York R123 ユーザーズマニュアル

FORM 160.55-O1 (604)

YORK INTERNATIONAL

Brush Cleaning of Tube
If the tube foul ing con sists of dirt and sludge, it can 
usu al ly be re moved by means of the brushing process. 
Drain the water sides of the circuit to be cleaned (cool ing 
wa ter or chilled water) remove the heads and thor ough ly 
clean each tube with a soft bristle bronze brush. DO 
NOT USE A STEEL BRISTLE BRUSH. A steel brush 
may damage the tubes. 

Improved results can be ob tained by admitting water into 
the tube during the clean ing process. This can be done 
by mounting the brush on a suitable length of 1/8" pipe 
with a few small holes at the brush end and con nect ing 
the other end by means of a hose to the water supply. 

The tubes should always be brush cleaned be fore acid 
cleaning. 

Acid Cleaning of Tubes
If the tubes are fouled with a hard scale deposit, they 
must be acid cleaned. It is im por tant that before acid 
cleaning, the tubes be cleaned by the brush ing pro cess 
described  above.  If  the  rel a tive ly  loose  for eign  ma te ri al 
is re moved before the acid cleaning, the acid so lu tion 
will have less ma te ri al to dis solve and ß ush from the 
tubes with the result that a more satisfactory clean ing job 
will be ac com plished with a probable sav ing of time. 

In many major cities, com mer cial organizations now 
of fer a spe cial ized ser vice of acid cleaning coolers 
and condensers. If acid cleaning is required, YORK 
rec om mends the use of this type of or ga ni za tion. The 
Dow Industries Service Division of the Dow Chem i cal 
Com pa ny,  Tul sa,  Okla ho ma,  with  branch es  in  prin ci pal 
cit ies is one of the most reliable of these companies. 

Cooler and con dens er tube leaks may result in re frig er ant 
leaking into the water cir cuit, or water leak ing into the 
shell de pend ing on the pressure levels. If re frig er ant is 
leaking into the water it can be detected at the liquid head 
vents after a period of shutdown. If wa ter is leak ing into 
the refrigerant, fre quent purging will be nec es sary  and 
sys tem capacity and efÞ ciency will drop off sharply. If 
a tube is leaking and water has en tered the system, the 
cooler and con dens er should be valved off from the rest 
of the water circuit and drained im me di ate ly to prevent 
severe rust ing and corrosion. If a tube leak is indicated, 
the exact location of the leak may be determined as 
follows: 

 1. Allow the system to warm up until a substantial 

pres sure is reached for testing. Dry nitrogen (pres-
sure not to exceed 12 PSIG) may be ad mit ted to the 
unit to in crease pressure in the shell. Re move the 
heads and lis ten at each section of tubes for a hiss-
 ing sound that would indicate gas leakage. This will 
as sist in locating the section of tubes to be further 
in ves ti gat ed.  If  the  prob a ble  location  of  the  leaky 
tubes has been de ter mined, treat that section in the 
fol low ing manner (if the lo ca tion is not deÞ nite, all 
the tubes will require in ves ti ga tion). 

2. Wash off both tube heads and the ends of all tubes 

with wa ter. 

 

 3. With nitrogen or dry air blow out the tubes to clear 

them of traces of re frig er ant laden mois ture from the 
cir cu la tion wa ter. As soon as the tubes are clear, a cork 
should be driven into each end of the tube. Re peat this 
with all of the other tubes in the sus pect ed section or if 
nec es sary, with all the tubes in the cool er or con dens er. 
Allow the cooler or conden ser to re main corked up to 
12 to 24 hours before pro ceed ing.  De pend ing  upon 
the amount of leak age, the corks may blow from the 
end of a tube, in di cat ing the lo ca tion of the leakage. 
If not, it will be nec es sary to make a very thorough 
test with the ha lide torch. 

  4. After the tubes have been corked for 12 to 24 hours, 

it is recommended that two men working at both 
ends of the cooler care ful ly test each tube - one man 
re mov ing corks at one end and the oth er at the op-
 po site end to remove corks and handle the test torch. 
Start with the top row of tubes in the section being 
in ves ti gat ed, remove the corks at the ends of one 
tube  si mul ta neous ly  and  insert  the  ex plor ing  tube 
for 5 sec onds - this should be long enough to draw 
into the de tec tor any refrigerant gas that might have 
leaked through the tube walls. A fan placed at the end 
of the cooler op po site the torch will assure that any 
leakage will travel through the tube to the torch.

 5. Mark any leak ing tubes for later identiÞ cation.
 6. If any of the tube sheet joints are leaking, the leak 

should be de tect ed by the test torch. If a tube sheet 
leak is suspected, its exact lo ca tion may be found 
by using a soap solution. A con tin u ous buildup of 
bub bles around a tube indicates a tube sheet leak.