York YK Chiller Condenser Tube Leak

It might be corrosion caused by the 2 metals touching. Often in situations like this they insert a protective anode/cathode which corrodes instead of the tubes. The type is selected by a corrosion specialist after a review of the metals, fluids and therma; environment involved

Anode

Cathode

Why do we bother?

Contact a YORK^® chiller representative

This is regular stuff....these tubes are periodically replaced....

Chicken wire is hexagonal, so it is little wonder that someone would try it in place of drilled/punched/cut baffles.

How old the unit is? If it is too old and are not using treated water for the cooling system this type of problem occurs. If it is new and under warranty you can contact the supplier. Do you carry out descaling of the unit regularly as per the supplier's recommendation ?

If the tubes are one type of stainless steel, and the mesh is another type of stainless steel, and the environment is anoxic (free of oxygen), on the refrigerant side (as it should be), then apparent to me is the possibility that one or both metals could be becoming de-passivated (loss of oxygen from the surface), and these will exhibit two completely different galvanic potentials (although refrigerant does not strike me as a useful charge carrier for galvanic corrosion cells).

If one metal is considerably harder than the other, then the softer (tube?) metal will experience excessive wear, either due to the thermal cycling of the machine, or to flow-induced vibration "that is normal".

I suggest you seriously should be taking this up with York, as their technical people should be able to find an answer to why this takes place, whether it is common or not, and offer up some sound advice to ameliorate the situation.