cooling towers

Paul S_3

Hey guys....I recently started working on cooling towers again....I stopped due to change of company....I recently went to a no cool call in NYC...all four air handlers were off on there high pressure switches...I found the tower bone Dry....the super of the building shut off the water feed to the tower because the feed line had a major leak in it....I don't know too much about these systems like I do with other ones....but why do all the pressure gauges at the air handlers which are six stories below do not read pressure?....I know this is a open loop...should I be reading pressure?...or is it just static?....the only pressure I saw was at the supply of the pump which is by the air handlers on ground level...it was 25psi...another question is why wasnt water pouring in at the top of the tower if pump was on and water its in the pipes? And is there a way to see if the strainers are clogged ?...any insight would help....just want to get better understanding of water Cooled systems....thank you guys Paul S

Timmmy

tower

Are these self contained units? Or is there a chiller?



If this is the first time they started up for the season, the condenser loop could have been drained for the winter. There should also be some flow switches to shut down if there's no flow. If your sump was bone dry, then your pump is going to be cavitating. Does the tower get treated and maintained at all during the season?

Paul S_3

flow

All of the flow switches at every unit is in the closed position so there its flow....I have water if I open the valve at the strainers....these are self contained units....except for the flow switch at the tower....doesn't have power to it....

RJ_4

cooling towers

First of all you should get some tech. info on cooling towers to go over. When I was an hydronics instructor we would spend over 2 wks on towers. I would pull the strainer baskets and inspect them. Recommend cleaning strainers every 3 months on an open tower. Also doing a chemical cleaning of risers periodically. There is a misconception that opening valve on wye strainer will flush strainer, you need to pull the basket. I would also verify accuracy of guages and replace as needed. You should have full flow from downcomer pipe on top of tower if your system is filled correctly, give it some time to equalize. if you overfill it will run out overfill pipe, it may take some time to get the tower loop filled correctly.  Guage pressure will depend on piping, strainer condition, bldg height, individual units and pumps. Need to get that fill line fixed and check the float. if you get a hold of the tower rep. they may help, BAC and Marley usually have good factory support.    This would have been good in the commercial category

Paul S_3

Rj

What do you mean by filled correctly...? And its there just one fill for the whole system at the tower?...do these systems ever get air bound? And if yes how do you get rid of it?.....and in the sump of the tower I see some basket type things....are those channels?....thnks Paul S

RJ_4

tower

Need more details, what brand is tower, how many floors is building, is tower on roof, where is pump.   filling tower is done at tower,and sometimes can be filled in other areas depending on design.  amount of air in system depends on how much water was drained.  filling usually requires filling the sump than bumping the pump, sometimes running the pump for 30 secs or so, this may be a time consuming process, air will eventually get to top of tower piping,  bring a 2nd man to help, having a garden hose as a secondary fill into the sump is helpful. before you start check to see if any drain valves have been left open on any floors, verify if roof and roof drains are in good shape, make sure pump is ready to oper. (valves in proper pos.)  have your 2nd man check for piping,valve leaks when filling. The baskets are usually strainers depending on tower, leave them in untill you wash and clean out tower than clean them. Check to see if tower has adequate water treatment system. remember the wye straiers in the system may be extemely difficult to remove ( 2 men 2- 24 inch wrenches) but must be removed and checked.