Methods and systems for remotely diagnosing an abnormality in a climate control device

Abstract

A method for remotely diagnosing an abnormality in a climate control device includes the following steps: (a) receiving, at a diagnostic device remote from the climate control device, a signal representing one or more operating parameters of the climate control device, (b) generating, at the diagnostic device, an operating state metric at least partially from the signal representing the one or more operating parameters, (c) comparing, at the remote diagnostic device, the operating state metric to a reference metric, and (d) diagnosing, at the remote diagnostic device, the abnormality in response to a difference between the operating state metric and the reference metric.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for remotely diagnosing an abnormality in a climate control device, comprising:
 receiving, at a diagnostic device remote from the climate control device, a signal representing one or more operating parameters of the climate control device;   generating, at the diagnostic device, an operating state metric at least partially from the signal representing the one or more operating parameters;   comparing, at the diagnostic device, the operating state metric to a reference metric; and   diagnosing, at the diagnostic device, the abnormality in response to a difference between the operating state metric and the reference metric.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, at the diagnostic device, one or more initial operating parameters of the climate control device; and   generating, at the diagnostic device, the reference metric from the one or more initial operating parameters.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 monitoring the one or more operating parameters of the climate control device using a monitoring device at the climate control device; and   transmitting the signal representing the one or more operating parameters from the climate control device to the diagnostic device.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one of more operating parameters of the climate control device include:
 temperature of a medium entering the climate control device; and   temperature of a medium leaving the climate control device.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the abnormality includes an abnormal difference between the temperature of the medium entering the climate control device and the temperature of the medium leaving the climate control device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one of more operating parameters of the climate control device include:
 high-side pressure of a refrigeration system of the climate control device; and   low-side pressure of the refrigeration system of the climate control device.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the one of more operating parameters of the climate control device further include:
 high-side temperature of the refrigeration system of the climate control device; and   low-side temperature of the refrigeration system of the climate control device.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the abnormality includes at least one of abnormal superheat of the refrigeration system of the climate control device and abnormal subcooling of the refrigeration system of the climate control device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting to a remote system a signal from the diagnostic device indicating the abnormality. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising identifying, at the diagnostic device, a first corrective action to address the abnormality, from a database associating a plurality of abnormalities with respective corrective actions. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising transmitting to a remote system a signal from the diagnostic device identifying the first corrective action. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising transmitting to a remote system a bid signal from the diagnostic device requesting a bid to perform the first corrective action. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising transmitting to a remote system a signal from the diagnostic device requesting a component required to perform the first corrective action. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising estimating, at the diagnostic device, a cost to perform the first corrective action, from a database associating a plurality of corrective actions with respective costs. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising predicting, at the diagnostic device, future failure of the climate control device from a difference between the operating state metric and the reference metric. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising transmitting to a remote system a signal from the diagnostic device indicating predicted future failure of the climate control device. 
     
     
         17 . A method for automatically characterizing a climate control device, comprising:
 receiving, at a diagnostic device remote from the climate control device, a signal identifying the climate control device;   obtaining, at the diagnostic device, information characterizing the climate control device from a database associating climate control devices with respective characterizing information; and   outputting, from the diagnostic device, the information characterizing the climate control device.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , the information characterizing the climate control device comprising at least one of a model number of the climate control device, a serial number of the climate control device, a capacity of the climate control device, electrical specifications of the climate control device, type of refrigerant used by the climate control device, an image of the climate control device, a location of the climate control device, and a cost to replace the climate control device. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 predicting, at the diagnostic device, remaining lifetime of the climate control device at least partially from a database associating climate control devices with respective lifetime information; and   outputting information representing the remaining lifetime from the diagnostic device.   
     
     
         20 . A monitoring device for a climate control device, comprising:
 at least one pressure input port configured to receive at least one signal representing pressure in a refrigeration system of the climate control device;   at least one temperature input port configured to receive at least one signal representing temperature in the refrigeration system of the climate control device;   at least one electrical input port configured to receive a signal representing electric current consumption of the climate control device;   at least one communication port configured to communicate with a diagnostic device remote from the monitoring device; and   control circuitry configured to:
 acquire operating parameters of the climate control device from signals received at each of the least one pressure input port, at least one temperature input port, and the at least one electrical input port, and 
 cause a signal representing the operating parameters of the climate control device to be transmitted to the diagnostic device via the at least one communication port.