2023 Chill-Pro® Winter Claims Highlights

• 6-year-old Magnetic Bearing Chiller. Cause of Loss: Bearing failure

DESCRIPTION: Magnetic bearings for the compressor would not levitate. The compressor was not field repairable. Compressor was replaced with remanufactured one from the vendor. It appears that cost for new Mag Bearing compressor of same size cost as much as a new one. No overtime cost associated with compressor repair.

• 10-year-old Centrifugal Chiller. Cause of Loss: Circuit Board failure

DESCRIPTION: During service call chiller was found to be inoperable. Troubleshooting procedure revealed failure of 4 printed circuit boards. Cause of failure unknown. Replaced circuit boards and restarted 450-ton X Centrifugal Chiller. No further maintenance performed.

• 18-year-old Screw Chiller. Cause of Loss: Compressor shorted, contacts welded

DESCRIPTION: Our investigation found that on the date of loss, X technicians were called out to troubleshoot the 215-Ton X Screw Chiller. Initial inspection found the chiller offline on a high amp alarm. Technicians found that the new compressor that was installed earlier in the year had shorted to ground and the contacts had welded together. This compressor was still under warranty from the manufacturer. Technicians removed the refrigerant charge from the compressor. During this process, they tested the refrigerant to make sure they could reuse in the new compressor. Testing of the refrigerant found a significantly high acid content. The contamination happened when the compressor shorted, which made the refrigerant unusable. 240 lbs. of R-22 refrigerant was purchased for the replacement compressor. Once the new compressor was received, technicians reinstalled and tested operation. After a successful re-start and verification of proper operation, the chiller was returned to service.

• 1 Year old Centrifugal Chiller. Cause of Loss: Water Pump failure

DESCRIPTION: Loss submitted Chiller water pump found leaking. Further investigation revealed that the pump had cracked seal and damage to the pump shaft. The shaft was resurfaced, seal replaced, and pump returned to service.

• 7-year-old Centrifugal Chiller. Cause of Loss: VFD failure

DESCRIPTION: Our investigation discovered that on the date of loss, technicians were called out to diagnose the 700-Ton X Centrifugal Chiller that had stopped working on an Over-current Alarm. Initial inspection found that the compressor motor on the chiller would not start back up after a restart attempt. A more thorough inspection, which tested the compressor motor and all components connected to it, found that the Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) that helps control the chiller motor was not operating properly. Testing of the VFD found that one phase had shorted to ground and the second phase would not modulate the correct voltage. Technicians replaced and reprogrammed the VFD on the compressor motor, then re-started the chiller. After monitoring operations, technicians returned the chiller to service.