How can I check for Leaks?

Rodney Summers

Thanks for the advice guys. One thing a friend at work suggested was to take a water meter reading, say at night, and make sure that no water is used after that. Then read the meter the next morning.

It is the type of meter similar to the odometer on a car. It even has a triangle device that will spin at the slightest use of water.

If there is no change, then I'm hoping there is no leak. Anyone ever try this?

Thanks

Joe

Rodney Summers

Check for leaks?

Based on what I was told in the To Drain or Not to Drain thread, how can I check to see if my hot water system is leaking, and the water in the boiler is being replaced by fresh water?

One way I did think of is to take a water meter reading before going to bed, and see if the reading changed in the morning. I would have to make sure though that no one uses any water during the night. Is that one way to do this, or is there a better way?

Thanks

Joe

[Deleted User]

you can check for leaks

by carefully inspecting all of the exposed piping in your mechanical room.

Leaks can be obvious or hidden:

Wet spots on the floor are a dead give away of an obvious leak. Green stains on or under joints and fittings in copper piping are can be important clue as well.

An example of a less obvious/hidden leak can be the discovery of a ring of copper oxide around the distal end of your boiler's pressure relief valve piping.

Frank water spots on the floor can be caused by threaded or solder joint failure. The stains around the end of the relief valve piping can be caused by a releif valve failure, a pressure reducing valve (boiler feed) failure, or by an expansion tank failure.

In my experience, threaded joints fail to hold water when the tread sealant fails or when corrosion makes its way out from the inside. Copper joints fail for the same reasons, as well as being incompletely soldered at the time of installation.

Material failure in a hydronic systems has been shown to be caused by too low pH in ferrous (iron and steel) piping, too high pH in copper/brass/bronze components, incompatibility between thread sealers and the inhibitors chosen by the installer, and lastly, expired or incompatible antifreezes.

It is probably time for a lab analysis of your heating water and a consult with a local hydronic professional in your area. Beware of advertisers who claim to be plumbing and heating installers that have no heating references.

Rodney Summers

How can I check for leaks?

Fred

How would I find a lab or company that would do this. How would they be listed in the Yellow Pages?

Thanks
Joe

soot_seeker_2

slow leaks

Some slow leaks around near boiler piping will evaporate quickly from the boiler heat and not show anything to reveal the leak.

If it is not too cold outside, shutting down the boiler and letting it cool off might show the leak since it will not be able to evaporate.

[Deleted User]

where are you located?

You can obtain litmus paper and a comparator from any scientific supply house and from some drug stores. Your better hydronic heating contractors all work with labs that can take a water sample and look for what it right and wrong with it.

I ask Norwest Labs to look for at least the following:
Fe - iron, Mg - magnesium, Na - sodium (if there is a water softener in the home), electrical conductivity, pH, and if there is antifreeze involved I ask them to discriminate between propylene and ethylene glycol, and a quick check for metals generally. If inhibitor was installed, or not, I ask about molybdate and nitrite as these are most common here.

I hope this helps. I REAL heating professional should do a system check-up for you. I am concerned about your description of the heating system fluid color. A local technician can best identify what is normal in your particular area.

Sincerely, F.

R. Kalia_7

It's easy to find whether there is a leak (although it may not be so easy to find where the leak is). You don't need to read the water meter and prevent anyone from using any water...that will only tell you if there is a leak anywhere in the house, which may also be interesting to know, but that's not what you want to know right now.

Turn the supply water off where it goes to your heating system (through the pressure-reducing valve). Make sure the shutoff valve is tightly closed.

Couple times a day at first, and then less often, check the water pressure (there's a dial somewhere). Do this only under the same conditions, e.g. only when the boiler is not running and the water is cold. If the pressure keeps going down (maybe not the same day, but within a week or two) you have a leak.

Remember to open the valve again when you are done.

JeffD

Make sure your boiler has a functioning Low Water Cutoff before performing this test. You don't want the boiler to dry fire should you have a large enough leak.

Scooter Libby

Yeah, sorry, turn the boiler off for the first 12 hours and see what happens. If there is no pressure loss, you can run the boiler, but keep checking the pressure every 12 hours for the first few days.