how tight is

Brad White_185

One caution, make sure you isolate any panel radiators when pressure testing. You can turn a Runtal panel into a mattress. Ask-me-how-I-know :)

That said, I usually test to twice working pressure or 60 PSIG but the system (less certain components) should be rated for 125 PSIG. Be smart about it.

Once you get the system up to pressure, get soap based leak tester or mix 50-50 water and dishwashing liquid. Or grab your kids' bubble-blowing liquid. Go around and soap threaded joints first then soldered joints.

A good quiet evening is a good time to do this too, should you be able to hear the little buggers.

I found leaks at valves with BSP threads and naturally, those were a tad difficult to tighten. Union fittings rule.

Pete M_2

how tight is

How tight is tight enough for prssure testing? I bring the piping up to about 30 PSI with air and it stays there for a good hour or so and then starts to drop off. By the next day it is down to 0 PSI. Is this good enough?

The system is copper, D.I. and pex for both radiant panels and infloor radiant.

Pete M

Rich L.

Nope

Definately not tight enough. If it's it at 30 psi today it should be at 30 psi tomorrow morning.

Pete M_2

Ok

Then I am going to be hunting for the little leak(s).

Thanks Pete

Rich L.

Get out the soap bubbles!

And remember Pete, it will be either the last joint you check or the hardest one to tighten!

Good Luck

Pete M_2

Wondering??

If it is something that I have to tighten, then it most likely means I have to cut the copper, then tighten, then sweat in repair couplings. Right??

Pete M

Rich L.

male adapter

If you're talking a copper male adapter into a threaded fitting then yes, that's the only way. If one of those are leaking you may want to take it apart, clean the threads, put on a couple of wraps of teflon tape, then pipe dope on top of that, tighten securly before resoldering. If you're soldering close to it you can wrap the threaded fitting with a wet rag to avoid burning out the dope.

Good luck.

jim lockard

Start

Start out by soaping your gauge. J.Lockard

Pete M_2

tell me

Had the same thought about the panel rads (Dianorm). I think the manual says that they have been pressure tested to 50 PSI. Do not want to open them up. Tell me about your experience.

Had the same thought about the gauge. Had a similar experience, of the system gradually loosing pressure, when I pressurized the in-floor up for the concrete pour.

Pete M.

Rich L.

Pex

Actually Pete you can have a slight drop in pressure after pressurizing your pex because it will expand slightly. Although you shouldn't see a substantial pressure drop and it will stabilize. If you are testing the entire system now be sure and check where the pex connects to your manifolds. I've seen the O rings roll, get pinched and leak at those fittings. At least that's an easy repair!

Brad, I'd like to hear your radiator experience too!

Kevin O. Pulver_2

My occasional trouble

> Actually Pete you can have a slight drop in

> pressure after pressurizing your pex because it

> will expand slightly. Although you shouldn't see

> a substantial pressure drop and it will

> stabilize. If you are testing the entire system

> now be sure and check where the pex connects to

> your manifolds. I've seen the O rings roll, get

> pinched and leak at those fittings. At least

> that's an easy repair!

>

> Brad, I'd like to hear

> your radiator experience too!



was the o-rings at manifolds. HARD to find sometimes. One time they wouldn't bubble, later they would. I've since used faucet grease on the O-rings and no problems pinching.
I've never made a Runtal into a mattress, but I DID almost turn a Yamaha fuel tank into a beach ball trying to pop out a dent. (almost 30 years ago) Kevin

Brad White_185

Mattress Radiator Story

OK guys, here it is...

I was pressure testing my system several years ago. I had isolated all of the radiators, or so I thought. My system is a reverse-return pattern with a central home-run return and two supply branches, (one up each side of the house) which combine into a full loop. This allows the system to practically self balance especially in that all radiators have TRV's.

Anyway... I isolated the Runtal radiators, vertical wall panels I have had since 1983 or so. But one valve, a 1/2" bypass, was left open to the return, which I had missed. I was watching the gauge climb, 50, 60, 70 lbs... My domestic pressure here is about 107 lbs. so I must be on a fire line.

When the system crossed just below 100 lbs., I heard a creaking, a groaning.... not unlike, I suppose, hitting crush-depth in a U-Boat.

Paging Jürgen Prochnow.... Herr Kapitan! Blow all tanks!

I raced upstairs only to see my living room wall panel and kitchen panel looking rather pudgy... Not unlike an air mattress you would find at the beach. I immediately dropped the pressure and checked for leaks. They held, they all did...

They continue to serve, albeit with about double the water volume they once had.

The new panels? They indeed were isolated. I was told by the manufacturer that they deliberately took a panel and tried to burst test it with water to 150 lbs. Looked like the Michelin Man but it held.

That is my story and I am sticking to it...

Moral: Double-Check your isolation setup if not positively isolate each radiator on both sides.