Archive
2023 Chill-Pro® Autumn Claims Highlights
22-year-old Centrifugal chiller
Cause of Loss: Oil Pump FailureDESCRIPTION: On date of loss, the oil pump failed on the referenced chiller causing the machine to go off on a safety failure. It was determined at that time that the pump and motor failed causing an over-amperage situation and tripped the safety on the machine. It was also determined at that time that the pump and motor were drawing too much amperage due to damaged windings and needed to be replaced to safely run the machine. Please note that the purge unit failed prior to the oil pump and was replaced. The oil pump was replaced new and the unit was returned to service.
6-year-old Screw chiller
Cause of Loss: Compressor motor windings shorted to groundDESCRIPTION: This was the initial loss for Compressor Number 2. The compressor shorted out in the motor windings. Initially, it was thought that the compressor had locked and later discovered when the old one was removed it turned freely. The compressor was replaced along with the contactor and fuses. After startup, everything was running normally. The oil separator height was 10 inches. It appears that the software on the Tracer interface for this chiller somehow got corrupted and the insured could not retrieve all the alarm history. The software issue has been corrected.
9-year-old Magnetic Bearing chiller
Cause of Loss: Loss of control voltage due to power surgeDESCRIPTION: Called insured to discuss inverter damage to Chiller #2. Insured stated that the power surge in the local area caused loss of control voltage for Chillers Number 1 and 2. As a result, A/C D/C inverters had to be replaced on both chillers. No other damage noted to components other than control voltage.
10-year-old Centrifugal chiller
Cause of Loss: Circuit board failureDESCRIPTION: During the service call, the chiller was found to be inoperable. The troubleshooting procedure revealed failure of 4 printed circuit boards. Cause of failure unknown. Replaced circuit boards and restarted 450-ton Centrifugal Chiller. No further maintenance performed.
2-year-old Centrifugal chiller
Cause of Loss: Seized bearings, motor shorted to groundDESCRIPTION: Technicians found the chiller inoperable and pulling too many amps across the system. Testing of the single compressor on the chiller found that the compressor had seized bearings and would not turn. The seized bearings also caused the motor to burn up and short to ground. The compressor motor was then disconnected from the chiller and sent to be rebuilt. After the motor was rebuilt and returned to the loss site, technicians had the motor reinstalled. Vibration testing was completed and after a successful test, the compressor was restarted. After confirming no other problems with the compressor, the chiller was returned to service.
2023 Chill-Pro Spring Claims Highlights
10-year-old Centrifugal chiller. Cause of Loss: Variable Speed Drive failure.
DESCRIPTION: Power module for 100 HP VFD Starter failed. Further investigation revealed two burnt
spots in the power module. The cause of the burnt was electrical arcing in the power module. The main
drive assembly was replaced, and the chiller unit returned to service. The unit was repaired and
operational.
14-year-old Magnetic Bearing, screw chiller. Cause of Loss: Magnetic bearing compressor failure.
DESCRIPTION: Investigation revealed that on the date of loss – Turbocor Compressor Number 2 was
operating at high output temperature. The unit was shut down and found that rotor magnetic bearing
had failed. Turbocor compressor is not field repairable and requires replacement of the compressor. I
have attached to this report a diagram of how the magnetic bearings are configured in the compressor.
The manufacturer discounted the new compressor 32% after the core was returned. No other damage
noted to chiller other than compressor failure.
16-year-old air cooled Screw chiller. Cause of Loss: Screw compressor failed.
DESCRIPTION: Compressor bearings failed causing compressor motor to seize. Replaced compressor,
buss bars and fittings. Unit has been returned to service.
9-year-old air cooled Scroll chiller. Cause of Loss: Scroll compressor failed.
DESCRIPTION: Technicians were called out to the facility when the 210-Ton Scroll Chiller stopped working.
Initial inspection found that one of the compressors on the chiller unit had stopped working. Further
inspection of the compressor found that some of the contactors had welded closed. Due to the nature of
the contactors welded closed, they could not simply be replaced, the entire compressor needed to be
back to service.
25-year-old Reciprocating chiller. Cause of Loss: Reciprocating compressor pistons failed.
DESCRIPTION: Technicians were called to troubleshoot an issue with the 150-Ton Reciprocating chiller.
Technicians discovered that the suction line for the compressor had broken, and refrigerant was leaking
from the chiller unit. Technicians repaired the broken line and re-started the chiller.Within 4 hours of restarting, the suction line was broken again, and more refrigerant was lost. Technicians repaired the
suction line to the chiller and restarted it. The technicians continued to monitor the compressor and
suctions line. It was later revealed that the compressor attached to the recently repaired suction line was
vibrating excessively. The vibrations caused another break in the suction line. Further investigation by
the revealed that the compressor had broken pistons. The broken compressor pistons caused the unit to
vibrate excessively causing damage to compressor suction line. A new compressor was installed, and the
chiller system returned to service.2022 Chill-Pro® Summer Claims Highlights
- 10-year-old, 120 Ton Air cooled Screw chiller. Cause of Loss: Drive rotor fused to compressor casing
DESCRIPTION: Damage to Screw compressor while in operation. The male, or rotor driver, was found
fused to the discharge wall of the compressor casing. The rotors were separated from the discharge wall
during disassembly. Both the male and female rotors were found to be damaged. In addition to the
damage found to the rotors, a significant amount of damage was also found on the discharge wall of the
compressor. All thrust and counter thrust bearing appeared to be in good working order. The
compressor required replacement as repair was not an option based on initial damage review.- 16-year-old, 500 Ton Centrifugal chiller. Cause of Loss: Ruptured O-Ring, refrigerant leak
DESCRIPTION: 500 Ton Centrifugal Chiller had major leaks. Loss reported as major leak on chiller.
Further communication with the insured revealed that an O-Ring blew out releasing an excessive amount
of freon from the system. Contractor confirmed the damage to O-Ring. It appears that O-Ring was
damaged and could not hold Freon in the system. The O-Ring was replaced, and Freon was added to the
system. The bulk of claim cost was refrigerant recovery.- 15-year-old, 80-ton Scroll chiller. Cause of Loss: Electrical arcing, failed compressor
DESCRIPTION: On date of loss, Technicians were called out when one of the six compressors on the 80-
ton scroll chiller unit stopped working. Testing of the unit found that the compressor had shorted to
ground. The compressor was replaced, and the unit was returned to service.- 10-year-old, 150 Ton Magnetic Bearing chiller. Cause of Loss: Stripped set screw, compromised seal
DESCRIPTION: Our investigation found that on the date of loss, technicians were called out to diagnose a
failure on the 150 Ton magnetic bearing chiller. Technicians found the system inoperable on a
temperature alarm. Initial inspection found that the system had lost most of the refrigerant in the
circuit, which caused the unit to overheat and force a shut down. Technicians traced the leak to a section
of the line where a screw holding the sections together had been stripped out. Due to this section no
longer being sealed properly, the refrigerant was released from the system. Technicians recovered the
remaining refrigerant and repaired the section of the refrigerant line. They recharged the system with
R134A refrigerant and re-started the chiller.- 10-year-old, 450 Ton Centrifugal chiller. Cause of Loss: Circuit board failure due to power surge
DESCRIPTION: During service call chiller was found to be inoperable. Troubleshooting procedure
revealed failure of 4 printed circuit boards. Replaced circuit boards and restarted 450-ton Centrifugal
Chiller. No further maintenance performed.
