climaveneta chiller

[Gary S]

Hi all,
Have a climaveneta chiller with 2 circuits. circuit 2 charge is 68 kilos of r407c but there is a leak on it. have pressure tested with nitro to 21 bar and it dropped to 17 bar after 5 days. cant find a leak yet have checked everywhere. any tips on where these chillers spring leaks?
expansion valve is ok and u bends on condenser show no leaks.

Thanks
Gary

[The Viking]

internally in evaporator?



.

[Gary S]

jesus viking i hope not. nightmare stuff there id imagine.
have u had that before? how can u tell as its sealed?

[Grizzly]

Hi Gary.
Sadly you have used the dreaded word R407c.
It can be a nightmare to leak check as its molecules are somewhat smaller than the nitrogen used.
So back to basics, look for any oil traces.
Be generous with the leak detector fluid.
Dependant upon the model?

Some with screws are known to have terminal post leaks.

Make sure they are powered down well before going near the terminals mind!

Have you monitored the circuit 1 pressures.

Sometimes I have had success by splitting the circuit up, by valving off sections and doing separate pressure tests.
At least that way you can hopefully narrow your search area.
My issue is that you are exerting 1 side to excessive pressures whilst the other is at I assume Ambient standing pressures.
Especially if you have subjected the low side to 21bar on system 2 only.
Thats a scary scenario.
Sometimes you have to balance the system pressures, which can often mean recovering both systems.
Sorry to be the potential bearer of bad news, hopefully you have that potential issue covered?

Sight glasses are another common area that can leak, especially if they are the type that screws into a threaded boss. I cannot remember what is the normal type on climaventa chillers.

Good luck Gary.

Whatever happens you are going to have to keep looking now aren't you!
Yours is a sensible question , just not an easy one to answer.
Grizzly

[Luke.G]

climaveneta - oh the joys!
Worked on one of these where there was a leak on the end plate of the tubes inside the shell........
After trying to repair it by,welding, epoxy putty etc
in the end it came down to have a specialist company in the make one from stratch in 5 days! very impressed
you might want to check there isn't no water in the system because if you cant find it anyonewhere else theres nothing saying your loosing the refrigerant into the water.
heres some snaps








Thanks,
Luke

[stufus]

They leak fookin everywhere.
Spool piece between TEV and evap ,
Pilot connections on TEV if it has them
terminals and sight glass as Grizzly said
NRV'S ,Drier service connections
HP and LP switches.
have had a few evaps go on shell and tubes,You might need these ...
http://www.appliedcool.com/products/...tube_plugs.htm
Condenser coils are made from tinfoil
Anacondas
If I've missed anything check that as well.
Not a fan of these at all
Cheers
Stu

[Luke.G]

They leak fookin everywhere.
Spool piece between TEV and evap ,
Pilot connections on TEV if it has them
terminals and sight glass as Grizzly said
NRV'S ,Drier service connections
HP and LP switches.
have had a few evaps go on shell and tubes,You might need these ...
http://www.appliedcool.com/products/...tube_plugs.htm
Condenser coils are made from tinfoil
Anacondas
If I've missed anything check that as well.
Not a fan of these at all
Cheers
Stu

Hahaha! i think you've covered everything there stufus!!

Yeah they didnt want to pay for this guy to come in and use them tube plugs, so after hours of trying to weld and all expoxy resin it, it later cost the company i work for £7000 for a new one to be made up in a week!

whoops

Thanks,
Luke

[stufus]

Hahaha! i think you've covered everything there stufus!!

Yeah they didnt want to pay for this guy to come in and use them tube plugs, so after hours of trying to weld and all expoxy resin it, it later cost the company i work for £7000 for a new one to be made up in a week!

whoops

Thanks,
Luke

Sounds and looks like fun .
I just buy the plugs and use them myself , a fookin great invention .
Not had a repair fail yet, they do a great range of gear for S&T repairs.
And just in case .No I don't work for them or sell them
Cheers
Stu

[goshen]

Hi
are you using only nitrogen?or are you mixing in some refrigerent?
you must check the pressure at the same time you test it .
although i do agree these units can drive you f........ crazy with the amount of leaks they have, the new ones have their condensers made of paper !at least in my opinion.
good luck

[Gary S]

They leak fookin everywhere.
Spool piece between TEV and evap ,
Pilot connections on TEV if it has them
terminals and sight glass as Grizzly said
NRV'S ,Drier service connections
HP and LP switches.
have had a few evaps go on shell and tubes,You might need these ...
http://www.appliedcool.com/products/...tube_plugs.htm
Condenser coils are made from tinfoil
Anacondas
If I've missed anything check that as well.
Not a fan of these at all
Cheers
Stu

Stufus whats the crack with them plugs?

[Gary S]

Hi Gary.
Sadly you have used the dreaded word R407c.
It can be a nightmare to leak check as its molecules are somewhat smaller than the nitrogen used.
So back to basics, look for any oil traces.
Be generous with the leak detector fluid.
Dependant upon the model?

Some with screws are known to have terminal post leaks.

Make sure they are powered down well before going near the terminals mind!

Have you monitored the circuit 1 pressures.

Sometimes I have had success by splitting the circuit up, by valving off sections and doing separate pressure tests.
At least that way you can hopefully narrow your search area.
My issue is that you are exerting 1 side to excessive pressures whilst the other is at I assume Ambient standing pressures.
Especially if you have subjected the low side to 21bar on system 2 only.
Thats a scary scenario.
Sometimes you have to balance the system pressures, which can often mean recovering both systems.
Sorry to be the potential bearer of bad news, hopefully you have that potential issue covered?

Sight glasses are another common area that can leak, especially if they are the type that screws into a threaded boss. I cannot remember what is the normal type on climaventa chillers.

Good luck Gary.

Whatever happens you are going to have to keep looking now aren't you!
Yours is a sensible question , just not an easy one to answer.
Grizzly

thanks grizzly for long reply
the compressors are 2 copeland 60 horse power semi hermetic on circuit 2 (circuit 1 has 2 50 horse) on compressor nameplate the max test pressure on low side is 25 bar and on high side is 28 bar. only went to 21 bar. leak tested with spray and electronic, sightglass ok, tev, terminals, pressure switches drier all ok. removed and replaced the 3 cores in liquid line drier and they were manky. gonna add dye to system which means removing ofn and vaccing out and charging with r407c.
cheers

[Gary S]

found leak after adding uv dye. its in the condenser coil about 1/3 way down near the top, how im gonna try fix it is another thing. its on a middle run high upon the inner condenser of the 2 runs (v shaped)

[stufus]

Glad you found it.
You might just have to do away with that pass on the coil and cap it both ends probably the easiest solution or start burning of the fins , but thats a bloody nightmare.
The plugs are for repairing shell and tube exchangers.
Cheers
Stu

Stufus whats the crack with them plugs?

[Gary S]

Glad you found it.
You might just have to do away with that pass on the coil and cap it both ends probably the easiest solution or start burning of the fins , but thats a bloody nightmare.
The plugs are for repairing shell and tube exchangers.
Cheers
Stu

dont fancy burning fins as its the middle run and run the risk of causing further damage. ill be back on monday and ill check out eliminating that run. problem is on one end of the condenser, the large control panel blocks it!
u kno ursef climaveneta are a nightmare!
Cheers
Gary

[goshen]

Hi
as other members sugested try to cancel the leaking pipes, but trace them first to make sure your not creating a block .
good luck