Central heating leak

Dspeller

Hi everyone,

I have a pressure issue with my combi boiler. A plumber has been and told me it is a leak in the system after establishing that it is not the boiler itself.

My oroblem is I can't find it! My house is very cluttered so getting to every radiator is difficult. There is no obvious evidence of a leak.

Is there an easy way to find a leak without actually seeing it?

macman

No. If it's on visible pipe runs then you just need to be able to see them to check. If it's boxed in or underfloor then you have to create access the hard way.
Sounds like it's time for a declutter if you want to solve the problem.
The only other sources will be a leaking PRV, which will be visible outside, or a failed EV: both of which your RGI should have checked first.

alanobrien

It depends what you mean by seeing it, the trouble with small leaks is they are not very visible. Worse still if hardware is boxed in you have little chance of seeing a leak with the possible exception of a thermal imaging camera.

One simple valve check is to tie tissue paper around the valve stems then see if its wet a few hours later.

For a somewhat more complex means of leak detection see my response to a similar post post #17 here;

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1694399/tracking-down-a-central-heating-system-leak

crazylady100

There are companies that specialise in finding central heating leaks if it is the pipes to the radiators that are leaking. They do it with really clever equipment without clearing out every room and pulling up your flooring. The company we used were called The Leak Team, but I think there are a few others out there.