Water Leak in Central Heating

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Mommah

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We completely renovated this house about 8 years ago including the entire gas central heating system.

Pretty much since the beginning the heating would malfunction every few months...rads cool no hot water.

Discovered one leak repaired it at the expense of the insurance co...premium went thru the roof.

Since then have had same problem but getting worse...have to top up and bleed system every few weeks....no obvious visible leaks.

When I ask plumber what to do...he says "sell"

Any magic leak finder out there????
 
Re: Water Leak in Central Heating..HELP!!!!!!!!

1st suggestion, change your plumber! there is an agent you can add to your system but it is very hit and miss, i would def try that first and see how it goes. you can get it from any heating merchants and instructions are on the bottle. it only works on small leaks though, i have used it and its worked and i've used it and it hasn't worked. you could also try a firm called larsen water mangement (no connection) they pressurise your system and use ultra sonic and sound equipment to hear location of leak then they draw an x on the spot and thats where your plumber can start looking. they are expensive but probably cheaper then ripping up all the floors!
 
Do you have signs of water damage now ?

study relevant pages on plumbersdiary.com carefully and then let me know if I can help or advise.
 
Hi,

I'm butting in here with same problem. Leak possibly narrowed down to under solid wood floors. Can get access under floor of adjoining room but can't see in under suspected area involved. Anyone suggest solution without obviously lifting wood floors( as I could be wrong/messy/expense etc). Anyone know of company doing CCTV inspection(similar to drains)?

Thanks

Maddad
 
Maddad, see if its possible to isolate suspected fault area pipe work, to prove or disprove leak, then you could look at rerouting pipe work with out lifting floor, if it's pipe work for rads that is.
 
Gary,

Good idea but not really a runner because
1. Would have to wait too long to prove point(i.e for pressure to fall)
2. More importantly wouldn't even consider re-running pipework above ground as it would be unsightly.

If I can be sure that leak is under this wooden floor I will just bite the bullet and lift and relay the floor for the purpose of fixing the leak. I just want to be sure that that's where it is. The floor is junkers wideboard layed on a clip system.

Thanks again
 
You can get tiny illuminating web cam to do the job if you are into diy see pic on pumbersdiary.com plumbing page plus other methods we do
 
gary71,

takes about six weeks for system to empty. Too long to be without heat in the room concerned at this time of year. Again above ground piping not an option, i'm too fussy!. I'm a good DIY'er and hope to solve this problem myself.

Plumber,

Sounds like good idea. Can I buy self illuminating web cam and if so where and how much approx?? I'll be running it under floor for about 20ft at furthest point. Will control and picture quality be good enough to examine joints closely??
To confirm my floor is solid wood, laid on ply, on raised joists

thanks all
 
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Thats not a big leak, so good luck, i would be interested to know how you get on if the web cam works for you.
 
Gary, I have a similiar problem in existing house I am getting a guy in over the next few days with a thermographic camera he wants the system cold to take pictures of all the floors and then will pics with the heat on for a comparison to attemp to see where the leak is. I can let you know how I go the cost is in the 200 euro region.
He is not relation/friend of mine. I can let you know how I go.
 
Thanks Tom, fault finding like this is something i have no experience in, but leaking systems are very common(as posts prove) so it would be great to get a handle on it, so i can point people in the right direction, cheers, Gary.
 
Tiny web cams. For any of you interested in examining in remote spots Maplin electronics will have all you need. A mirror on a stick like large dental mirror is also the best investment a plumber can make

Fibre optics. Redundant medical gear is high spec if you can get it.
 
Thanks guys I have a new plumber coming tomorrow.
Hopefully will have some concrete ideas...my sistem is now only taking 5 days to drain and a damp patch has appeared in the ceiling of the upstairs bedroom...not sure if there are any pipes there but that would be cheaper than taking up the ground floor.

