Sealing aPlate and frame chiller

Our chiller developed a product leak. We ordered a new gasket kit for it , took it apart 1 plate at a time and replaced each gasket . after 4 attempts we still have a leak on the ammonia side at the end plate

each gasket has a set of tabs on it so the rubber will not slip, and you can see the tabs from the outer shell and see that the rubber is still in place

when we installed the plates we put them against the pressure side and tightened the plates evenly untill we got to the original inside dimension of the plates


I am also using nitrogen to leak test this
is that acceptable on an nh3 system

Hi CT2:)
Nitrogen is fine as long as you don't pressurise about the maximun alloable on the rating plate, this may cause leaks.
If your heat ex has been frozen you may have bent plate stopping it from sealing.

If you torque is even and the plate is pulled up correct there should be no problem.

Plates on say steam are sealed with a rubber glue, usually nothing is used on ammonia. Ask you plate manufacturer what he thinks.
You may be able to get a seal using locktight, but this is a last resort.

Kind Regards. Andy:)

thanks Andy

as far as I know we havnt frozen the chiller but we hav'nt determined the cause of the product leak wither

the rating on the plate is 250 pounds and we have not had a seal yet that has held pressure

the manufacture included double back tape with the rubber
I am about to leave for work now and try this again

thanks again, anthony

well , when I arrived today the chiller had been re assembled and once again it leaked when water was pumped into the product It looks like it is leaking at the bottom of the chiller .

We tried to tighten the studs a bit more but the leak did'nt even slow the leak down

I put a vacuum pump on the oil tank and pulled the isolated part of the unit to 10 inches. it held that 10 inches for about 1/2 hour and before I left I started it again so it will have another 6 hrs to run