chiller btu testing

[Southern Mech]

I can gaurantee this homemade heat exchanger is a culprit, to get what the mfg specs, one must use what mfg suggests. who designed this apparatis?

[Southern Mech]

is this gonna get any better or should I stay seated?

[milkyway]

yep., bad idea., cant just go out designing new things to work with ones brand of equipment.,

[freeze22]

Chill king made the heat exchanger, i just don't see it being very efficient. It seems it would only pull heat out of the water that comes in direct contact with it. I understand that companies have used these in the past, but a plate heat exchanger would probably work better. Chill King designed everything on the unit, and so far nothing has been altered. I'm debating on just switching to a dx system or spending thousands to fix this one.

[Southern Mech]

You posted this is a new chiller, therefore the proper xchager would be dime on the dollar to ripping all this out and putting in a 10 ton DX.


Now, I am seeing bit's and pieces of a story am I not. You just told us this was a home made xchanger that the contractor made, now you say its from Chillking.

[jayguy]

i bought a 10 ton chiller and installed it myself...

...He is recommending a plate heat exchanger. I'm just not sure if i want to spend a few thousand more into the unit for parts and labor, without a guarantee it will perform at the 120,000 btu of cooling or close too.

who engineered this thing?

i probably would recommend replacing the evaporator heat exchanger too (although this is on your comments of what may/may not be working well and you have provided 0 technical details of how the chiller is working). yet you want the contractor to guarantee something that they did not engineer, provide or install?

i, too, am possibly recommending the evap be changed...do you want me to guarantee it too? and i have about as much responsibility for this thing as your contractor!

...The reason for the test and calling the private contractor, was because the unit wasn't keeping up with the demand of any were near what a 10 ton should perform...

maybe the demand is greater than 10 tons. got water or glycol? temperatures in/out? gpm? lots going on here. and 10 tons of process work is much different that 10 tons of regular ol' air conditioning.


i am not trying to bust your balls, but it is now time to give someone the keys to this car and let them drive it. you said that you are not a a chiller tech. you may have gotten away cheap on the install, but it does not seem cheap now...and it won't be cheap to fix either (i hope that it is something simple and cheap, but experience and your posts say otherwise). maybe you are right. maybe there is a design flaw or the compressor(s) may be faulty. without any numbers...you only can get speculation on the cause of your issues.

[freeze22]

i should never have posted "homemade",(MISLEADING) that's what the contractor said when he saw it, upon inspecting the unit, and was concerned. Chill king made everything except the air handlers i purchased separately. I called and asked about the design and they stated that the heat exchanger is made in house at chill king.I will try and have the contractor chime in or at least give me the specs you guys are asking for. I understand my lack of knowledge can be frustrating, (i have been on the other end as well designing off road suspension) but it's hard to ask a contractor in the beginning to post in a forum. I was simply asking if the Formula i posted from Chill king was a semi- accurate way of testing btu. I do appreciate everyone's help, and responses

[freeze22]

guarantee is another misleading word. Chill king engineered everything, although, the welds on the frame that holds the chill tank, and the electrical controls looks like a inexperienced teenager designed this, so i use the term engineered loosely.The contractor is checking prices and it looks like close to 2,000 plus labor on the exchangers, so i have to decide if i want to sell the unit or fix it. the install was easy for me because i have a fabrication shop for off-road, so making manifolds, insulating lines inside that weren't done rite at Chill king as well as outside lines. I installed the air handlers, made custom stands, plumbed condensation lines, and did the duct work at 80 sq inches per ton with one 7.5 ton and one 3 ton williams/lanco air handlers, and mounted the condensers. the chiller in a heavy heat load couldn't chill the water below 51 degrees which pulled a minimal amount of heat out of the air i believe 10-12 without checking, this is with the 3 ton shut off. I will get more info from the contractor, he did check the water temp going in/out, also the gpm will be checked. I used a mixture of 75/25 glycol that i purchased from grainger made for use on water chillers. I'm in so-cal so the lowest emp we ever see is 40 f.

[milkyway]

seems as if 40 * is good., what exactly are u trying to cool

[Southern Mech]

seems as if 40 * is good., what exactly are u trying to cool

I think he meant oat, 40*

[Southern Mech]

Me personally, I would try and make this thing work better w/ a more efficient heat exchanger. I looked at their website, and good luck trying to sell this thing. You have the refrigeration componets to make chilled water you just don't have the xchanger to convert the refrigerant to cold water.


The flow is the biggest thing, to much flow and no heat xchange. I would check and play with the flow befor I got another heat xchanger.

And no I seriously doubt your contractor is going to post in this forum about this. I actually am having doubt's that your contractor even know's what he is doing.

[freeze22]

the lowest temperature outside is 40*F so 75/25 mix was recommended.I was just chilling a huge band room with heat from amps and people, as well as other office rooms. The chiller itself on the 7.5 ton air handler alone, under a heavy heat load, cannot get the water below 51* which in turn pulls a minimal amount of heat out of the air.

[freeze22]

I appreciate your help, i am going to look into the flow on the system, and then proceed with the possibility of a new heat exchanger. If you factor in the amperage it takes to operate a pump constantly on the chiller, are chillers really much more efficient than a standard DX system?