hi all this is my first ever post so here goes....

i was currently doing a service on a York chiller set and found a gas leak comming from the shell and tube evaporater from the end plate.

i pulled the cover and the insulation of the end plate to see where the leak was comming from.



i reclaimed the reamining gas which was left after all four systems had been pumped down (closing the liquid line and suciton service valves on all systems to minimize possible leak spots) and started to check the nuts on both end plates where at the right torque setting (5o pound) I found some where a little lose and had traces of oil comming from the after niping the lose ones up i pressure tested (with nitrogen) on system 1 over night to see if i had fixed the problem.

However when i returned the next morning i had found that the gas had equalized between all four systems therefore indicating a leak in the gasket behind the end plate. I then pressuried the midle system (system 3) and found that the nitrogen that i was pumping in was imediatley escapeing in to the near by system (system 4)

As takeing off the end plate is a pritty major job in attempt to prevent me haveing to do this i tried lossening all the nuts one by one on both end plates (but not all the way as to make sure the gasket dose not fall)and then re- torque them to the correct amount this but this was to no avail as the system still leaks.

This system is about five years old and about a year ago the same problem occured and another tradie had replaced the gaskets on both ends (but had trouble finding the factory replacements so had to get some made) they were made out of 3mm thick rubber. the new gaskets seemed to be doing the trick until now.

- Just wondering on any info that anyone has about this problem or perviouse ones they have done, beacuse obviously something is happening for this problem to occur and i dont wont to go to all the effort to replace the gaskets to have it leak a year later. ?

-Maybe could the baffel be warped form factory?

-What is the usual material used for gaskets on these vesels is rubber right? (have been told the they use lead because rubber can shrink and perish to easily??

-the chiller

MOD: YCAS 1063 EC50

SERRIAL: RHTM 9620 AA

VESSEL Number: 375 31526-002

the style of chiller set is a

YORK Style F 50Hz four screw compresers

Any infomation that any one could give me would be much appreciated!!! any question if i have missed something or if you need photos just email me on harri6@bigpond.net.au cheers tom