Family-Owned Since 1974 Licensed & Insured · TACL A16607C Woman-Owned Business
Central Plant Specialists

Commercial Chiller Repair and Maintenance

When a chiller goes down, the whole building loses cooling. Our technicians service centrifugal, screw, and scroll chillers from every major manufacturer across Dallas-Fort Worth, keeping central plant systems running reliably.

Commercial Chiller Repair

Expert Repair for All Commercial Chillers

Chillers cool the largest buildings in Dallas-Fort Worth, high-rise office towers, hospitals, data centers, hotels, and university campuses. Rather than sending refrigerant to zones, they circulate chilled water through the building for centralized control and superior efficiency at scale. That complexity is exactly why chiller repair takes knowledge most HVAC contractors do not have.

We service water-cooled and air-cooled chillers from 50 tons to more than 1,000 tons. Centrifugal machines dominate downtown high-rises and Medical District facilities, screw chillers show up in mid-rise buildings and corporate campuses, and scroll chillers serve smaller applications like boutique hotels and medical offices. Each compressor type has distinct failure modes and repair procedures, and we know them all.

When a chiller fails, the stakes are immediate: patient care, server reliability, and hundreds of uncomfortable tenants. We diagnose systematically and coordinate manufacturer support and emergency parts when needed. For cooling work beyond the central plant, see our commercial AC repair service, and we integrate chiller controls through building automation for better monitoring and efficiency.

50+Years Serving DFW
50-1,000+Ton Capacity Serviced
3 TypesCentrifugal, Screw, Scroll
24/7Emergency Response
What We Fix

Common Chiller Failures We Repair

Chiller problems demand systematic troubleshooting with specialized tools. These are the failures we resolve most.

Compressor issues from bearing wear or motor faults
Refrigerant leaks in evaporators or condensers
Control failures affecting capacity or sequencing
Water flow problems from pumps or fouled heat exchangers
Oil system issues in screw and centrifugal machines
Electrical failures in starters or variable frequency drives
Condenser fouling and reduced heat transfer
Heat exchanger scaling from water treatment issues
Cooling tower problems affecting chiller performance
Chiller Types

Centrifugal, Screw, and Scroll Chillers

Each compressor type suits a different building, and we service all three, water-cooled and air-cooled.

Chiller TypeTypical CapacityBest Application
CentrifugalLarge, into the thousands of tonsHigh-rises, hospitals, constant large loads
ScrewMid-rangeMid-rise buildings and campuses, air-cooled options
ScrollSmallerBoutique hotels and medical office buildings
Predictive Maintenance

Diagnostics That Catch Failures Early

Compressors do not fail without warning. We use condition-based diagnostics to find trouble months ahead.

Oil Analysis
Detects metal particles from bearing wear before bearings fail, and catches moisture and acidity in the oil.
Vibration Analysis
Detects imbalance and misalignment developing in rotating compressor assemblies before they cause damage.
Eddy Current Tube Testing
Finds heat exchanger tube wall thinning before leaks develop, so we replace or plug tubes on your schedule.
Infrared Scanning
Spots hot electrical connections before they fail and take the chiller down with them.
Motor Circuit Analysis
Evaluates winding condition without disassembly, catching insulation breakdown before a motor fails.
Performance Trending
Tracks approach temperatures, oil pressure differential, and capacity over time to reveal patterns single visits miss.
Protect the Investment

Maintenance That Prevents Costly Failures

A large centrifugal chiller can represent hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital. Proper maintenance protects that investment, extending equipment life and preventing catastrophic failures that force replacement decades early. Neglected chillers fail well before their expected life ends.

Comprehensive service covers refrigerant charge and leak testing, oil analysis and filtration, heat exchanger tube cleaning and eddy current inspection, compressor bearing inspection, starter and electrical checks, control calibration, safety device testing, water treatment monitoring, and cooling tower coordination. Heat exchanger fouling matters most here, because scale from poor water treatment reduces heat transfer and forces compressors to work harder, while moisture in refrigerant forms acid that attacks motor windings.

Buildings with well-maintained chillers rarely face emergency failures and often reach or exceed a 25 to 30-year design life. Many large properties run quarterly service year-round for more data and closer trend analysis. Explore our preventive maintenance programs, and for a chiller down right now, our emergency HVAC repair team responds 24/7.

