Leak under sink

CM66

Hi Guys - any help would be appreciated before I have to call out a plumber!

I have an Ideal HE 15 boiler and yesterday the pressure was down to apx 0.25 so I re-pressurised using the filling loop under the sink. I have dont this before without any problems.

However, this time it seems to have caused a small drip / leak at the joint of one of the pipes. Any ideas on what this might be or how to fix it?

I thought I might have over pressurised as it went to 2.5 so I drained some water from the system and now its sits at just under 2.

Many Thanks

Clare

iamcornholio

If the fitting is a compression type (ie a nut) then you can try tightening it .... a spanner or wrench on the nut and one on the fitting too to hold it

CM66

Thanks - I'll give that a try

Chunks

Was the filling loop originally unattached? In other words, did you see the low pressure (so decided to repressurise) reattached the filing loop, refilled and then noticed a leak?

Setting aside what pressure your boiler should operate at, what would be a worry would be why it's down at 0.25 bar...... Of course if the filing loop was attached, the connection may have been leaking for a while causing the pressure loss (would of thought you would notice the 'puddle'...). I had a filing loop failure at only 1 bar orginal pressure, which nearly brought a section of the ceiling down!

ormus

a lot of older (gravity system) pipework will certainly give rise to leaking when pressurised to say 2.5/3.0 bar.

unlucky67

Be careful tightening up a compression nut - you can overtighten them! If you do the leak will become much worse! If it wasn't leaking before it must have been tight enough...
Don't know how often you check your water pressure... but if it has gone that low over a month or so you have a leak somewhere and if it isn't this under the sink one you need to find it!
First thing is to go and look at all the inlet and outlet valves on your radiators and touch them to see if they are damp - or look for green on the copper...
If you can't find it I would bite the bullet and get a plumber in...thinking a collapsed ceiling would be much more expensive!

CM66

Thanks for your replies.

The filling loop is permanantly attached, i just opened the tap to increase the pressure.

I think did it last in November so its taking a few months to get down that low, so i'm guessing a slow leak somewhere? I've checked all the radiators and cant see anything glaringly obvious.

The pipework is under the sink right at the back, so i havent noticed the leak before before but it might have been going on for a while.

Like you said, rather than break something i think i'll bite the bullet and call in a plumber.....