# Bay Street Chiller Rebuild | Toronto Commercial HVAC

> Two centrifugal chillers rebuilt in sequence with full eddy current testing, new bearings and seals, and refrigerant handled under ASHRAE Guideline 3. The tow

URL: https://torontocommercialhvac.ca/projects/bay-street-office-tower-chiller-rebuild/
Last-Modified: 2024-01-01

Downtown Toronto $148,000

# Bay Street Office Tower 2x 100-ton Centrifugal Chiller Rebuild

Two centrifugal chillers rebuilt in sequence with full eddy current testing, new bearings and seals, and refrigerant handled under ASHRAE Guideline 3. The tower stayed on its 10-year PM program and logged an 18% plant energy reduction after the 2024 compressor rebuild.

Full teardown and rebuild of two 100-ton Trane CenTraVac centrifugal chillers in a 42-storey Financial District tower, staged one machine at a time so the plant never lost cooling capacity.

![Technicians rebuilding a centrifugal chiller in a Bay Street office tower mechanical room](/images/featured/three-technicians-in-hard-hats-rebuilding-a-trane-.webp)

The Challenge

## What the Building Needed

The tower runs 42 floors of A-class office tenants on two centrifugal machines. Both chillers had high bearing vibration, rising approach temperatures and a purge unit running far more often than normal. Taking the whole plant down was not an option between May and September, and the building owner needed a plan that the board could approve with fixed numbers.

Our Approach

## How We Did It

1.  01 Ran vibration analysis, oil analysis and eddy current tube testing on both machines to confirm which components actually needed replacement.
2.  02 Staged the work one machine at a time in shoulder season so the second chiller carried the building load.
3.  03 Recovered and stored refrigerant on site under ASHRAE Guideline 3 practice, with every pound logged.
4.  04 Replaced bearings, seals, the purge assembly and damaged tubes, then rebalanced the motor and impeller assembly.
5.  05 Commissioned each machine with a written start-up report and fed new trend points into the building BAS.

Results

## Measured Outcomes

-   18% plant energy reduction measured over the following cooling season
-   Approach temperatures back to commissioning values on both machines
-   Zero tenant comfort outages during the five-week staged rebuild
-   Plant kept on the 10-year PM program with quarterly reporting

> "They rebuilt one machine while the other carried the tower, and our tenants never noticed. The written start-up reports went straight into our board package."

Graham Whitfield, Chief Building Engineer

Site Photos

## On the Job

 

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![](/images/misc/two-commercial-hvac-technicians-in-hard-hats-walki.webp)

24-Hour Commercial Emergency Dispatch

## Planning Similar Work?

Send the building details and we will walk the site, then give you a written scope, price and schedule.

Call (437) 524-2997

[tel:+14375242997 →](tel:+14375242997)

 

Request Service

[/contact/ →](/contact/)

-   TSSA G1+G2, ESA, 313A
-   Written findings every visit
-   90-day / 2-year labour warranty