Navistar needed an economical solution to a difficult fluid fill scenario.

     When Navistar needed an economical solution to a difficult fluid fill scenario, Serv-I-Quip was one of the vendors asked to review the project and submit a proposal.  A height restricted fill area and a mixed production line that required fills on either side of the cab presented a unique challenge.  In order to accommodate four different fluids on either side of the cab and a line speed that required overlapping fill cycles, two overhead rail mounted motorized carriers would be needed.   While Serv-I-Quip has supplied high flow capacity fill systems to some of the most modern truck plants in the world, these systems needed to fill at an even higher rate.  

     A data acquisition system was also required to download individual fluid fill specifications and record testing and fill results to the VIN# file.  In addition to the design and build of this equipment, Serv-I-Quip would also be responsible for the install, which would require a substantial amount of prefab mounting hardware for the rail and hose track system, along with tight coordination with the onsite contractor.  All this needed to be accomplished in a 14 week design, build, test, and deliver window, with an install over Christmas.

     Serv-I-Quip was awarded the contract on the merits of their design proposal and an aggressive pricing structure.  Serv-I-Quip worked closely with Navistar’s Manufacturing and Quality team to assure that all specifications were met.  After design approval, test, and acceptance, a 53’ trailer was filled (with 2” to spare) and sent it on its way. An install team consisting of the Project Engineer, the Sales Engineer, a Mechanical Engineer, a Programming / IT Engineer, and two technicians coordinated with the onsite contractor to complete the install and startup on time and according to all process requirements.  Navistar was able to come out of shutdown to full production utilizing the improved functionality, efficiency, and data collection capabilities of their new Combined Coolant and Power Steering fill equipment without a hitch. While this was the goal of Serv-I-Quip and the expectation of Navistar, accomplishing this as a new vendor brought compliments from many of the project participants.

Project Manager

“Thank you for all the hard work that everyone at Serv-I-Quip has performed on Navistar’s new Combined Coolant and Power Steering fill equipment. The equipment is running well and there are many compliments to convey from Navistar in this regards. “   “Once again I want to express Navistar’s appreciation of the professionalism, expertise and dedication of all involved at Serv-I-Quip.”

Line Supervisor

“Excellent startup”

Engineering Supervisor

“I just wanted to come down and watch such a good startup”

Project Manager

“It’s working perfectly”

     The purchase and installation of this equipment was driven primarily by Honda’s corporate decision to substantially increase vehicle production at their North American facilities. This system is currently filling automatic, manual, and CV transmissions on the high speed engine supply spur. Honda’s design requirement stipulated a capability to handle a 20% production rate increase over their current line speed.  The system delivered by Serv-I-Quip is capable of handling up to a 40% increase over current production rates. Additionally, this system is designed and built to integrate with Honda’s next generation logic controller and includes a built in programming terminal and our standard dripless tooling.

     This project joins a long list of successful projects that meet or exceed our customer’s expectations.

The June issue of Assembly Magazine contains a short case study highlighting Whirlpool’s efforts to improve the quality and first pass yield at their refrigerator production plant. The article from page 22 is reprinted below:

