Hi,

I am invilved with a project that had a new air colled chiller installed. Since the install date, we have had no-end of faults (LP being the most common).

As it turns out, in the winter months there is very little internal heat load, so the chiller in turn sits idle. In fact, the chiller is only operational 4-5 months of the year (and vice versa - the boilers are manually isoalted in summer). What I would like to know is, would the Chiller just sitting there for say 6-7 months at a time doing nothing impact on it's reliabilty? Should there be some items undertaken at the season change (from Summer to Winter) to ensure the Chiller and parts will not deterorate over time, and is there any special tasks/items that should be done at season change again (winter to summer).

Many Thanks,

The chiller manufacturer should have a detailed maintenance and operations manual that covers these items.  It's not the same for all chillers.

Pump may be started for few minutes once a week during the idle season - good for the pump's sealings.
Compressor carter's should be preheated to get rid of refrigerant in the oil - for some hours (better for a day) before starting the chiller in summer.  
Etc.