Frequently Asked Questions

Click technical documents to navigate to a PDF version of our current Series Modular Cooling Tower Installation, Operation & Maintenance Manual. Review the maintenance section (Chapter 10) to see if it contains your needed information. If not, contact our service department by phone at (405) 979-2123 or by email at Service@TowerTechUSA.com. Before you contact us, please have the following information from your cooling tower’s nameplate ready: model number, serial number, product number, production date and estimated ship date. Also, our service department will need to know the street address where the tower is located, the name of the company using the tower and your name, title, company name, phone number and email address.

Cooling tower modules can be provided with optional basin heaters. The kit includes a control panel (NEMA 4X), a temperature sensor, heating elements (6 KW each) and factory-mounted service ports in the tower module for the sensor probe and heating elements. Each tower module must have its own dedicated control panel and sensor. Each controller can handle up to four individual heating elements. The control panel, sensor and heating elements are shipped loose with the tower module sump and must be field-mounted and -wired by the local contractor. A power supply independent of the tower fan motor power is recommended.

Click these links to learn more about preventive maintenance and repairs. To find our sales partner in your area click Find Sales Partner. If we have no sales partner in your area, please contact our service department: TEL (405) 979-2123 or EMAIL Service@TowerTechUSA.com. Before you contact us, please write down the following information from your cooling tower’s nameplate: model number, serial number, product number, production date and estimated ship date. Our service department will also need to know the street address where the tower is located, the name of the company using the tower, and your name, title, company name, phone number, fax number, and email address.

Using OEM parts are critical to the operation of your Tower Tech cooling tower. Our local sales partners should be able to assist you with replacement parts. To find our sales partner in your area click Find Sales Partner. If we have no sales partner in your area, please contact our parts department: (405) 290-7788 or EMAIL Service@TowerTechUSA.com. Before you contact us, please have the following information from your cooling tower’s nameplate: model number, serial number, product number, production date and estimated ship date. Our parts department will also need to know the street address where the tower is located, the name of the company using the tower, and your name, title, company name, phone number, fax number and email address.

Each quotation includes part numbers, part descriptions, parts prices, parts availability and a unique quote number. After you review our quote, please provide an approval signature at the bottom of the quote form, indicate the payment method and email it to your parts sales representative at Tower Tech. Note any comments, additions, or deletions on the form. Parts will be shipped after we receive your approved order and any applicable deposit payment (or credit is established).

You may purchase parts with a credit card, check or credit terms (requires pre-approval). 

Most parts are kept in inventory and can be ready for shipment within one to three business days. More specialized parts may have a longer lead time if they must be manufactured or special-ordered for your specific tower. Regular inspections allow you to plan ahead and get your order submitted before a situation becomes critical.

Absolutely. The Tower Tech team knows our various tower models literally inside and out. We're happy to help if you contact us.

Our towers have standard pre-wiring from the motor to a junction box, optional individual rotary disconnect switches or motor protection panel. Our optional control panel with a temperature controller is typically shipped with the tower on a separate pallet. The panel must be field-installed by your local contractor, connecting the individual motor starters to the junction box or rotary disconnects.

The simplest solution is a stand-alone system with a single VFD supplying input to our optional motor control panel. The motor control panel has an optional analog output module to supply either 4-20 mA or 0-10 volt output speed control to the VFD. The optional control panel can be equipped with a pre-programmed Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), single-point wiring to a face-mounted disconnect, individual motor starters with magnetic and thermal overload protection, face-mounted HOA switches for each fan motor and an RTD temperature sensor for remote mounting in a thermal well in the tower’s discharge piping. If the VFD is installed with a line voltage bypass, an auxiliary contact on the bypass contactor will tell the PLC to take control of the fans using fan cycling to control outlet temperature. In cases where a Building Management System (BMS) is to be used to control and monitor the condenser water system, we recommend that temperature sensors and control outputs for the VFD be provided by the BMS. The output of the VFD is fed to the single-point disconnect in the optional control panel and a dry contact in the VFD tells the control panel to energize all of the motor starters. When the VFD is in bypass mode, the PLC takes control through its own temperature sensor and set-point to control tower outlet water temperature through fan cycling in a stand-alone system.

