It was a pleasure hosting engineers from our Mexico facility along with a renowned customer at our Manchester plant.

The purpose was to perform a factory acceptance test on the newly built custom vacuum leak detection system and allow hands-on experience.

The leak test system was manufactured for a global leader in advanced marine and offshore cooling compressors. It is designed for easy top loading of the test component onto a solid base plate. The operator then manually connects the hoses to the compressor to initiate automated chamber closure.

The test runs fully automatically from that point, registering either a pass or fail to complete the procedure. The lid moves toward the fixed chamber, stopping before contact so shotbolts can lock it in place with a gap. This allows an initial high-pressure gross test using dry air/nitrogen.

After passing the gross test, the lid seals against the chamber, encapsulating the product for helium leak testing. A vacuum is created and helium is charged into the component while a mass spectrometer monitors for helium levels rising above a set point.

Once the test succeeds, the system vents and recovers the helium, compressing it into a reservoir for reuse. The chamber automatically opens for test component removal. Failed tests require the operator to acknowledge the failure before continuing, preventing overlooked failures.

For assistance with our advanced HVAC leak detection systems and customised solutions, contact us for more information.