Your chiller requires regular maintenance in order to continue functioning in an energy efficient manner. The best way to maintain your chiller is to establish a regular maintenance routine and to designate members of your workforce to take charge of that routine. Setting up your chiller's maintenance schedule and care routine in a logical way will help ensure that your chiller gets the attention it needs. The following tips will help you get started.

Establish Designated Recorders

The first step to caring and maintaining your chiller is to take daily measurements of your chiller's performance. Your chiller's manufacturer should recommend data points to be recorded for your particular chiller. These data points will likely include information like your chiller's internal temperature, fluid levels, internal pressure and more.

Create a blank spreadsheet of data points and establish a team of designated recorders. Establish a policy or routine that ensures that the chiller's readings will be taken once each day, ideally by a rotating team of people, so that each person gets practice taking the readings. Each recorder will need to be trained to take accurate readings and in a manner identical to the other recorders, to ensure accurate and meaningful data.

Finally, train each recorder to alert management of changes in the data. Changes in the data could be the result of maintenance problems that need to be addressed.

Establish an Annual Maintenance Routine

Your chiller will need to be serviced on a regular basis to ensure proper functioning and efficient heat release. To establish a maintenance routine, have at least one member of your staff do the following:

  • Clean the tubes on an annual basis, or as recommended. Open systems tube systems need to be cleaned annually in order to prevent buildup and scale in the tubes, and to avoid pressure changes. However, closed systems tend to have little contamination in the water and may require cleaning less often.
  • Perform annual oil analysis. Many chillers don't require annual oil changes, but still need to have the oil analyzed in order to ensure that the oil quality is good. Oil that appears clear and without impurities is acceptable; oil with impurities will need to be changed. Train the maintenance staff who performs these routine maintenance tasks to record the date and time of the oil analysis and whether or not an oil change was necessary. Note that an increase of necessary oil changes over time can be indicative of a mechanical problem and should be addressed by a Carrier chiller service person, such as one from Blume Mechanical Service.

By following these tips, you should be able to keep your chiller in good repair for many years to come. 

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