Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems experiences? 2

[GMcD]

North American HVAC Engineer here, looking for other world views on installation and operational issues related to VRF systems. These are relatively new to North America and I am concerned about the general operating pressures (what happens with 400 psig+ leaks of R-407 or R-410??) as well as the real operational issues that anyone has encountered. I understand that the controllers for some of the proprietary VRF systems are "black-box" technology that any Tom, Dick, or Harry controls guy can troubleshoot or modify, so the only choice if one of these fouls up is a replacement plug-in new black box. Doesn't sound that user friendly.

 

[marcoh]

The reason for the efficiency is because the manufacturers have put a lot of R&D into making the systems as efficient as possible. Because the condensers. compressors, fcu's, and controls are all proprietary systems they can all be optimised for maximum efficiency. If this same technology was applied to similar size chillers or package units similar efficiencies would result.

If you get a refrigeration leak you will need a lot of new refrigerant to replace it all!

 

[KiwiMace]

RossABQ, well i would expect there'd be a whole lot of cleaning and flushing to do. Server rooms can be supplied from two independant systems to provide redundancy in this and other maintenance scenarios.