Industry First: Refrigerant Leak Sensor Inside the Chiller for Ice Bath

Refrigerant leakage is a common challenge faced by the refrigeration industry. Once cold plunge chiller refrigerant leakage occurs, it will not only reduce the refrigeration efficiency of the chiller for ice bath, but also pose a threat to personnel safety.
Facing the industry challenge of refrigerant leakage, COLDCHILLER is the first in the industry to integrate a refrigerant leak sensor into the chiller for ice bath, enabling intelligent detection and real-time alerts to ensure maximum operational safety.
In this article, you’ll learn more about how refrigerant leak sensors work and find practical solutions for refrigerant leaks.

Why Does Refrigerant Leak? – A Common Industry Challenge

Refrigerant leakage is mainly caused by pipe ruptures and cracks at welding joints. In fact, refrigerant leakage is not an isolated issue—it is a widespread technical challenge across the entire cold therapy industry. Whether it’s a household chiller or a commercial cold plunge chiller unit, problems like pipe damage and welding joint failure are almost unavoidable.

Pipe Ruptures

Refrigerant pipes can become brittle and crack over time due to aging, leading to refrigerant leakage. In addition, equipment handling, vibrations during operation, or external impact can also damage the pipes and cause leaks.

Cracks at Welding Joints

If the welding is not solid, joints may crack due to prolonged vibration or pressure, allowing refrigerant to escape. Similarly, if there are pores or gaps in the welded areas, refrigerant can leak through these imperfections as well.

Impact of Cold Plunge Chiller Unit Refrigerant Leakage

Refrigerant leakage can lead to decreased refrigeration efficiency, increase system maintenance costs, and pose a potential threat to personnel safety.

Decreased Refrigeration Efficiency

Insufficient refrigerant will lead to decreased refrigeration efficiency. When the refrigerant is insufficient, it will take more time to reach the set temperature. In addition, if the refrigerant is insufficient, the cold plunge water chiller may find it difficult to reach the set temperature, affecting the effect of the ice bath.

Increased Maintenance Costs

Refrigerant leakage not only means that the refrigerant must be refilled, but also significantly increases the maintenance frequency and operating costs. Once the refrigerant is insufficient, the efficiency of the refrigeration system will drop significantly, which will not only affect the normal operation of the equipment, but also increase energy consumption and increase maintenance costs.
©Photo by Reeracoen Singapore

Increased Safety Hazards

Some refrigerants can cause harm to personal safety, such as R290. The main component of R290 is propane, which comes from natural gas and petroleum. According to the ASHRAE standard classification, this refrigerant belongs to Class A3 flammable refrigerant, which is prone to explosion when mixed with air and encounters sparks. Some R290 leaks, which will pose a great threat to the environment and personal safety of personnel.

Industry First: Refrigerant Leak Sensor Inside the Chiller for Ice Bath

As technology continues to advance, chillers are becoming increasingly intelligent and sophisticated. While most chiller manufacturers focus on smart features of the chiller for ice bath, COLDCHILLER has the courage to meet industry challenges and has taken a pioneering step by integrating a refrigerant leak sensor into its chillers—an innovative and groundbreaking design that greatly enhances operational safety.

The hazards of refrigerants are well known. Refrigerant leaks not only reduce cooling performance and increase maintenance costs but can also pose serious safety risks, especially in systems using R290 eco-friendly refrigerant. Therefore, it is necessary to install a refrigerant leakage sensor on the chiller for ice bath.

To meet international equipment safety requirements, we’ve engineered a refrigerant leak sensor into our chillers that utilize R290 refrigerant. This sensor continuously monitors the refrigerant concentration in real time and provides instant alerts in case of a leak.
While such technology is commonly found in traditional appliances like refrigerators and air conditioners, we are the first to successfully apply it in cold plunge equipment, setting a new standard for the industry.

In the cold therapy industry, COLDCHILLER is the first manufacturer to install a refrigerant leak sensor inside the ice bath chiller unit. This feature not only reflects our strict commitment to product quality but also highlights our dedication to user safety and care. Compared to other brands like Plunge, Ice Barrel, and BlueCube, which rely on manual monitoring of refrigerant levels, COLDCHILLER chillers stand out with superior safety, automation, and intelligence.

Advantages of Installing a Refrigerant Leakage Sensor

Installing a refrigerant leakage sensor on the refrigerator improves the safety of the equipment. It can detect refrigerant leakage and automatically alarm to remind users to take precautions, thus avoiding safety hazards.

Detect Refrigerant Concentration and Automatically Alarm

When the refrigerant concentration reaches a certain level, it will sound an alarm to remind users to take measures.
We set it on the chiller: when the refrigerant leakage sensor detects that the refrigerant concentration in the chassis exceeds 10%, the refrigerant leakage sensor will issue a warning and the E15 code will appear, reminding users to check the use of the refrigerant in time.

Active Protection to Avoid Safety Hazards

Adding a refrigerant leak sensor to the water chiller for cold plunge is a cutting-edge design in the ice bath industry. Unlike traditional passive protection, COLDCHILLER adopts an active protection mechanism that issues a warning in the early stages of a refrigerant leak, significantly reducing the risk.

