking the thing apart.

I did say in the first post that I thought it couldn't be done. At first I thought maybe I could do this in 5 minutes, but on the way home, as I said, I thought it probably couldn't be done at all.