Dripping Of Air Cooled Chillers

Hello Junior Engineer

The dripping only occurs on the 60TR compressor and never on the 30TR compressor?

Is the 60TR compressor fitted with unloaders and, if so, are these unloading and loading up the compressor correctly in relation to the connected load?

Have you taken and logged the operating pressures on this compressor?

Ambient temperature is the one factor, however the relative humidity would be of more interest being that if the compressor housing (suction side) temperature is reduced to below dew point then naturally you would have condensation.

If you find that the above checks confirm that all is well with the 60TR compressor I would suggest that you look at the 30TR compressor to check why it is not forming condensate under the same ambient and operating conditions.

Hope this helps.

If an HVAC chiller is frosting up, that could be a sign of a thermostatic expansion valve overfeeding, which could in turn cause liquid floodback to the compressor.

Hi Tornado,

Exactly! I did omit to say that the super-heat should be checked but, there again, the OP stated that they've been cleaning coils in an attempt to clear the problem?? and therefore was making assumptions without taking all the readings and carrying out tests to determine the origin of this problem. Once again an enquiry with little factual input.

I normally like to assess exactly what is happening within a system before making attempts to remedy the problem and like to get all the facts first. I see that you have the same views.

Once you have the facts in front of you then 99,9% of the time the mystery is cleared!

Cheers, Keith

Hi,

If chiller is dripping frquently , On which Parameter it is dripping (which shows in Panel display.)

Possible Chances of Dripping Chiller is:

1.Some times it will Drip on Low Oil Pr , this may come due to TIMER PROBLEM /LOW OIL LEVEL in the Compressor .

2.It may drip due to voltage problem , for that you have to check control fuses.

3.Low Suction Pr ,

a) This may happens due to low freon gas in the system .

b)If the evapourator water inlet temp is cool then there wont be much heat exchange from the freon gas ,so freon gas will be in liquid state which gas flows to the compressor which results in low suction pr. (at the same time check whether evapourator water inlet pump got air lock ?)

4.High Discharge pr ,in Air cooled this will happens if condensors fins chocks, at that time you have to clean the fins. If so , you need to check why it is getting jam frequently .

what is cleaning of coils ? pl clarify

I think i provided required info for u. pl revert back

Hi P.Nithin Kumar,

Dripping (Drip) is referring, I believe, to condensate on the compressor.

I believe you may be confusing this with Tripping (Trip) which would refer to the compressor stopping on a safety i.e. overload or any of the parameters you mentioned in your post.

Hope this helps explain the difference between the two similar sounding words.

Regards, Keith

Interestingly, Mr. Kumar might be right, if the OP really meant tripping rather than dripping. I too noticed the similarity but didn't mention it, because you already did so.

Hi Tornado,

Sometimes responding to a query on CR4 is very much like doing 'Mental Gymnastics' or perhaps 'doing a crossword while blindfolded'. The lack of precise details within the queries sometimes leads to a complete mis-interpretation of what the actual question was in the first place. I think that todays younger technologists should learn the first golden rule - that accurate information (readings, observations, machine details etc) and an ability to communicate these details properly when seeking help is probably the most useful 'tool in the box'.

I agree with you, in that Mr. Kumar may be on a completely accurate but parallel track based on the difference in similar sounding words. Based from what may be a spelling error either of the answers (dripping or tripping) may be correct.

Regards, Keith

Hi Keith and torando

May be you are right ,i got confused for drip and trip. i want to know some info regarding this topic.

If Compressor got condensate , what is physical problem we will face ( Means Wheather Compressor stops / any other else ).

And One more thing is while running chiller , compressor will be hot , if compressor got condensate means may be heat exchange is not taking place in Evapourator from Gas to water .

Pl revert back

Regards

Nithin

You're cleaning the coils weekly?? That's over the top! You didn't offer enough information. If you gave superheat and operating pressures of BOTH circuits I might be able to offer you more. The one that isn't sweating sounds undercharged. The one that's sweating excessively sounds overcharged. But as others have noted there are more factors. If I could only do a single test I would want to know superheat once you were near or at full load and the system had been online for at least 20 minutes. If the superheat is wrong you're either cooking or flooding the compressor.

Junior engineer,

Every one is asking whether you meant TRIPPING (power OFF) or DRIPPING (Sweating, condensation of atmospheric water on the compressor body). Which?

thanks.

I can bet he means to say condensation on the compressor ... since he mentions the ambient temperature as 45 deg..

There are good answers provided already for that..

Cleaning Coils every week??

Well.. All I can say is that he's got some wonderful maintenance guys as colleagues...