Why Kahn

Why Chief Engineers Trust Kahn With Chillers

Central-plant specialistsChiller expertise most HVAC contractors simply do not have.
All three compressor typesCentrifugal, screw, and scroll, water-cooled and air-cooled.
50 to 1,000-plus ton capacityFrom boutique hotels to downtown towers and data centers.
Predictive diagnosticsOil, vibration, eddy current, infrared, and motor circuit analysis.
Manufacturer relationshipsFactory support and emergency parts access when it counts.
Water treatment and cooling towersWe manage the whole loop, not just the machine.
Redundancy planningWe keep multi-chiller plants ready so one failure does not stop cooling.
50 years in DFWDecades of central-plant experience since 1974.
Proof

Trusted by Commercial Properties Across DFW

Scofield Memorial Church has realized a fifty thousand dollar savings in energy in the last twelve months from the upgrade in HVAC units completed just last summer, a one-third reduction in our total electrical bill.

Director of OperationsScofield Memorial Church

See the central plants we keep running on our projects page, and read more feedback on our testimonials page.

Coverage

Serving Chiller Systems Throughout Dallas-Fort Worth

We service chiller plants in Class A office towers, hospitals, data centers, hotels, universities, and industrial process cooling across Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties. In this climate chillers run eight to ten months a year, so wear and maintenance demands run high. Find detailed local coverage on our service areas pages.

Dallas County

  • Dallas
  • Irving
  • Richardson
  • Garland
  • Mesquite
  • Carrollton
  • Farmers Branch

Tarrant County

  • Fort Worth
  • Arlington
  • Grapevine
  • Southlake

Collin County

  • Plano
  • Frisco
  • McKinney
  • Allen

Denton County

  • Denton
  • Lewisville
  • Flower Mound
  • Little Elm
Request Service

Get a Fast Response From Kahn Mechanical

Request Commercial Chiller Service

Tell us about your chiller plant and what it is doing, and we will get right back to you.

Prefer to talk now? Call 214-831-5551
Common Questions

Commercial Chiller Repair FAQ

What types of chillers do you repair?
We service water-cooled and air-cooled chillers from 50 tons to more than 1,000 tons, covering all three compressor types: centrifugal, screw, and scroll. Centrifugal machines dominate high-rises and hospitals, screw chillers fit mid-rise buildings and campuses, and scroll chillers serve smaller applications. Each has distinct failure modes, and we know the service procedures for all of them.
How fast can you respond when a chiller fails?
A chiller down means the entire building loses cooling, so we treat it as a building-wide emergency. Our emergency HVAC repair team responds immediately, and we coordinate manufacturer support and emergency parts, including specialty components that may need rush delivery, while our technicians work to stabilize the system and restore cooling.
How often should a commercial chiller be serviced?
Many large properties run quarterly chiller service year-round rather than seasonal twice-yearly visits. Quarterly inspections catch problems faster, give us more data points for trend analysis, and keep our technicians familiar with each chiller's normal operating characteristics so subtle changes stand out. We tailor the schedule to your equipment and criticality.
What is predictive maintenance for chillers?
Predictive, or condition-based, maintenance goes beyond basic service tasks to catch failures before they happen. We use oil analysis to find bearing-wear metals, vibration analysis to detect imbalance, eddy current testing to find tube wall thinning, infrared scanning to spot hot electrical connections, and motor circuit analysis to evaluate windings without disassembly. Together they prevent failures rather than just reacting to them.
How long should a commercial chiller last?
With proper maintenance, commercial chillers often reach or exceed a 25 to 30-year design life. Neglected machines fail much earlier, sometimes requiring complete replacement decades before they should. Regular service and predictive diagnostics are what protect that long service life and the large capital investment a chiller represents.
Why does water treatment matter for chillers?
Water quality drives chiller reliability and efficiency. Scale from poor treatment insulates heat exchange surfaces and forces compressors to work harder, biological growth causes corrosion, and tube blockages trigger safety shutdowns. We monitor water treatment, clean tubes mechanically or chemically, and eddy current test tubes annually to catch wall thinning before a leak develops.

Chiller Down or Due for Service?

Central-plant chiller repair and maintenance across Dallas-Fort Worth from a team with decades of experience since 1974.