On-Site Design Engineer

Our on-site design engineer with the latest SolidWorks software available can tackle just about any task. Whatever your requirements, we can custom create a chiller system just for you.

Military Quality Chilled Water Systems

Flagship Marine’s chillers are the most rugged, commercial/military quality chilled water systems available! When downtime can equal lost dollars, the durable and dependable Flagship Marine units are money in the bank. To make the very best in chillers we put the very best materials in the hands of skilled technicians. Our chillers are built to last decades.

Metal Components Are CNC Cut

All sheet metal components are CNC cut and fabricated with CNC brakes and fastened with SS rivets and PEM inserts. Condenser tube to manifold connections are made with precision machined 90/10.

CuNi (Copper-Nickel) socolets that are TIG welded to the schedule 80 90/10 CuNi nipple with a monel alloy and brazed to the condenser tubes to ensure many years of trouble-free service. This configuration meets all MilSpec and ABYC requirements. Naked connections aren’t nearly as durable and fail to meet those standards. For your convenience, all manifolds are fitted with reducing couplers and a 3/4″ drain plugs for winterizing.

To make the very best in chillers we put the very best materials in the hands of skilled technicians. Our chillers are built to last decades. Flagship Chillers incorporates only the highest quality component, such as the 10,15,and 30 ton GEA evaporators manufactured right here in the States.

Expansion Valves vs. Capillary Tubes

All Flagship Marine equipment incorporates expansion valves which adjust the modulation of the refrigerant to match the conditions of seawater, humidity and ambient temperature. This maximizes performance by preventing excessive or inadequate refrigerant head pressures, resulting in more cooling and extended component life. This is why all new HVAC equipment must now use expansion valves instead of the capillary tubes you may still have in your home air conditioner. We don’t “cut corners” – these cost us about $75-175 each vs a $3.00 cap tube, and on the larger units, we use “balanced port” rather than the standard expansion valves which automatically adjust to the amount of refrigerant flowing rather than being a fixed flow and out of balance.
Capillary tubes cannot adjust the refrigerant modulation which is fixed by the physical length of the tube. Like a broken clock that is right only twice a day, capillary tubes either over-modulate or under-modulate the refrigerant as the sea water temperatures vary. As an extreme example, if you are in upper Mississippi when the water is 40° and the air is 95° the modulation will be excessive and the head pressure much too low. Expansion valves adjust the modulation according to the conditions.

Flagship Marine Units NEVER Have Condenser Failures

The heart of every marine air conditioner is the condenser—the heat sink to the ocean and the only component the corrosive sea water touches is the inside of the inside tube.  Failure of this tube is catastrophic for the entire system. Even extremely corrosive places like the very high salinity of the Red Sea are no problem for Flagship Marine condensers because we use an unusually thick walled 90/10 CuNi (copper-nickel) tube with particular annealment, hardness, and other characteristics.

We don’t dramatically shorten our condensers to save money by enhancing this tub: knurling or rifling for example. Our tube is “slick walled” with no thin spots that fester these failures. Paper thin condenser tubes dissipate heat very quickly so the condenser tube can be short and inexpensive. We don’t cut corners by doing so. We have full-length condensers! The shorter the condenser, the cheaper it is and the shorter it will last!

Titanium Condensers?

It has been known for a long time that titanium is an unsuitable material for seawater condensers because of marine growth. Indeed this extensive US Navy study details the problems. One way to minimize marine growth with titanium is by having a high-velocity sea water flow 100% of the time. Dormant water equals marine growth. Recently some manufacturers have been mixing titanium with copper to control the marine growth, so you really have a titanium/copper tube, which is a very special alloy that is so new we don’t know the “unforeseen consequences” of using this product.
We have never had a problem with our extremely rugged, slick tubed, thick-walled 90/10 condensers, and after so many years of basically zero failures, we don’t want to experiment with unproven materials. Severe electrolysis is about the only thing that will damage our condensers.