Complex setup- short version, I've put the pipework in for 2 radiators 'cos I wanted to hide the pipework in ceiling and stud walls, there's no boiler fitted and no rads fitted to the ends of the pipework yet (got to finish insulating the ceiling & let BCO have a skeg at it before I board and skim- I'm telling lies there, I'll put the plasterboard up but my plastering is utterly pish so I've got a top chap to do that bit). But I digress.
The joints have been a pain to do (my soldering skills are rusty, double bends to get round timbers, all sorts of nonsense) and they're not going to be easily accessible once plasterboard goes on so I'd really like to give them a near-live test before sealing them up (in a previous life I too came unstuck on a joint that was fine until the system warmed up & then it was drip drip drip).
So I'm contemplating a big fat lashup involving an old galvanised tank I found kicking around the place connected to flow pipe end (which is well above where the radiators will be) via pushfit tap connector (got some kicking around), the return pipe end next to the tank where I can see it, plastic Speedfit loops where the rads will be (or might be easier to temp fit the rads), boil the kettle many times & chuck it in the tank until water comes out of the return, isolate the flow, stick my lethal air pressure tester on the end of the return & pressurise to 4 bar (so air volume will be tiny so any major failure will just be a damp mess)
This is all going to be a massive pain in the bum- does anyone think it'll serve any useful purpose on soldered joints that have already passed a 4 bar air pressure test (and I won't be repeating that having read the many threads on the subject!) or do I really need circulating hot water to check the things properly.
Why copper- solid fuel back boiler is part of the planned system, it'll be connected via a thermal store so copper may be being over cautious but it is what the HETAS installers told me to do so there we go.
Ta
The joints have been a pain to do (my soldering skills are rusty, double bends to get round timbers, all sorts of nonsense) and they're not going to be easily accessible once plasterboard goes on so I'd really like to give them a near-live test before sealing them up (in a previous life I too came unstuck on a joint that was fine until the system warmed up & then it was drip drip drip).
So I'm contemplating a big fat lashup involving an old galvanised tank I found kicking around the place connected to flow pipe end (which is well above where the radiators will be) via pushfit tap connector (got some kicking around), the return pipe end next to the tank where I can see it, plastic Speedfit loops where the rads will be (or might be easier to temp fit the rads), boil the kettle many times & chuck it in the tank until water comes out of the return, isolate the flow, stick my lethal air pressure tester on the end of the return & pressurise to 4 bar (so air volume will be tiny so any major failure will just be a damp mess)
This is all going to be a massive pain in the bum- does anyone think it'll serve any useful purpose on soldered joints that have already passed a 4 bar air pressure test (and I won't be repeating that having read the many threads on the subject!) or do I really need circulating hot water to check the things properly.
Why copper- solid fuel back boiler is part of the planned system, it'll be connected via a thermal store so copper may be being over cautious but it is what the HETAS installers told me to do so there we go.
Ta
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