CF ChatterFix
Preventive Maintenance

Heat Exchanger External Condition

The shell and tube heat exchanger inspection stays outside: insulation, supports, nozzles, and weeping you can see. The technician writes the as-found reading and compares it with the last one on the asset. Do not pull a channel cover, rod the tubes, or break a flange. Anything past that line belongs to the site's own procedure, the OEM manual, or a permit. This is the inspection ChatterFix schedules. It is not itself permission to go further.

Interval Quarterly
Est. Duration 2.0 hrs
Steps 5
Applies To Chemical Processing

The Procedure

The steps ChatterFix schedules for this PM. Every step is a checkable item on the work order — a technician can speak their way through it without touching a keyboard.

  1. Inspect insulation, supports and nozzles from the outside with the exchanger in service only if the site permits a visual
  2. Record temperatures on the existing gauges. Do not install instruments
  3. Look for weeping at the channel cover and the tube-sheet joint
  4. Do not pull a channel cover, rod the tubes, or break a flange here
  5. A cover pull is a permitted mechanical-integrity job, not this inspection

Why This PM Exists

The shell and tube heat exchanger inspection stays outside: insulation, supports, nozzles, and weeping you can see. The technician writes the as-found reading and compares it with the last one on the asset. Do not pull a channel cover, rod the tubes, or break a flange. Anything past that line belongs to the site's own procedure, the OEM manual, or a permit. This is the inspection ChatterFix schedules. It is not itself permission to go further.

What Skipping It Looks Like

A stain at the channel cover becomes a cover pull on a Tuesday because the crane happened to be free. The round still closes, the number never lands on the asset, and the next person inherits a guess. Do not pull a channel cover, rod the tubes, or break a flange.

Setting the interval

Every ninety days. A cover pull is a permitted mechanical-integrity job. An as-found reading outside the limit the site already published is a finding. It does not become a new setpoint on this work order.

Equipment This Covers

Common Questions

How often should this PM run?
Quarterly. Every ninety days. A cover pull is a permitted mechanical-integrity job. An as-found reading outside the limit the site already published is a finding. It does not become a new setpoint on this work order.
How long does it take?
Budget about 2.0 hours for a technician working to the standard procedure. ChatterFix uses that estimate for capacity planning, then learns your plant's actual time from completed work orders.
What happens if we skip it?
A stain at the channel cover becomes a cover pull on a Tuesday because the crane happened to be free. The round still closes, the number never lands on the asset, and the next person inherits a guess. Do not pull a channel cover, rod the tubes, or break a flange.
Can I use this checklist in ChatterFix?
Yes — this exact procedure ships in the Chemical Processing industry pack. Pick your industry at signup and it is scheduled on the right assets automatically, with no configuration.

Related Procedures

Stop Retyping Your PM Library

This procedure — and every other PM for your industry — is already built into ChatterFix. Pick your industry and it lands on the right equipment, on the right interval, in about three minutes.