Author Topic: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?  (Read 1624 times)

Offline inkstain

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10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« on: June 28, 2016, 01:25:32 PM »
Hi guys,
Haven't been away from my shop since having an automatic for this long, 10 days.
No sense having compressor on but would it be ok to turn off my chiller during the time?  Was thinking close all valves from compressor and press.
Thanks for the advice!


Offline Shanarchy

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Re: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2016, 01:36:22 PM »
When I shut the press down for the day, I kill the air and power on the press, turn the air valve on the compressor off and shut off the chiller.

I'm curious to what others do.

Offline blue moon

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Re: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2016, 01:48:18 PM »
chiller should probably stay on over night, but one we have is working on the tank rather than being in line.
For going away for 10 days, I would turn off as much equipment as possible just to prevent any possible fires.

pierre
Yes, we've won our share of awards, and yes, I've tested stuff and read the scientific papers, but ultimately take everything I say with more than just a grain of salt! So if you are looking for trouble, just do as I say or even better, do something I said years ago!

Offline Doug B

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Re: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2016, 01:51:22 PM »
  Ours is off every night when we leave. No major problems with moisture for years
and we are in Florida (which gets pretty moist at times).

Offline Colin

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Re: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2016, 01:51:54 PM »
Potentially Drain the air tank as well.
Been in the industry since 1996.  5+ years with QCM Inks.  Been a part of shops of all sizes and abilities both as a printer and as an Artist/separator.  I am now the Ink and Chemical Product Manager at Ryonet.

Offline mk162

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Re: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2016, 01:53:08 PM »
we shut ours down nightly and let it warm up in the AM, it has a humidity gauge on it, so we go by that.

I agree with pierre, I go one step further and usually unplug it to protect from power surges.

Offline jvanick

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Re: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2016, 02:00:00 PM »
our chiller hasn't been turned off since we moved into our shop.

Compressor gets 'shut off' at a ball valve, but the chiller stays on.

if I were to shut off the chiller, I'd want to have it on for at least 20-30 minutes before I added air to the system as when I initially bring the lines back up to pressure, I'm always surprised how much water condenses in the chiller and gets spit out during the next drain cycle.

Our press base is always dry, as is the water separator at the input to the press.

Offline mk162

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Re: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2016, 02:53:43 PM »
I have a water separator at the press followed by a desiccant dryer that changes color when water is present.  It dries back out and turns orange.  It's always orange, so I know i'm not getting water to the press.

Offline ZooCity

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Re: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« Reply #8 on: June 28, 2016, 04:53:17 PM »
We shut off both compressor and chiller nightly.  Total air system so the chiller is integrated.  It has a little gauge indicating where it should be but only takes a few minutes to get cool when fired up in the a.m.

A big thing to remember when shutting down for a long time, heck even the weekends, is to shut off your water.   Nothing like coming back to find a hose fitting blew out....

Offline inkstain

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Re: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« Reply #9 on: June 28, 2016, 05:50:32 PM »
Thank you everyone for the insight.
Looks like I'll drain chiller and compressor of any moisture if any, then shut them off and shut off the valve to press.

Have always appreciated this forum.
Seriously have learned so much from all of you!
Thanks

Offline 244

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Re: 10 day vacation coming. Turn off chiller?
« Reply #10 on: June 28, 2016, 06:25:13 PM »
Thank you everyone for the insight.
Looks like I'll drain chiller and compressor of any moisture if any, then shut them off and shut off the valve to press.

Have always appreciated this forum.
Seriously have learned so much from all of you!
Thanks
The proper way is to keep the chiller on and also the compressor. Once you chill the air and then turn off the compressor the moisture is reintroduced into the air. Put a ball valve in front of the one you currently have at the exit of the tank with a 1/8" hole drilled through it when closed and use that to prevent the compressor from constantly running or an air hose that burst from flying all over the place damaging things. Keeping the air on you press all the time is better for the fittings and cylinders.
Rich Hoffman