O/T Central Heating Thermal Imaging - advice sought please

I have concluded that I have a leak in my CH pipes under a concrete floor and want to find someone to detect (through thermal imaging/acoustic sensing) where the leak(s) is/are and then fix it/them.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a national (or local, but prepared to travel to Cambs - very unlikely, I know) firm that can carry out such a service. I've looked on Google and there are a dozen such national firms, but I don't have any idea which, if any, are any good.

TIA.

Goldstone1976 said:

I have concluded that I have a leak in my CH pipes under a concrete floor and want to find someone to detect (through thermal imaging/acoustic sensing) where the leak(s) is/are and then fix it/them.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a national (or local, but prepared to travel to Cambs - very unlikely, I know) firm that can carry out such a service. I've looked on Google and there are a dozen such national firms, but I don't have any idea which, if any, are any good.

TIA.

Click to expand...

Missed this earlier..

You said recently you had access to a thermal camera; did you get to use it but want second opinion on what you saw?

I (genuinely) wonder how much a plumber is to isolate 'in floor' pipework/ and or cylinder coil and pressure test is, Vs company to thermal image ?

Rowdey said:

Missed this earlier..

You said recently you had access to a thermal camera; did you get to use it but want second opinion on what you saw?

I (genuinely) wonder how much a plumber is to isolate 'in floor' pipework/ and or cylinder coil and pressure test is, Vs company to thermal image ?

Click to expand...

thanks for the reply. Yes, I want a second opinion on the imaging. I had the cylinder replaced anyway as I wanted a high recovery cylinder as I'd had a power shower fitted. Changing the cylinder has made no difference to the pressure drop in the CH loop.

While in the garden over the weekend I noticed I have a blown brick face directly outside one of the CH rad pipes. I know that water can appear in a different place to where the leak is, but there's literally 12 inches between the rad pipe and the blown bruck. The imaging I did showed (to me) no real sign of leakage anywhere, but there simply has to be -there's nowhere left for water to be leaking from.

I've today opened conversations with my insurers about trace and access - so that might cover the cost (less excess).

I've got a combi boiler system. I have to top up the CH pressure about once or twice a month. I'll top up to 1.8 bar and after a couple of weeks it's back down to 1.5 and then a couple later 1.3. So I would guess it loses about 0.5 bar a month. I also have a little bleeding to do in the tallest rad upstairs. I wondered if that was normal? The old system would have had the expansion tank topping up the CH and we would never have noticed if it had ever been leaking before. Is it natural to lose a little pressure? That was the whole point of old expansion tanks wasn't it?