liquid leak detector

EBEBRATT-Ed

We installed about 200' of high pressure natural gas piping (10psi) all 1 1/4" socket welded across a roof. It stops above the new boiler room where the new gas regulator will be located. Then a new 2" drop (threaded) which will be low pressure gas to the new boiler.

Because the inspector won't go on the roof (30' up) I installed a dummy pipe where the gas regulator will go so our 100psi test is from the boiler room, through the 2" LP line, through the dummy pipe, through the HP pipe back to where the HP line is isolated from the main. There are 2 of the gas line systems being installed for two separate boiler rooms.

Anyhow, the first one tested fine 104 psi, didn't budge.

2d one kept dropping pressure, pretty fast too. So I got my bottle of NU Calgon liquid soap that was half frozen even though I put it in the front seat of the truck to thaw out and started sloppin it on with a paint brush. Found a leak in the 2" threaded pipe near the boiler (it just made a small bubble that didn't break) so I took it apart and fixed that. Re pressurized thinking I was all set but the pressure kept dropping just not as fast.

So on the roof I went checking every joint and connection 2-3 times and can't find a leak. By the end of the day Thursday I was ready to quit, half frozen, wet from crawling around on the ice and snow and disgusted.

So I called one of my co workers who showed up Friday morning with his "blue bottle of non freezing soap bubbles". He tested the indoor stuff and found nothing. Back on the roof he found the 1" union in the dummy pipe leaking. I had soaped that thing at least 3 times. It was plenty tight so took it apart and Never Sized it and it was ok.

So in 20 min he found what I had spent hours looking for. I was happy we found the leak and it was at a union (couldn't be better) but I was still pissed.

It's hard for me to believe that 100psi won't make a bubble with thick soap but that's exactly what happened. Even the first leak I fixed didn't show much bubble activity.

In the old days a jug of R-22 and an electronic leak detector would have made it a snap.

So, the big question:

What does everyone else recommend for liquid leak detector?? My Nu-Calgon is in the trash

Larry Weingarten

Hi, I start with Windex, (which doesn't work well on big leaks). For the tricky ones I use an ultrasonic detector, which finds (hears) leaks that don't show up or are hard to pinpoint with soap. My old unit is made by Go Pro though I don't even see a reference to it in the vast internet.

Yours, Larry

JUGHNE

Would your liquid just froze the leak shut? Pipe would have been damn cold, as you certainly know.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@jughne, no not that cold. The liquid was just.....gloppy wouldn't work in a spray bottle so I dumped some in a can and used a paint brush. I knew the stuff was thick but 100 psi wouldn't make it bubble??

As soon as he squirted his blue non freeze stuff on it it foamed right up. After I spent hours glopping my stuff on and finding nothing. I wasn't happy. Cept the leak was at a union

I will have to find out what he used. No more NU-Calgon for me. I like @Larry Weingarten Windex Idea except it will freeze in the truck. My R-22 idea is the best way

Larry Weingarten

Hi, Maybe throw a little vodka into the Windex? I have not tried this... No, really officer sir, this is leak detection fluid!!

Yours, Larry

hot_rod

windshield washer fluid with some liquid detergent added? Or RV antifreeze.

Mark Eatherton

I have to caution anyone reading this. My brother, another former expert witness, was involved in a case where the plumber had used windshield washer solution mixed with dish soap for detecting leaks. He had sprayed the body of a brass gas cock/ball valve. The chemicals in the soap had penetrated the porous valve and caused it to crack and fail (Chloride stress cracking fatigue) , causing a major and total fire...

Every since then, I've stuck to manufactured leak finders and have avoided the use of make it yourself leak detection fluids.

Trave safe out there...

ME

HomerJSmith

Experience is what you get when things don't go the way you planned.

Jackmartin

I know what it is to be cold I live in Winnipeg and we do not issue cold weather hazard until it reaches forty below so I know how miserable you felt. Now you have to understand how leak dectector liquids works. The leak detector solution has what they call in the chemical engineering world an elastic constant. In other words at the temperature rating of the Liquid say low point 20 degrees the elasticity of the Liguid remains constant , you introduce a ballooning effect —— pressure ,and the chemical property of the liguid expands its chemical bonding to cause a bubble. Temperature alters the chemical bonding dynamics and below the ballooning temperature of the liquid it will no longer expand with pressure but allow the ballooning pressure to escape as the bonding does not allow the bonds to be elastic any longer. The low temperature liquid is thinner for a reason, the same reason you need lower viscosity in your oil for your car in the winter applies to any solution dedicated to a specific function eg. leak detecting. The chemical make up of low temperature leak detector is very different to normal temperature leak detector solutions. However, is it not interesting ,you can use low temperature liguid leak detector at any temperature? I have had great success with Masters liguid leak detector ( comes in a spray bottle) and if you look, it does not care what temperature you use it at ,it does not freeze. I could get all chemical here but, suffice to say ,if you can spray it out of a nozzle it is good for any temperature human beings work in. It works at our climatic conditions and I think it will serve you well. All the best: Jack Canada

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

I buy Sherlock Leak Detector by the gallon, but we don't have the freezing temperatures you have. They have a low-temperature product available.

http://www.wintonproducts.com/id21.htm

EBEBRATT-Ed

@Jackmartin , you sir are the cold weather expert. Thank you for the explanation. What you said make perfect sense!

rick in Alaska

You guys get leaks?
Couldn't resist. I never have good luck with any bubble detectors. Almost all the jobs I do are small house jobs with not much piping. When I get a leak, I fill the pipe with Propane and use my gas sniffer. The leak is normally such a small leak that there is very little loss in the house. I can find very tiny leaks in a split second with my sniffer.
Unfortunately, on bigger system, I am stuck using bubble fluid. But I definitely will go to test the unions first.
Rick

kevinj_4

I use Sherlock and have for over 30 years, good stuff.

Mark Eatherton

I use this first, and bubbles second. The ULD gets me in the vicinity, and the bubbles fine tune it.

https://www.omega.com/googlebase/product.html?pn=HHLT-1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAv_HSBRCkARIsAGaSsrAXrM_hSkWHEQ-28n8cGioX7xyiBxf50cxz743So6jTWf7qiKFqb_MaArcxEALw_wcB

ME

JUGHNE

When I visit jobs I installed over the last 30 years it is obvious which bubble spray I had used.
The aluminum gas valves that had been sprayed with Dawn/soap are stained/corroded but not to the point of leaking as I now re-spray them with the blue bubbles to recheck.

Reading install instructions, now they actually say to leak check with an "approved" liquid. Maybe this was always stated, but maybe I only started reading I&O manual about 15 years ago

Really older I&O state to mix up a soapy solution and apply.

The blue bubbles are much better it that it clings to the pipe and doesn't freeze as quickly as the water/soap.

icy78

Big Blu  is really good.
The low temp stuff they have also.
Refrigeration Technologies makes it I think.
Sometimes tho, a leak just blasts by the solution, and dropping the pressure can work better by allowing bubbles to form.