Over the winter months and holiday season, many manufacturing facilities and industrial plants will likely consider a temporary shutdown for some of their mechanical systems. At the same time, it’s a perfect opportunity to deep clean and sanitize, coordinate deferred repairs, and schedule proactive replacement of aging components.
While these tasks can expand to include everything from production equipment and plumbing to roofing and other critical facility needs, it’s important not to overlook your HVAC system.
To help you manage and better prepare for an upcoming seasonal HVAC shutdown, we’ve created a simple list of tasks to check out. View the list below to get started.
Chillers & Boilers
Perform a full OEM annual
*Depending on the type of equipment, this could possibly involve some disassembly, interior cleaning, chemical treatment, gasket replacement, and more. It’s important to work with someone who understands these components and how to work with them.
Eddy current testing
*This task can help you collect year-over-year data for performance and allow you to better estimate chiller lifespan.
Cooling Towers & Evaporative Condensers
Drain and clean (silica scale and biological growth)
*If growth is significant, you should re-evaluate your water treatment program or consider reverse osmosis.
Complete a planned replacement of media
*If the media is being damaged, it can be a sign of poor PM and/or water treatment. Consider making changes if necessary.
Panel AC Units
Complete a full cleaning
*It is recommended to remove the unit from the line and wash it outdoors.
Replace any units that have been problematic
*It is recommended to repair and keep the originals as back-ups.
Need help planning your next seasonal HVAC shutdown?
Even though this list seems short and sweet, many of the items listed require someone with experience in HVAC systems. If you need assistance with a seasonal HVAC shutdown, please give us a call or contact us online today. At BMI Mechanical, we have decades of experience helping maintenance and production facilities coordinate seasonal HVAC shutdowns, and we’d love to help you, too.
Download the PDF version of this checklist, print it out, and manually cross off items as you go through our seasonal HVAC shutdown checklist.
Additional Resources from BMI Mechanical:
