serious leak in system

[disgruntled]

hi there
any genius plumbers out there,i have a serious leak in my plumbing but cannot find it as all the floors are tiled.i have to fill my boiler twice a day the leak is so bad.how can i find the leak without digging up my floors?
ta

 

[Froggie]

If the boiler is outside then you should start digging there to at least rule it out.

 

[davidoco]

Have you a sealed or open system? Is it indoor or outdoor boiler? Type of boiler? Do you have a pressure gauge and if so what is the normal reading? You only need between 1 and 2 bar! Can you identify the hot and cold feeds (1" pipes in your hotpress)?

1. have a look around the outside of your house around the soffit and facia and see if you can find a pipe sticking out. Keep an eye on it and see if there is water coming from it. You system may be boiling over and it releases the water through this.

2. All day exercise. turn off every rad EXCEPT one. run the heating for a bit with all stats turned up high. If you don't have a pressure gauge fit one. Once the water has heated up (15 minutes) watch the gauge. If there is no drop - open the next rad and then close the first. Watch again. You might be lucky and find a dodgy rad or it might drop on the first rad which either means it's that rad or the problem is on the supply and return from the boiler.

 

[disgruntled]

hi thanks for your replies
i have a condensing combi boiler inside the house so i have no water tank or hot press,i have found a few leaks by raising the pressure to 4 bar and have had to get a kango at my new tiled floors!however my boiler is still emptying overnight but i have no obvious signs of water leaking anywhere.will try that idea with the rads this weekend.

thanks

 

[davidoco]

You need to check this with your individual boiler but I doubt very much that you should try to run it above 3 bar. I'm not very familar with the combi boiler but it will have a pressure releif valve attached which will overflow above usually 3 bar. This pressure releif valve might be plumbed to your waste system so look for a t shaped valve with a black knob on top and follow the connections.

I'm guessing you have a booster pump or your own well pump which can supply above 3 bar. In any event your pipe work (good chance some of it is qualplex or similar) with plastic fittings is not designed to operate above 3 bar for heating or hot water.

If you find that you have to run it above 3 bar to get a satisfactory shower or tap flow your pipe work may be incorrectly sized going to those outlets. You can only get so much flow down a 1/2 pipe.