Three Common Problematic Areas with Remanufactured or Old Cooling Towers

Cooling towers are common cooling equipment used in industries such as food processing, industrial refrigeration, manufacturing and power generation. Whether on-site assembled or factory bought, these towers are expensive when new. This is why many people opt to acquire remanufactured or old cooling towers. Properly maintained cooling towers can also maintain their efficiency despite the age or mode of assembly. They will, therefore, perform as good as a new cooling tower, if the proper fixes and cooling tower maintenance is applied. If you are installing a remanufactured cooling tower, you should pay key attention to the following three areas.

Coating

When installing a remanufactured cooling tower, it is important to ensure that the coating has been reapplied well. The coating should be thickly spread over the entire surface and not reveal even a speck of the old surface. Cooling tower maintenance specialists say that cooling tower coating quickly de-laminates if there was even the smallest exposed area of the former coating. De-lamination of the coating in turn leads to water entrapment and, consequently, corrosion of the metallic surface. Both these events greatly reduce the effectiveness of the cooling tower. They are also health hazards due to the growth of bacteria in these water pockets.

Leaks

It is important to have the remanufactured cooling towers examined by a cooling tower maintenance company for leaks. Old towers may have their underlying metals corroded and disjointed at some points. In many instances, a simple coating is not sufficient to cover all the leaks. Have the specialists perform tests to determine whether the lamination was evenly done across the entire surface. Also, have them check the quality of the metal before the lamination to ascertain whether the structure is in a good condition and will not leak soon. Leaks from cooling towers are capable of harming the entire building. In instances where the leaks occur near electrical wires, a sure electrical fire hazard is present.

Leaks can be fixed easily by professional cooling tower maintenance people. They should seal the point of the leak and then seal the surface with proper coating. In most instances, a substance such as Acothane is used for coating.

Water quality

Finally, it is paramount to have the water quality in your remanufactured cooling tower tested. The previous environment where your remanufactured cooling tower was used may have predisposed it to health concerns such as growth of Legionella bacteria. Previously neglected cooling towers may also be severely corroded, leading to poor water quality. Also, previous improper disinfection of the tower may have lead to the growth of algae. All these and more are reasons to have your remanufactured cooling tower water quality checked and corrections made by your cooling tower maintenance partner.