No Chillers Running And Burning Smell … A60 External Interlock Drive Alarm Issue

Got a work order for chillers down with a burning smell, had another Weekend storm and power interruption. A60 External Interlock Alarm Repair #hvac #chiller #hvacrepair
youtube.com/@TheChillerGuys?s...

[@hvacr_wa4282]

Nice video, I mostly do supermarkets but my company picked up a customer that uses chillers so these videos are great to see how these plants operate. Keep up the videos man!

[@subcoolHVAC]

That’s great, I used to service a meat market and restaurants earlier in my career. Refrigeration work is endless. With chillers You’ll find it’s usually motors, pumps, sensors or control issues. All the best 👍

[@hvacman954]

Great video

[@subcoolHVAC]

Thanks!

[@ccthepope]

I really look forward to your videos!

[@subcoolHVAC]

Thanks, I appreciate you watching 😎

[@dr.comforthvacr8889]

amazing work brother!

[@subcoolHVAC]

Appreciate it! Dr 👍

[@whatevernamegoeshere3644]

Seeing a big boy ABB drive with no display never means a good day

[@subcoolHVAC]

You know it 👍

[@whatevernamegoeshere3644]

Hey at least this one didn't blow its ass off :D One had the rectifier catch on fire on restart and burned a hole in the side

[@subcoolHVAC]

Yep, I’ve seen many 💥

[@wetnipples4504]

Love these videos, surprised you don’t have more subs

[@subcoolHVAC]

Thanks for watching 👍

[@georgebrabec1749]

Subcool - Great video, your attention to detail is impressive. Just wish you would have looked further into that ABB VFD to see if anything was wrong there. Tripped cb would cause VFD and By-pass window to go blank. I am surprised that they multiple motors on the same cb. That is just asking for trouble.

[@subcoolHVAC]

Thanks, this was a late call in the day for me, had about an hour to troubleshoot before handing over to the evening shift. The ABB and the new motor were operational when I came back, only report back was the Danfoss A60 still present. Both drives are fairly new. Yes the 3 motors on 1 breaker is a thorn.

[@johnhershey4010]

@@subcoolHVAC Longs its a 150 AMP breaker

[@subcoolHVAC]

👍

[@davidtappe5337]

Good job

[@subcoolHVAC]

Thanks David 👍

[@ZRock7771]

You love to see it. Wish I had a chiller account, RTUs get boring after a while lol

[@subcoolHVAC]

Thanks for watching Z 👍

[@ZRock7771]

​@@subcoolHVAC Just got a chiller account today, life's crazy lol. Have any advice on chillers for a commercial tech? I mostly work on CRAC units, RTUs, and WSHPs.

[@subcoolHVAC]

Congrats, Chilling water instead of air , I start with overall view of what’s supposed to be operating , note any alarms which give you an idea where to troubleshoot. Temp and flow sensors are common issues, pumps , even leaks and EMS or BAS system

[@Jacob3616]

When you opened that starter at 14:14, I thought the starter had blown up because of what looked to be a past fault

[@subcoolHVAC]

Yep, the previous starter had 🔥💨. Thanks for watching Jacob! 👊

[@davidnull5590]

Thanks for the video. I checked out the MotorSaver you mentioned in your last video, I was surprised to find how affordable they were; for that model EBay has some in the $150 to $160 range, that's reasonable. How large, square feet, is the area served by these chillers? Offices or production floor? Thanks.

[@subcoolHVAC]

They are a reasonable solution for sure, the sqft served is around 370k sqft, several buildings up to 3 floors . Thanks for the comment!

[@RileyNass]

I'm curious why there is an overload on the VLT drive when it can be programmed into the vfd? Seems like another component to fail

[@subcoolHVAC]

First time I ran into overload inside like this one , Thanks for asking

[@ddlytics]

First time viewing of your channel and new to the HVAC-R trade. How long did it take you to develop competence in the field to be able to troubleshoot at this level?

[@subcoolHVAC]

Welcome to the channel, been in the trade 34yrs. At this job 24yrs, had a mentor when I started which helped with the learning curve. The equipment and technology keeps advancing so just try to learn as much as you can that’s relevant to your job and definitely ask for help with what you don’t know.. be safe out there 👍

[@ddlytics]

​@@subcoolHVAC Brilliant. Thanks for sharing a bit about yourself and your entry into the trade. I am going network best I can and push for commercial refrigeration apprenticeship in Toronto, ON. Cheers!

[@ptrssll705]

Random question whst is the brand and model of watch you're wearing in this video?

[@subcoolHVAC]

Apple watch 8 series 45mm with Amband band www.amazon.com/dp/B09THCBHQ4?starsLeft=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_H59DS26CVBYM278FJRJ3

[@douro20]

How many of those pumps are variable speed?

[@subcoolHVAC]

The 2 secondaries are on drives

[@sparkydave2783]

Do you guys read IR between stator windings as part of your assessment? The first motor wasn’t so bad to ground (300-400MOhm). Older motors do deteriorate and if it was still hot from running, every 10 degrees up approximately halves your IR! Also, the balance readings were not clear, but looked out of spec., especially for a frequency inverter application. I bet this was an interturn insulation failure. Classic for inverters.

[@subcoolHVAC]

Yep, the motor had been off ( breaker tripped) for at least 24hrs so it was room temp, had the smell of burnt windings failure for sure. There is an open work order now to replace all disconnects to fused . Weekend storm was a factor in the failure as well. Thanks for the comment!

[@moodyga40]

PWM driver catawampus on pump 6

[@subcoolHVAC]

😎

[@richardharmon874]

So one burnt motor and reset mag starters?

[@subcoolHVAC]

2 motors, reset drive overload, replaced starers for condenser pumps …. Building renovations ongoing too 🙃

[@mxslick50]

I am pretty sure you aren't supposed to megger the motorsaver! You got lucky.

[@subcoolHVAC]

If you find that info please attach it here , Thanks 👍

[@mxslick50]

@@subcoolHVAC In this case, I stand corrected, according to the engineering specs from the manufacturer: 1. The equipment shall be immune to electrostatic discharge per IEC 61000-4-2, Level 3, 6 kV contact discharge and 8 kV air discharge. *2. The equipment shall be immune to electrical fast transient bursts exceeding IEC 61000-4-4, Level 3. Specified limits shall be 4kV input power, 2kV inputs/outputs.* 3. The equipment shall be immune to electrical surges per IEC 61000-4-5, Level 3. Specified limits shall be Level 3, 4kV line-to- line, and Level 4, 4kV line-to-ground. *4. The equipment shall be immune to electrical surges per ANSI/IEEE C62.41 Surge and Ring Wave. Specified limits shall be 6kV line-to-line.* 5. The equipment shall be immune to radiated radio frequency emissions. Specified limits shall be 10V/m at 150 MHz. Item 4 closely matches what a megger will do. That said, most of the VFDs I have installed over 3 decades (Cinema film projectors, used for variable speeds in studios and screening rooms and my stint as a water system operator with many pumps on VFDs) specifically warn to disconnect the motor before meggers are applied. It is just a good practice to avoid potential trouble, and as you saw the motorsaver did influence the test as shown by the slow resistance rise.

[@subcoolHVAC]

Thanks for posting 👍

[@masonalperstin3433]

What megger you useing. I just have a subco cheap one

[@subcoolHVAC]

Fluke 1503 is the model, Thanks for watching

[@masonalperstin3433]

@@subcoolHVAC 1 year in mostly work light commercial. Love the videos helps me learn and grow. Thanks

[@douro20]

I prefer my old Megger BM7 though it only goes up to 100M...but then I don't work on anything which uses more than 240VAC.

[@subcoolHVAC]

Awesome, all the best 👍

[@subcoolHVAC]

So far the Fluke works well

[@douro20]

Are these all R123 chillers?

[@subcoolHVAC]

R134a refrigerant

[@douro20]

​@lHVAC I didn't think they were high-pressure chillers. I kinda like the idea of a low-pressure chiller as it is possible to work on them while they are charged since the refrigerant is a liquid at room temperature. I've heard they are more prone to leakage, though.

[@subcoolHVAC]

I haven’t met a chiller yet that doesn’t leak, thanks for commenting

[@Sixta16]

Motor is bad when it reads 100+ Mohm on I.R. test? Wtf?

[@subcoolHVAC]

If it didn’t smell like 💨🔥 I would’ve gave it one try.