An air cooled chiller is supposed to be… well, air cooled.
Every engineer, facility manager, rental technician or procurement lead expects it to run without a water dependency.
So the moment someone spots a makeup water connection on a portable air cooled chiller, the first reaction is usually confusion.
“Why is there water here at all?”
This single detail creates unnecessary debate in meetings, commissioning calls, and field visits. But the explanation is surprisingly simple once you understand how the hydraulic circuit inside the chiller is designed.
What follows is a clear breakdown of why the connection exists, why it is essential, and why even scroll chillers fall into the same category.
Air cooled chillers remove heat from refrigerant using ambient air rather than cooling tower water. That part is true and unchanged. The condenser coil stays dry. The fans push air across fins to reject heat.
But that’s only one half of the machine.
The other half is the chilled water loop. This loop has:
• A built-in or external tank • Pumps • Flexible hoses • A closed hydraulic circuit • Air vents and drain points • Safety valves
This is the part that still uses water, and it behaves exactly like any other water system in the real world.
Water evaporates slowly through vents. Water leaks in tiny amounts through hoses and fittings. Water spills during hose reconnection or tank cleaning. Water escapes when the system is purged during commissioning.
When the tank level dips below the minimum threshold, the pump starts pulling air.
This causes:
• Pump cavitation • Flow instability • Low-pressure alarms • Safety cutoffs • Chilled water temperature swings
That is why a makeup water line is installed. It is not an add-on. It is a safeguard that keeps the system running without interruptions.
Why Portable Air Cooled Chillers Need Makeup Water Even More
Portable units live a hectic life. They travel between factories, events, commissioning sites, testing bays, and temporary installations.
They face:
• Frequent pipe or hose reconnections • Air pockets during startup • Variations in load • Minor leaks from movement • Occasional spillage during draining or transport
Every small loss adds up. If the tank runs low while the unit is operating, the chiller can shut down unexpectedly.
Makeup water prevents this. It keeps the hydraulic loop topped up automatically without human intervention. This is especially valuable for rental companies, commissioning teams, and field technicians who deal with time-pressed operations.
In short, makeup water is the invisible support system keeping portable air cooled chillers consistent and reliable.
What About Scroll Chillers? Do They Need Makeup Water Too?
This question appears often, and the answer is straightforward.
Scroll chillers also use water-filled chilled water circuits. The compressor type only affects how refrigerant is compressed. It does not change anything about:
• Tank volume • Pump behavior • Hydraulic stability • Flow dynamics
Scroll chillers lose water for the same reasons:
• Hose movement • Air release during startup • Minor leaks in joints • System venting • Evaporation at the tank
So yes, scroll chillers need makeup water whenever a water circuit is present. A scroll compressor cannot overcome the physics of water loss. The laws of hydraulics are compressor-agnostic.
Why Makeup Water Matters for Performance and Equipment Life
A chiller doesn’t immediately fail when water starts dropping. The decline is subtle and often invisible until the alarm goes off.
Here’s what happens inside:
Air enters the pump suction The pump loses pressure, flow becomes turbulent, and the cooling loop turns unstable.
Evaporator loading fluctuates Without consistent water volume and flow, refrigerant doesn’t evaporate uniformly. The efficiency curve drops.
Suction and discharge pressures shift The compressor experiences irregular loading, which reduces its operating life.
Control logic struggles Temperature sensors start receiving noisy readings. The system may short cycle, overshoot, or undershoot.
These performance losses begin long before any alarm lights up. A few litres lost from the tank can quietly cut efficiency by several percent.
Makeup water fixes this by maintaining stable volume, steady flow, and predictable evaporator performance. It is not optional. It is a form of ongoing insurance.
So Does an Air Cooled Chiller “Use” Water?
No. It does not consume water like an evaporative cooling system. It only requires enough water inside the loop to run smoothly.
Think of makeup water like the top-up in a car’s coolant reservoir. You are not “using” coolant; you are compensating for small, inevitable losses.
The presence of the connection does not contradict the definition of air cooled chillers. It simply acknowledges the real-world behavior of water circuits.
Conclusion
An air cooled chiller is engineered to reject heat using air, not water. But the chilled water loop inside the machine still operates on a controlled volume of water that must remain stable.
Small losses happen naturally through daily operation, and makeup water ensures the loop never drops below the safe limit.
Scroll chillers follow the same principle because compressor technology does not change the way hydraulic circuits behave.
This misunderstood little connection is not an error or an inconsistency. It is a clever safeguard that keeps air cooled chillers efficient, reliable, and perfectly stable in real-world environments.
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