The VFD should be sized for maximum motor current (MMC), not horsepower. For example, a Tower Tech TTXL-081975 tower has eight 7.5-HP eight-pole 460V motors, and each motor has an FLA of 12.3 amps plus a 10% safety factor. To calculate MMC, add the amp service factor to FLA. The VFD for the above tower should be sized for 112.8 amps (12.3 x 1.1 x 8 = 108.2). Our TTXL Series Technical Reference Guide gives the correct MMC for each of our cooling tower models.

The optional motor control panel is ‘ready’ for variable frequency drive (VFD) application and stand-alone fan cycling control whereas the VFD does not require an input speed control from the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). If the PLC is used for speed control, an optional plug-in analog output module must be added to the PLC, in which case all necessary terminal points will be provided for proper interface wiring between the VFD and the motor control panel.

In most cases, it is unnecessary to have a make-up or overflow connection on the cooling tower when the tower return water is gravity feeding a remote auxiliary tank or reservoir. However, you will still need to add make-up water somewhere in the cooling tower loop to replace water lost to evaporation, blowdown and drift. We recommend installing a level sensor in the auxiliary tank or reservoir to add make-up water. No overflow should be required if the tower will gravity feed into a remote auxiliary tank or in-ground reservoir. Note: The remote auxiliary tank or in-ground reservoir should have sufficient capacity to hold the tower shutdown water. If it cannot, you must find a way within the recirculating water loop to contain (or allow overflow of) excess shutdown water.

Though it can sometimes be shorter, the standard lead time for Tower Tech to perform service work is four to six weeks from the receipt of a customer’s purchase order and both parties' agreement on terms and conditions. We are working to shorten this lead time by increasing the number of factory-trained independent service companies available to respond to service calls.

Depending on the time of year you call, we can usually offer immediate service on all Tower Tech models. However, during our busy season, from March to July, our service technicians are often scheduled four to six weeks in advance.

We can diagnose many problems by telephone the same day we receive your call if you provide the following information from your tower's nameplate: model number, serial number, product number, production date and estimated ship date. Our ability to conduct on-site diagnostics depends on the severity of your situation and the response determined by our telephone discussion with you. We have service technicians readily available to diagnose the situation further and develop a plan of action to resolve the problem.

Yes, Tower Tech offers long-term preventive maintenance plans. Our PM Service Agreement is available on a one-year, three-year or five-year basis. The plans include an annual visit that includes an initial, thorough inspection, preventive maintenance service and a semi-annual inspection of your tower (up to one “inspection day” per tower) for the life of the PM Service Agreement unless otherwise specified.

The answer is yes. We aim to satisfy each and every customer completely, and we are always available to address reasonable requests. We generally prefer to inspect a tower thoroughly before we submit a quote for service work, as our inspection reduces the possibility of discovering unforeseen problems later. A thorough inspection also allows our service technicians to bring to your job site all of the parts and appropriate equipment and tools to complete your job efficiently.

The internal reservoir in a Tower Tech modular cooling tower is “right-sized” to allow efficient operation in virtually any application. While it is true that reservoir capacity is less than some other tower designs, ample capacity remains to allow for normal tower startup and shutdown procedures. When multiple tower modules are required, we recommend a staged startup and/or shutdown procedure as described in our Installation, Operation & Maintenance Manual. We further recommend that on installation the piping contractor install an isolation valve at the tower hot water inlet and a check/shutoff valve in the tower outlet piping. The benefits of right-sizing a cooling tower’s internal reservoir include reduced tower operating weight and reduced tower system volume. The impact of low operating weight is apparent. Reduced system volume reduces blowdown volume, make-up water requirements and water treatment costs.