Reduce Energy Consumption

Refrigerant leakage will reduce refrigeration efficiency, increase equipment operating time, and consume more energy. Performing maintenance in the early stages of refrigerant leakage can effectively reduce energy consumption, reduce electricity expenses, and extend the service life of equipment.

How to Solve Your Ice Bath Chiller Refrigerant Leakage

The refrigerant temperature sensor can detect the concentration of refrigerant leakage in real time and issue a warning. After the warning appears, we should take appropriate measures. It is worth noting that if you need to investigate the cause of the leakage and refill the refrigerant, you need to be operated by a professional.

Cut off the Power Supply

Quickly cut off the power supply of the refrigerator, and do not turn on other electrical appliances such as refrigerators, TVs, etc. to avoid sparks. Open flames are prohibited, smoking is prohibited, and fire sources are eliminated.
©Photo by Safety Signs

Natural Ventilation

Open doors and windows to allow air to circulate naturally and wait for the gas to diffuse naturally. The use of machines such as fans may generate sparks, so the use of machines such as fans is prohibited.

Check the Cause of Refrigerant Leakage (Professionals Are Required to Operate)

Refrigerant leakage is mainly caused by pipe rupture and welding cracking. After discovering the refrigerant leakage, you can focus on checking these two aspects. Replace the pipe in time or re-weld the cracked point.

Refrigerant Filling for Your Cold Plunge Water Chiller (Professionals are Required)

Refilling refrigerant is risky. If you need to fill the refrigerant, please hire a professional to do it locally. Carefully understand the knowledge of refilling refrigerant and take relevant protective measures.

Precautions

Before filling refrigerant, we must take some precautions to better avoid risks.
Working environment: Make sure the working environment is relatively open, and do not work in a dusty or cluttered environment. The working environment needs to be well-ventilated and away from open flames and fire sources.
Avoid long-term high-concentration environments: Long-term exposure to high-concentration refrigerants can cause loss of consciousness, anesthesia, and the risk of suffocation.
When filling refrigerant, pay attention to control these conditions: combustibles, oxygen or air, refrigerant concentration, and fire sources exceeding 450 degrees Celsius to avoid explosions.

Required tools

Pressure gauge, pressure gauge tube, vacuum pump, refrigerant, halogen detector, refrigerant electronic scale, bubble.

Remove the Cold Plunge Chiller Unit Frame

Use an electric drill to unscrew the screws on the chiller frame. Be careful to save all the screws to ensure that they are not missed during the final installation.

Check the Air Pressure

Close the two valves of the pressure gauge, remove the protective cover of the Freon nozzle at the return air end of the compressor, and unscrew the nut; then connect the low-pressure gauge tube of the pressure gauge to the fluorine injection nozzle of the chiller and tighten it;
Tighten one end of the liquid level gauge tube (yellow gauge tube) to the fluorine injection port of the refrigerant electronic scale and connect the refrigerant electronic scale to the refrigerant;
At this time, you can see that the low-pressure gauge has a pressure of 0.8-1MPa (nitrogen is injected). If it is lower than this pressure range, check whether the copper tube inside the machine is leaking.

Vacuum

Turn on the low-pressure button and high-pressure button on the pressure gauge. Connect the red pressure gauge tube to the vacuum pump;
Turn on the vacuum pump for vacuum cleaning for more than 30 minutes. After 30 minutes of vacuuming, the pointer will point to -1. Close the low-pressure valve first, then the high-pressure valve, and finally the vacuum pump. Wait for 10 minutes and observe whether the low-pressure gauge pointer of the pressure gauge rebounds and rises.

Filling Refrigerant

Open the refrigerant valve and turn on the power of the refrigerant electronic scale. Enter the refrigerant amount required for the cooler on the refrigerant electronic scale and confirm.
Open the high-pressure end valve of the pressure gauge 1/5 turn to drain;
Close the high-pressure valve of the pressure gauge and open the low-pressure valve of the pressure gauge for filling. Confirm that the refrigerant on the electronic scale has been entered.
Close the low-pressure valve and quickly remove the meter tube on the refrigerant nozzle to prevent excessive leakage. Take protective measures to prevent refrigerant from hurting your eyes and nose.

Check if the Refrigerant Is Leaking

Prepare bubble water. Apply bubble water to the refrigerant outlet and observe whether the bubble changes. If no bubble is blown out, it means there is no leakage. Wipe the bubble on the nozzle.

Reinstallation

Put the cap on the refrigerant nozzle and tighten it. Then put the protective cap on the refrigerant nozzle.
Put the chiller frame back into the chiller and tighten the screws on the chiller frame using an electric drill.

As a professional chiller manufacturer, we always adhere to the concept of putting user safety first and provide users with safer chillers.

Note that if your chiller needs to be refilled with refrigerant, it is best to ask a professional to perform the relevant operation.
If you want to know more about cold plunge chillers, you can consult our professional team. We will answer your questions online 24 hours a day.