How to prevent chiller breakdowns

Industrial fluid chillers are critical for a variety of processes. In order to keep your chiller running efficiently and guarantee a lasting lifespan it is crucial that a preventative maintenance plan is in place for all of your refrigeration equipment with regular maintenance carried out by a skilled Chiller engineer.

Industrial chillers combine both a refrigeration circuit and a fluid cooling circuit. The cooling fluid is pumped to the process at a desired temperature and returns to the chiller to be cooled by the refrigeration circuit. This combination of fluid and refrigeration in a packaged industrial fluid chiller may present many challenges and requires a multi-skilled, refrigeration and process Chiller Engineer to diagnose and repair issues when they occur. To prevent expensive emergency breakdown repair costs. It is important that all refrigerated industrial Chillers are regularly maintained and serviced.

Common faults that occur on industrial chillers

Chiller Electrical and controller problems

Most industrial chillers are fitted with a micro-processor controllers, these often fail after time, or, through water ingress. There are also many electrical components within a Chiller which may fail, the common parts that fail are condenser fans, HP and LP switches, transducers, temperature probes, contactors and overloads. Other common electrical faults within the equipment are related to the fluid pump. If a failure occurs in any of these areas a qualified refrigeration Engineer will be required with F-gas qualifications to carry out a diagnosis and repair.

Common Pumping and fluid circuit problems within an industrial chiller

Issues relating to flow of fluid in (usually glycol and water mixture), are common in any chiller. If problems are experienced with flow, first check the strainer within the system. Over time these can become blocked and restrict the flow of fluid and effect the performance of the chiller. Pumps either within the chiller or externally, often experience issues, check for leaking seals and noisy pump motors. It is crucial that the pump provides adequate flow across the evaporator within the chiller for the refrigeration circuit to work correctly. Often, as a result of poor flow, the chiller will show an alarm and poor or low flow is a frequent issue that causes industrial chillers to fail.

Common fault and alarms that occur on chillers

The two most common faults that occur on industrial chillers are low/no flow, or refrigerant, high or low pressure alarms. If your Chiller has a flow alarm warning and is operating at no, or low flow conditions, check that the pump is operating and turning in the right direction. Also check that the pump contactor is engaged and the overload has not tripped. If your chiller is showing an alarm For high refrigerant pressure, HP alarm, or low refrigerant pressure, LP alarm, check the flow of fluid and the pump operation first. If you can not clear these alarms you will need a qualified refrigeration, with F-gas qualifications to diagnose the problem.