Heating pipe water leak

Mr.Diagnostic

Hi all,

I have a hot water heating pipe leaking, well more of a weep than a leak. It is a very slight leak on a copper T-junction. Two of the pipes on the junction are qualplex, no leak, and the third one with the leak is copper. The nut on this is 32mm. The leak is coming from under the nut. I have tried tightening it but that didnt sort it.

I am sure the correct way to fix this is to drain the system, open the joint and either replace the t-piece or reseal it.....but.....I am looking for an easy way out.
Is there anything I could use to seal it externally. Epoxy resin, fiberglass etc?
The weep only happens with the heating on so I can get it dry and clean to apply something.

Thoughts, advice etc welcome

thanks

Avns1s

I think you'll really need to open the joint and replace the compression ring on the copper pipe OR you may get away with putting a little "BOSS" on the existing compression ring and re-tightening it. Water should be drained for this of course.

gsxr1

you could get a basin. undo the the leaking side of the tee piece and wrap the thread in PTFE tape. If you get a helper to work with you and use his thumb to cover the pipe you could even fix it with a full system.

Same happened to me last year. And this solution worked for me.

worth a try

Mr.Diagnostic

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. I tried to loosen the nut and get some PTFE into the threads, didn’t work.
I then turned off every stop cock and drained until the flow stopped, opened the joint and replaced the olive and nut. Job done.

Now I have another problem. Heating does not work.
I have never looked at any heating system before so I know nothing about them. It seems this is a sealed system and it now needs to be topped up and bled. It looks like I need to put a hose on it but I don’t know the procedure.
Any hints for me before I have a go at this.

It’s a 10 year old Ideal Classic gas boiler if that helps. The leak was on either the flow or return to/from the boiler to/from the immersion tank and it lost approx one basin full of water.

thanks

Big_Mac

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. I tried to loosen the nut and get some PTFE into the threads, didn’t work.
I then turned off every stop cock and drained until the flow stopped, opened the joint and replaced the olive and nut. Job done.

Now I have another problem. Heating does not work.
I have never looked at any heating system before so I know nothing about them. It seems this is a sealed system and it now needs to be topped up and bled. It looks like I need to put a hose on it but I don’t know the procedure.
Any hints for me before I have a go at this.

It’s a 10 year old Ideal Classic gas boiler if that helps. The leak was on either the flow or return to/from the boiler to/from the immersion tank and it lost approx one basin full of water.

thanks

Most heating systems should be self filling (considering that they have an overflow) Maybe someone with more knowledge than me can confirm that

It's likley that the system is airlocked and the rads need to be bled to get the air out of them and allow the water to flow. You'll know this as the rads only tend to heat at the very bottom cos the rest of it is full of air. Worth a try

311

Taking small amounts of water out of the heating system ,is the worst thing you can do.

You end up turning the pump back on and a chunk of air gets shoved somewhere and won't budge.
Your best bet is to drain down completely and fill back up again.

Mr.Diagnostic

Thanks again for the replies

I have learned a bit about how this system works, but not enough to sort it. this is the system that I have http://www.idealboilers.com/docs/pdf/classic_he_manual.pdf The only thing that I have not tried to bleed this is to supply it from an external supply (hose). I will try this tomorrow, right before I call a plumber. It seems that the boiler/pump area is where the airlock is.
Any suggestions on how best to bleed this welcome.

cheers

JamesM

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Hi,

Now I have another problem. Heating does not work.
I have never looked at any heating system before so I know nothing about them. It seems this is a sealed system and it now needs to be topped up and bled. It looks like I need to put a hose on it but I don’t know the procedure.
Any hints for me before I have a go at this.

It’s a 10 year old Ideal Classic gas boiler if that helps. The leak was on either the flow or return to/from the boiler to/from the immersion tank and it lost approx one basin full of water.

thanks

If it is a sealed system, it is usually connected into the mains or other water pipes in the hot press or near the boiler. There should be a valve that can be opened and a pressure gauge to show the water pressure in the system. The pressure should be 1 bar or a bit more.
You should not have to use a hose on it. If you have an open system there will be a small tank in the attic.
Jim.

Mr.Diagnostic

Thanks again for the replies.

It was very difficult to bleed but i got there in the end.

Now I know a little more about heating systems.
I was just about to call a plumber when I got a load of air out and felt some hot water at the imersion so I stuck with it.

And I thought BMW cooling systems could be difficult to bleed sometimes


cheers.