Advice to anyone laying wooden floors in future is to buy the clip systems or the other one that you can take up and put back down.....I'm 80% confident this problem is caused by the screws in the floor themselves.
 
Hi Guys-I have a similar problem. I have gas central heating and had a plumber out not too long ago to replace a valve in the boiler. He also removed a faulty pressure regulating valve from the hotpress upstairs and since then I am losing pressure in the system. I can lose up to 1.2bar overnight and sometimes it will take days. heating is working but I have a constant problem with a downstairs radiator...keeps fluctuating in heat.Could that be an indicator of where it's leaking from?
I have no visible leak in the house so I'm guessin its under the floor :( Might have to go with the camera like tom.
 
Mommah said:
Advice to anyone laying wooden floors in future is to buy the clip systems
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure about that. I laid a junkers wideboard in my livingroom last year using clips. During the laying one board got damaged and had to come up. It took at least a half an hour to get it up and the board was totally destroyed. Once the board has been tapped home that's it.
 
TomC said:
Gary, I have a similiar problem in existing house I am getting a guy in over the next few days with a thermographic camera he wants the system cold to take pictures of all the floors and then will pics with the heat on for a comparison to attemp to see where the leak is. I can let you know how I go the cost is in the 200 euro region.
He is not relation/friend of mine. I can let you know how I go.
Click to expand...

How did you get on with this Tom? I have the same problem.:(
 
Interested in your conversation on an number of counts. Built house 7 years ago and am now stuck with no heating downstairs after a second 'unlocated leak'. Plumber brought in a guy with ultrasonic sensor 8 months ago (cost c250 Euro) and sussed first leak which cost total of 1600 Euro to fix. Recurrence of problem in last two months and now scratching my head (and wallet) as insurance will not cover repeated explorations. Have isolated upstairs so at least nights are warm. Fear that we could be ripping up floors every 6 months unless we route piping above ground. Any ideas on most 'sightly' and cost effective means of doing this? Also, what liability, if any, might rest with original plumber. Surely systems should be good for more than 7 years!!
 
Mayoman63 said:
Interested in your conversation on an number of counts. Built house 7 years ago and am now stuck with no heating downstairs after a second 'unlocated leak'. Plumber brought in a guy with ultrasonic sensor 8 months ago (cost c250 Euro) and sussed first leak which cost total of 1600 Euro to fix. Recurrence of problem in last two months and now scratching my head (and wallet) as insurance will not cover repeated explorations. Have isolated upstairs so at least nights are warm. Fear that we could be ripping up floors every 6 months unless we route piping above ground. Any ideas on most 'sightly' and cost effective means of doing this? Also, what liability, if any, might rest with original plumber. Surely systems should be good for more than 7 years!!
Click to expand...
I'm interested in this topic as I have a vaguely similar issue. Our (thermostat?) goes too high at times (just over 3) at which point my husband has to fiddle with a valve under the stairs (turn it off and then on). This seems to sort it for a while, but it's not a permanent fix. Also, separately, when we first turn the heating on there is a leak of water from the boiler itself for a short while. It fills a jug to about a quarter pint before it then stops. My husband thinks that the act of putting the heating on causes the water to leak from (clearly) a faulty pipe or area within the boiler, but that after a while it stops leaking because (I think) the pipe has by then expanded!! Does that make sense, and should we attempt to fix it ourselves (by taking the cover off the boiler and seeing if we can fix the hole/leak in the pipe)? Any advice appreciated.
 
Mayoman63, the original plumber will have no liability and his/her insurance company would not even entertain a claim after so long.

PetPal, asounds like your system pressure is far too high. There is a pressure relief valve in the boiler that will open it the system exceeds 3 bar pressure. When water is heated it expands, so a hot system will always operate at a higher pressure.

The valve under the stairs may be a filling loop or automatic filling unit. Whichever one it is, it should always be off, unless you need to top up water in system. Your system pressure should be between 1 and 1.5 BAR. always take readings when system is cold.
 
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