Gas Traps Increase Accuracy of Refrigerant Leak Testing

          For several months in 2009, appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corp. faced a unique production challenge regarding its refrigerators. The appliances were passing the helium leak test, but failing the refrigerant leak test, which was performed manually in-line by operators using sniffer probes.
          This situation resulted in lost productivity through refrigerant reclamation and increased rework of the brazed joint where the refrigerant was located inside the refrigerator. It also significantly raised the company’s warranty costs
          Close inspection revealed that two factors led to frequent leak test failure of the refrigerant. The first was operator inconsistency while performing sniffer leak detection, in terms of scanning rate, distance and speed. The second was that the readings of the sniffer probe were affected by previously vented helium test gas.
          To overcome this problem, Whirlpool turned to Serv-I-Quip, Inc., which supplies test and fill equipment used on the assembly lines of appliance, HVAC, vehicle, and Tier One parts manufacturers.
Serv-I-Quip recommended a leak testing system featuring gas traps integrated with a high sensitivity, high flow leak detector. The traps isolate test points, while the detector provides maximum sensitivity and minimum response time.
          The operator places an integrated gas trap on each brazed joint to be leak tested. Each trap samples leaking test gas and all joints are sampled simultaneously, providing the system with a cumulative leak rate. If the refrigerator’s accumulated leak rate surpasses the rejection leak rate, the appliance fails the test and is pulled off the line.
          Besides eliminating operator inconsistencies, this system mitigates the false positives from helium contaminated environments. It does this by isolating the test site from environmental influences such as breezes (from fans, open doors, vehicle traffic) that can dissipate the test gas concentration around the leak site.
          Since installing the system, Whirlpool has seem a dramatic increase in the number of leaks caught helium leak testing. This has yielded considerable savings for Whirlpool, because it’s less expensive to catch and fix leaks early in the assembly process. The refrigerator’s cooling system is free of refrigerant and operators can easily access the leak site.
          Whirlpool has also realized a dramatic reduction of leaks caught at the refrigerant leak test operation, resulting in significant savings and increased productivity.
          For more information on test and fill equipment, call 610-873-7010 or visit www.siqinc.com.

Following the ratification of a 7 year labor contract with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local, Harley Davidson management approved a $90 million infrastructure investment to consolidate and streamline the York Facility’s manufacturing process. As a result of this investment, the state of Pennsylvania provided $15 million of incentives in the form of capital improvements and training.

Serv-I-Quip, Inc. was fortunate to receive a portion of the factory infrastructure improvements in the form of two new Engine Oil Fill Systems. Serv-I-Quip worked closely with a ten person team that included operators, supervisors, product engineers, and project managers. This equipment will increase accuracy and reduce errors on a mixed production line by linking directly to the plant production schedule via Harley’s SAP system. It has been a privilege to join many others from Pennsylvania to preserve the presence of a truly American company like Harley Davidson. In Pennsylvania, we hold on to our bibles, guns, AND motorcycles.

In two of the episodes, portions of the leak testing and refrigerant charging processes are shown.  In the Sub-Zero Refrigerator segment, Serv-I-Quip’s DataTest NH 150 performs a pressure test, pressure decay test, capillary flow rest, and a helium leak test before proceeding to our DataFill Refrigerant Charging System. The Mile High Equipment Co. Ice-O-Matic ice machine segment also shows the refrigerant charging process and Serv-I-Quip’s charging tools.  An up close view of the  DataServ operator interface screen is shown during the charge cycle.

The last video is from a Trane facility and shows the manufacture of heat pumps. All the videos are approximately 5 minutes long. If you find yourself off our site, just click the back arrow and you’ll return. Enjoy!

Sub-Zero Refrigerator

Ice-O-Matic Ice Machine

Trane Heat Pump

Our customer, who manufactures large mining trucks in a “cell” environment, wanted all the tools to leak test, refrigerant fill, and performance test cab a/c systems mounted in an electric powered maintenance cart.

Other customers had the following requests:

I’d like to queue three products at a time off the assembly line, connect each to a system to perform an evacuation, vacuum decay leak test, and refrigerant charge; then release them back onto main assembly line.

I’d like a complete system that will pressure test with nitrogen, perform a vacuum decay test, charge PAG oil and refrigerant, then check and record the performance of the a/c unit.

I need an a/c test and fill system capable of cycling a vehicle every minute while simply presenting fill tool to operator, then returning to start position after cycle completion.

I need an automated refrigerant charging system that can scan a product barcode, download the process recipe from a remote data base, perfom a vacuum decay test and refrigerant charge, then upload completion data to my MES system and a local SQL data base.

The bottom line is, we have broad industry knowledge and experience, a proven product line featuring the most advanced technology, and a desire to build and deliver the best equipment to meet your needs.

