locating a leaking pipe

[ianhutch]

Turned on the heating and the pressure drops to zero in one hour. When the downstairs heating pipe is turned off the pressure stays constant so there must be a leak on the down stairs loop. BUT all the floors are solid and tiled. Been suggested that it is necessary to dig up all the ground floor of the house to find the pipe! Is there any instrument/device that can locate the leak of the hot water from the heating system. There is no damp patches in the house. Help please

 

[pannierstan]

Yes you get two twigs and wrap them together at the end then hold them at arms length .Think its called a devining stick

Seriously though I would suggest if you have definalty isolated it to down stairs the easiest way will be to have the down stairs repiped on drops.

There is no way to find it without digging it up.

 

[ChrisR]

3 ways to find leaking pipes:
1) listen
2) thermal imaging
3) gas diffusion

Specialist equipment is available for all three, but 1 and 2 can be tried with simpler kit.

You can get a company to guarantee to find the leak(s) for £250, but if you have one underfloor leak it's likely to be due to corrosion - concrete salts getting to the pipe, or badly installed pipes pulling apart. Either way, expect another one next year.

It might be worth some efforts to look for one leak as your is a big one, but expect to have to repipe all the downstairs rads from drops

Stan - a leak-finder company told me they had all their kit ready to go looking, then a local yokel came in with some bent wires and "divined" straight to the leak!

 

[ianhutch]

thanks chaps,

I was thinking of bending up a couple of old coathangers myself!

I did wonder about thermal imaging but knowing nothing about plumbing wondered if it would work - I thought the logic was sound but often it doesn't follow with the practical.

The house is 4 years old - so I assume there is no corrosion.

I'm based in Chepstow, Wales - do you have any names for the companies that do the thermal imaging?

Cheers

Ian