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Maintenance · 9 min read

CRAC Spare Parts Guide: Liebert, Uniflair, Stulz

CRAC Services Engineering

When a CRAC fault is racing the room temperature, the right spare part on the truck is the difference between recovery and a thermal incident. Here's our parts guide for the major Australian CRAC fleets.

Common failure parts (the ones we keep on the truck)

CRAC units share roughly the same failure profile across manufacturers, even though the part numbers differ. The parts that actually break and require replacement during the unit life:

  • Air filters — every service visit replaces or cleans them; not really a "failure" but routine
  • EC fans — the most common active-component failure (5-8 year life under continuous operation)
  • Humidifier consumables — ionic / steam-generation cartridges, descaling required
  • Refrigerant valves and actuators — typical failure at 8-12 year mark
  • Compressor — major failure, usually unit-replacement decision rather than rebuild
  • Control board — rare but critical when it happens; typically board-swap with firmware reload
  • Variable-speed drives (VSD) — for chilled-water units with VSD-controlled fans, occasional VSD failures
  • Refrigerant leak repair components — pipe joints, schraders, sight glasses

Vertiv Liebert spare parts

The Liebert family is the broadest in Australian deployment. Current and legacy generations:

  • PEX4 (current) — 28-180 kW perimeter, R-513A. Spare parts available direct from Vertiv Australia, typical 5-15 day lead. Common board-level parts ship same week from local stock.
  • PEX3 (previous) — 30-180 kW. Still serviceable; some end-of-life sub-components (specific control board revisions) require workaround. Active service base in Australia is large; we have inventory.
  • PDX (current) — 15-165 kW direct expansion floor mount. Common parts: fan motors, drain pans, thermistors. Parts pipeline strong.
  • PCW (current) — 25-200 kW chilled water. Parts: chilled water valves, actuators, board-level controllers.
  • CRV (current and previous) — in-row 10-50 kW. Higher fan failure rate due to compact form factor and continuous operation.
  • MC condensers (current) — microchannel outdoor condensers. Common parts: fan motors, fan controllers.
  • Liebert HPF (legacy self-contained) — end-of-supply for major components; replacement decisions typical.
  • Liebert AHU (current air handler) — coil parts, fan parts, drain pan
  • CoolLoop / CoolPhase / SwitchAir (current high-density) — manufacturer-direct parts only, typical 10-15 day lead

We maintain Australian inventory of high-failure parts (EC fans, humidifier components, common control boards) for same-week dispatch under maintenance contracts.

Schneider Uniflair spare parts

The Uniflair line was acquired by Schneider Electric and parts continuity has been maintained:

  • Uniflair LE (current) — 8-110 kW perimeter, DX or CW. Parts available through Schneider Electric Australia.
  • Uniflair TD (current) — direct expansion floor mount. Parts pipeline established.
  • Uniflair AGRD (current) — outdoor condensers paired with TD/LE. Parts as for LE.
  • Uniflair BD (current) — ceiling-mount cooling. Lower volume in Australian market; parts may have longer lead times.

Legacy Uniflair (pre-Schneider acquisition) units are still serviceable but some control board revisions are end-of-supply. Schneider provides cross-reference for older part numbers.

Stulz spare parts

Stulz CyberAir is the German precision-cooling brand widely deployed in Australian data centres:

  • CyberAir 3 DX-A — 8-90 kW DX. Parts via Stulz Australia or Stulz Germany; some specialty parts have longer lead time.
  • CyberAir 3 CW-A — 15-258 kW chilled water. Pipeline similar.
  • CyberAir 3 GE-A — 13-91 kW evaporative. Lower volume in AU.
  • Mini-Space — small comms-room cooling. Mature product, parts typical 5-10 day lead.
  • CyberRow — in-row cooling. Limited Australian inventory; specialty parts via Germany.
  • CyberCool 2 — chillers. Chiller-side parts; service typically takes longer than CRAC indoor scope.

We maintain a smaller Australian Stulz parts inventory than Liebert (reflects the relative deployment volume) but coordinate with Stulz Australia for fast dispatch.

Daikin Applied / McQuay spare parts

Daikin Applied (incorporating the legacy McQuay range) supplies precision cooling primarily to chiller plant clients:

  • DPM perimeter cooling — current product
  • FXTM floor-mount — current
  • McQuay AGRZ chillers — chiller plant scope
  • WMC magnetic-bearing chillers — specialty parts only

Parts available through Daikin Applied Australia. Service base is more concentrated than Liebert; expect somewhat longer lead times for non-stocked items.

Mitsubishi Heavy and Climaveneta

Lower volume in Australian CRAC market; parts available through their respective distributors. We coordinate parts dispatch as part of service work but typically don't hold significant local inventory for these brands.

How we manage parts pipeline

For maintenance contract clients, we maintain a parts strategy:

  • Tier-A consignment — for mission-critical sites, we hold key parts on-site (paid via contract). EC fans, common control boards, humidifier consumables. Same-day swap when needed.
  • Tier-A regional — common-failure parts in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne metro warehouses. Same-week dispatch.
  • Tier-B regional — most service parts via manufacturer logistics. Typical 2-3 week dispatch.
  • Specialty / OEM-only — direct from manufacturer. 4-8 week dispatch typical.

We maintain a parts inventory dashboard for contract clients showing stock levels and recommended consignment items based on their fleet.

High-quality equivalents vs OEM-only

For out-of-warranty units, high-quality equivalent parts are often available at lower cost:

  • EC fan motors — multiple manufacturers (ebm-papst, Ziehl-Abegg, Nidec) ship interchangeable parts
  • Humidifier ionic cartridges — generic equivalents available
  • Filters — extensive aftermarket
  • Drain pans, sensors, thermostats — generic equivalents

OEM-only parts (where we recommend OEM):

  • Control boards (firmware compatibility risk)
  • Compressors (warranty implications)
  • Refrigerant valves on R-513A and R-1234ze systems (chemistry compatibility)
  • Variable-speed drives where firmware integration matters

We quote both options where available and let the client decide based on warranty status and operational risk tolerance.

When to call us

For parts supply, parts + install, or parts inventory consignment for your CRAC fleet, [Request a Quote](/contact#quick-quote).

References

  • Manufacturer technical bulletins (Vertiv, Schneider, Stulz, Daikin)
  • Field experience from CRAC Services service fleet across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne
  • AS/NZS 5149 — Refrigerating systems
  • ARCtick licensing requirements for refrigerant-related parts