After deciding on a helium pressurization and leak test approach, Heatcraft consulted with several vendors and decided to work with Serv-I-Quip, Inc., a Downingtown, PA, U.S.-based supplier of testing equipment, and Inficon, a Syracuse, NY, U.S.-based supplier of leak detectors. Together, the companies developed a complete testing system that reduced cost and improved productivity.

The Upgrade

Mr. Gant says there were several reasons Heatcraft decided to change to helium leak detection. “Because the helium leak test systems are able to find smaller leaks, our customers will be getting coils that they can use with confidence, thereby increasing customer satisfaction, reducing warranty costs, and reducing field related leak problems,” he explains.

Mike Ryan, sales manager of Leak Detector Products at Inficon, adds that helium leak detection has many advantages over water bubble system methods. “Helium leak detection eliminates the coil moisture/water bake-out required after the water bubble test. The elimination of this bake-out process added another reduction to the production cycle time and reduced associated material movement and expense,” Mr. Ryan explains. “Moisture left in the coils is detrimental to product quality, as moisture reacts with the refrigerant to create an acidic by-product. This by-product reduces system life, as it corrodes the coil, valves, seals, etc., and this corrosive effect eventually leads to premature system leakage/failure in the field.”

He adds: “Removal of the water bubble bath test and evaporative baking ovens reduced the consumption of floor space in the factory and has allowed Heatcraft to increase their production capacity without incurring major capital expenditures for facility expansion.”

In addition, the previous testing method was an off-line process that created a bottleneck between manufacturing and shipping, adds Mike Richey, president of Serv-I-Quip. “Leak testing is now integrated into the manufacturing process. Product goes directly to boxing and shipping after manufacturing,” he explains.

Specifically, the integrated process eliminated material movement from the production environment over to the water bath area and the subsequent evaporative baking ovens to dry the product.

The Solution

The installed system consists of a Helium and Air Gas Mixing and Recovery System and DataTest NH100 Test Stations from Serv-I-Quip and Protec Helium Sniffers from Inficon. The Mixing and Recovery System generates a pre-set mixture of helium and air at a pressure and volume that meets Heat craft’s production requirements. After the gas is used to leak test units, the gas is vented to a recovery line and brought back to the system to be processed for reuse.

The DataTest 100 utilizes a bar code scanner to automatically set up the appropriate test cycle. A normal test cycle includes a UL pressure test, a pressure decay test, the helium leak test, test gas vent to recovery, and a final rough evacuation. According to Mr. Richey, typical cycle time is less than 30 sec. The network-connected PC in the test station sends all test and production data to a centralized server, providing easy access to data.

For the actual detection, Heatcraft chose to use the sniffer method of inside-out pressurized leak detection. The helium leak testing is performed by an operator using an Inficon Protec Helium Leak Detector, which is said to provide 10-6 cc/yr leak rate sensitivity and <1 sec response time.

Choosing the equipment took careful consideration, says Mr. Gant. “Testing heat exchangers is not a simple, straightforward process,” he explains. “Heat exchangers come in a large range of sizes, they have to be tested fairly quickly, and some of them have a lot of brazed copper connections. All of these items have to be taken into account when you are trying to pressure decay/helium test coils.”

When developing the complete system, Mr. Gant says that both Serv-I-Quip and Inficon worked very closely with Heatcraft engineers to develop a system optimized for it specific needs. “During the early stages of the Inficon startup, we realized that it confused our operators to show leaks in the 10-7 atm cc/sec range. The graph was constantly going up and down. Inficon changed the system so that the graph would start sniffing in the 10-6 atm cc/sec range. Since our rejection point was 1.8 x 10-5 atm cc/sec, this worked out fine,” he explains.

Heatcraft’s initial goal was to find a better quality leak testing method that could be incorporated into production without inhibiting through-put. All three companies believe this goal was achieved, as well as some additional benefits.

