Carrier 30XA Air Cooled Screw Chiller WTF!

[ImpellerNut]

I'm having an awful time trying to maintain a pair of these so-called pieces of refrigerating machinery that are installed in Upstate, NY.

Mysterious refrigerant leaks

Suction Service valves that ROAR refrigerant out of them when it gets cold, then hold tight when you look at them differently? haha.

The panel on the unit says each circuit holds 300lbs R-134a each. Then if you check the Carrier manual it says they hold 240lbs each when used with the flat plate condensers (which I have)

So after I removed what little charge was left in each circuit, made leak repairs, and recharged them according to the Carrier manual, Now I'm getting HIGH PRESSURE trips.

How about ICE BUILDING ON THE Wye Delta starter contactor interlock and preventing that circuit from starting!

Anyone have this kind of BS happen on these things?

Is the Touch Pilot the worst control interface? Or is it just me?

Is it even REMOTELY POSSIBLE to work on the controls without getting electrocuted based on the disgusting manner in which they were wired?! The electrical panel is right on the ground with all the wiring STUFFED up behind all the components??

How about the control power transformer that's wired on the LOAD SIDE of one of the compressor breakers, that way if you want to work on that compressor, it kills control power to the ENTIRE MACHINE!

Discharge isolation ball valves. REALLY. They all open on machine startup even if only one compressor is going to run? What's the point of that then?


Comments from Carrier guys? People with experience?

Thanks fellas for the discussion.

[Dallas Duster]

You know when I go to work on a piece of equipment I make it a good practice to write down the model and serial number on every piece of equipment that I work on.

[flange]

you got a bad attitude. you just dont understand. we dont do business like that, its too expensive. we have never needed to do that. we have never heard of anyone having that problem. you need to change that inlet screen, really the check valve holds everytime. i have heardevery reason whythese machines are not a problem, except the real ones. Bottom line, manufacturers today make things to compete on price, not to be easy for us to work on each day. the reality is that clients get pissie due to spending waay too much money on repairs due to some of your issues, and others, BUT, first cost was less, so get over it and take their money. WAIT, i forgot my favorite one....we pressure tested that befor it left the factory! anyone ever been to a factory to see a pressure test. they take the coil or whatever and filll it with compressed air at 300 psig, then lower it into a tank of water and look for bubbles for crying out loud. like they really care. then they use about a four hundred cfm pump to evacuate, and finally dump some gas in dere, an amount determined only by reading a scale.

[Dallas Duster]

you got a bad attitude. .

Who are you referring to there Flange?

[york56]

Did you ever notice when somebody can't fix something that it automaticly becomes a piece of crap no matter who make it.

[Octopus]

Obviously he had a bad day and is just venting. Everyone has those days...

[york56]

True we have all been there not every day is a bed of roses its called murphys law anything that can go wrong usually will and usually does.

[coolerinfrederick]

well, he is right, not my favorite machine either

[flange]

i wasnt referring to anyone. the first few comments in my post were things ive heard people say over the years to thers who were complaining about these machines. ever walk up to one that was VE'd, and didnt have isolation valves to dump the charge in the condenser?, or hadnt had the screen replaced EVER, let alone after the recommended five hundy hours of runtime, and see oil failure afte oil failure? the reality is that the vast majority of manufacturers are now trying to compete with each other on price, and we, the collective field guys suffer. they just dont make em like they used to. the client *****es about time, we ***** about serviceability, and so on.

[Airmechanical]

if there maintained and kept up they last a lot longer

as well as work much better



.

[ImpellerNut]

True we have all been there not every day is a bed of roses its called murphys law anything that can go wrong usually will and usually does.

Well... it seems you had a premonition Mr. York...

I was venting this morning before I took a service call to this FULL MAINTENANCE customer. This is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my short amount of experience, and pretty much takes the cake with this piece of equipment.









THAAAAAT'S RIGHT... TWO FAN MOTORS WITH THE FEET RIPPED RIGHT OFF!!

The only thing that kept it from falling and blasting through the condenser was the goofy "Ultra quiet" fan blades and housings that Carrier uses. It also destroyed the contactor to the fan before the breaker tripped because neither motor had shorted to ground.

I have no less than 3-4 weeks of time into these machines in the last year and a half.

[ImpellerNut]

You know when I go to work on a piece of equipment I make it a good practice to write down the model and serial number on every piece of equipment that I work on.

m/n 30XAA3506C-05JFC
s/n 3107Q91627

m/n 30XAA3506C-05JFC
s/n 3007Q91625

[Tassajara]

Hey 2 outa 4 isnt that bad if you think about it

[ImpellerNut]

Hey 2 outa 4 isnt that bad if you think about it

HAHAHAHAHA... There's like 12 or 14 fans on each machine!

[coolerinfrederick]

anyone ever had to replace one of those compressors, looks like it would be the biggest pita !

[Slip Stream]

Well... it seems you had a premonition Mr. York...

I was venting this morning before I took a service call to this FULL MAINTENANCE customer. This is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my short amount of experience, and pretty much takes the cake with this piece of equipment.









THAAAAAT'S RIGHT... TWO FAN MOTORS WITH THE FEET RIPPED RIGHT OFF!!

The only thing that kept it from falling and blasting through the condenser was the goofy "Ultra quiet" fan blades and housings that Carrier uses. It also destroyed the contactor to the fan before the breaker tripped because neither motor had shorted to ground.

I have no less than 3-4 weeks of time into these machines in the last year and a half.

How did that happen? Did the fan catch edge and rip itself off?

[ImpellerNut]

How did that happen? Did the fan catch edge and rip itself off?

Your guess is as good as mine.

I'm attributing it to vibration because there's no vibration isolation pads underneath the machine. (Laying right on concrete) plus the fact that the fan motor housing is made out of some cheap cast aluminum alloy junk.

The bolts are STILL TIGHT ON THE EARS THAT ARE BROKE OFF.

Anyone else seen this??

[Slip Stream]

Your guess is as good as mine.

I'm attributing it to vibration because there's no vibration isolation pads underneath the machine. (Laying right on concrete) plus the fact that the fan motor housing is made out of some cheap cast aluminum alloy junk.

The bolts are STILL TIGHT ON THE EARS THAT ARE BROKE OFF.

Anyone else seen this??

That really is something... wow. I've never seen it before but then again, I've also never seen an install without isolation pads/springs.

[Dallas Duster]

At what capacity is the chiller running at ? Check your run starts and hours and post them? Even fan hours , what fan numbers are they?

[ImpellerNut]

At what capacity is the chiller running at ? Check your run starts and hours and post them? Even fan hours , what fan numbers are they?

Well, this occurred in the in under 60 degF weather. So single compressor (the smaller one) probably around 50% loaded. So, machine capacity around 20-30%?

I will record fan hours, run starts and post them.

The fans are in the middle of the unit. I will have to check the manual for the fan numbers.

I'll see if I can stop by, and get back with info on Monday.