Any plumbers??

makster

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My parents central heating system is loosing a lot of water on the ground floor. My dad has spoken to people he knows about it and he says that he needs to rip up all of the flooring on the ground floor to find the leak.
This seems a bit severe to me. Would it not be possible to place a pressure gauge on each of the rads too look for a drop in pressure? At least this way he could get a rough idea of where to start looking.
I put this to him ages ago but he said that his plumber mate told him this isn't possible.
My mum is tearing her hair out at the prospect of all of their wood flooring being torn up!!
 
A leak anywhere will affect the pressure in the whole system (not just in the area where the leakage is occurring) so monitoring the pressure in one place doesn't make it possible to pin-point the source of the leak.

Is this beneath a suspended floor, and if so, how much space is there?
 
depending how large the leak is, its going to be making a visible wet patch or mini flood under the floor. So as long as there is enough space beneath it to get your head down to have a look around, you would only have to put in some test holes and have a look around from them, you can then pinpoint the leak. Possibly.
 
2 possibilities....1:the system isnt sealed properly and pressure is being reduced by water flowing back into the system due to a faulty valve.
2: a leak ...but if its a lot of water then it should be very obvious where the leak is.

any more info would help..









:)
 
You say a lot of water !! How much on the boilers pressure gauge ? 1 - 3 bar ?

The central heating side is a loop of sorts so like someone has already mentioned you wont be able to realistically eliminate certain area's of the house just by shutting down rads !! It really is a case of lifting up floors till you find it !!

If your only losing a small amount of pressure, i.e 1 or 2bar every fortnight or so, its unlikely it could be traced by using a damp meter through the floor !!! Its going to just drip to the bottom of the foundations nd eventually get sucked up by the ground ! (Causing no real damage at least !!)

As much as you would prefer not to, the only real way to do it would be to take up room by by room fella! Starting of course where you feel most likely !!! :? Its a bummer I know but at least by the sounds of it you dont have concrete floors with the pipes inlaid !! Real nightmare time !! :shock:

Hope this helps a little.

Del (Builder & Plumber by trade).
 
1 plank per room from the middle should do it ....and a very good torch






electrician/plumber/cycling prof teacher/bodyguard,furniture designer/upholsterer/chef/seaside rock maker and failed rubiks cube completer.(its only been 22 years and i still cant do the damn thing) :twisted:
 
First place a canary in every room. Now drain your central heating system. Finally pump Mustard Gas though the drained system. The bird in the room with the leak in it will die first, hey presto problem solved (although I must point out that I am not a plumber so this approach may not be APCH or CORGI approved)!
 
I guess in similar you could always fill the system with morning after piss! Providing your not running an old peoples home the corner of the room which smells most like Bob Geldhof is likely to be where your leak is at !!

Sorry Bob but ive stood near you and yes... You do smell of piss !!
 
Cheers for the replies! The canary idea has actualy already been suggested (although it involved a gas detector rather than a bird!).
I'm affraid to say that its all concrete flooring beneath the wood! The ground below is also very sandy, so the leaking water is draining away fast.
As an example, my mum can top the system up to 1.5 bar and then open the valve for the ground floor, and within 2 hours the pressure is on zero.
The ground floor has 8 double radiators spread between 6 rooms.
The only thing I can think of now is to try a decent damp meter at different points around the house.
Did wonder about a thermal imaging camera?
 
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