“Helium Leak Detection improved their leak detection capabilities by a factor of 1,000,” says Mr. Ryan of Inficon. “(This) enables Heatcraft to find quality critical leaks, which were undetectable using the water bath/water bubble method.”

Another benefit that Outokumpu Heatcraft can now provide to their customers is improved Work-in-Process information, adds Mr. Richey of Serv-I-Quip. “By tracking manufacturing data at the leak test station, Heatcraft can advise their customers on the status of their order and a delivery schedule. This is valuable information for a manufacturer scheduling production and inventory receipts. Heatcraft can also now provide unit test data to satisfy customer quality requirements or ISO procedures,” Mr. Richey explains.

Mr. Gant of Outokumpu Heatcraft says that while the results thus far have been positive, the system upgrade is far from finished. “The integration of helium testing into our production process continues,” he says. “Helium testing is a part of an overall plan to make coils flow through our plant. The benefits of helium testing are in the fact that you are using a high-quality test method that does not require the coil to be put under water or to be oven dried.”


Serv-I-Quip announces the release of its newest and most up to date product catalog. This comprehensive catalog showcases our broad range of process equipment designed to address the needs of Vehicle, HVAC, and Appliance Manufacturers. New manufacturing trends and regulations, along with increased quality, yield and profit goals, have driven the development of many new and updated products. Prominently featured are upgrades and enhancements to the testing and reporting capabilities of DataServ.NET, the popular Data Acquisition and Process Control software package.

This brochure spotlights an extensive collection of Serv-I-Quip’s manufacturing process equipment, providing a testimonial to their manufacturing expertise, quality workmanship, and industry knowledge. It’s easy to see how they have become the #1 fluid fill equipment supplier in the U. S. For a copy of this new publication, contact a Sales Engineer:

Serv-I-Quip, Inc. is excited to announce the opening of our first international sales and service office in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. With the steady growth of manufacturing facilities in Mexico, our installed equipment base in both the appliance and vehicle manufacturing sectors has expanded greatly. Building the same reputation for support and value add service that we’ve achieved with our U.S. and Canadian customers is a priority for this growing market. Accomplishing this will require a knowledgeable, experienced engineer from Mexico with a good background in manufacturing.

Heading up our office in Saltillo is Francisco J. Villarreal. Francisco is a controls engineer with extensive knowledge in PLC programming, C/C++, Visual Basic, Assembler, multiple operating systems and networking. Francisco has 10 years of installation and project management experience in the Saltillo and Monterrey areas at facilities such as Ford, GM, Chrysler, International, Electrolux, Carrier, and Siemens among many others. Installations included robotics, paint systems, conveyor systems, fluid fill equipment, test equipment, welding systems, and dynameters. With Francisco’s knowledge and background, Serv-I-Quip can offer our customers in Mexico and Latin America the best value in manufacturing process equipment.

Francisco lives in Saltillo, speaks fluent Spanish and English, along with some French and Italian. He can be contacted at (844) 198-7168 (cell), (844) 231-6838 (Nextel), 72*672244*1 (Nextel ID), or fvillarreal@siqinc.com.

R410A is also more hydroscopic than R-22. Moisture can react with some POE oils to form acid – leading to shortened product life and decreased efficiency. Keeping oil filled compressors closed off to the atmosphere during production is important. Drying the product out and leak testing becomes critical. We’ve become very experienced and knowledgeable in designing leak testing processes.

Don’t forget about the recovery and reclamation system. That R-22 Reclaimer is not going to work with R410A.

If the changeover to R410A wasn’t exciting enough, the EPA is now targeting R-134A as a dangerous greenhouse gas. In anticipation of this ruling, various substitutes have been submitted for approval, including iso-butane, propane, and the most promising, HFO-1234yf. They all use the same POE oils, and they’re all flammable, so leak testing will be even more critical. The filling area will require additional consideration since it will be designated Cat 1, Div. II. We’re prepared for these changes. We’ll be ready when you are. Give us a call if you need to get up to speed on this process.