by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | November 24, 2014
From the November 2014 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
However, for fixed site, most chiller OEMs interviewed recommend twice yearly preventive maintenance with the exception being King. King recommends a quarterly maintenance schedule. “Anything in the medical imaging, or what we call ‘mission critical’ world should have a minimum quarterly maintenance performed on it,” he says. According to King, 80 percent of all failures are rooted in electrical issues. The electrical issues are normally just brought about by the expansion and contraction of the wires due to heating and cooling and it’s not necessarily something a facility can control, because the culprit is often the local utility company. When there’s a heat wave for instance and the surrounding community is drawing heavily on the grid, that can create a marked drop in voltage. King says the lower voltage causes electrical connections to heat up. As day turns to evening and things cool down, the voltage returns to normal and the connections cool down. Throughout the course of a long, hot summer, this heating and cooling may occur dozens of times. If the voltage isn’t monitored and connections loosen, it can eventually cause a failure. “It normally comes in the form of a burnt fuse,” says King.
There are different devices hospitals can use to protect against power surges, like sag protectors which help to address incoming power fluctuations. “We usually put a power monitor in every one of our chillers,” says Bernard. “If there’s a spike or a drop-off of power, they will shut the chiller down to protect it and check back every 30 seconds, restarting the chiller when it’s safe to do so,” she says.
It’s not just a drain on power that can cause fluctuations. In some areas, if surrounding businesses have solar panels, they may feed excess power back to the grid causing bumps. “It’s rare, but it happens,” says Bernard.
Voltage is a good indicator of how well the chiller is running. “If it’s pulling high amps, it’s an indicator that something is out of balance in the operation of the machine,” says Bernard. With that red flag serving as an alert, it’s possible to be proactive and make repairs before having a total system breakdown. While certain maintenance and repair may require outside technicians, much of the work is readily carried out by a hospital’s own HVAC department. Monitoring the amp draw, fluid temperatures and pressure and fluid purity as well as maintaining the proper level of glycol, are all important factors in keeping any troubles to a minimum and keeping maintenance within the capabilities of in-house service techs.
