Go Back  DoItYourself.com Community Forums > Heating, Cooling, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and T-Stat Controls > Boilers - Home Heating Steam and Hot Water Systems
Reload this Page >

In Floor Radiant Heat Leak

In Floor Radiant Heat Leak


   
  #1  
Old 04-18-08, 10:12 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 6
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
In Floor Radiant Heat Leak
I need some help with this one guys.

I recently purchased a home with radiant heat in the basement and garage. I thought it was a sweet deal until I started messing around with it. After finally getting the relay to the pump figured out I thought it was going to work. Then I noticed the pressure in the system was reading 0 psi. I filled the system to about 10-12 psi. Everything seemed to be working great for a while. Then after a few hours the system was down to 0 psi again.

So, I'm almost positive there's a leak, except I can't find any water, which really scares me.

I have a combination hot water heater/boiler, with wirsbo tubing running throughout the poured concrete. What are the chances that a line froze and is leaking now, and if so how do you find it??
 
Upvote
  #2  
Old 04-18-08, 10:36 AM
Who's Avatar
Who
Who is offline
Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: San Jose
Posts: 2,066
Upvotes: 0
Received 2 Upvotes on 1 Post
You might want to start by closing every valve on every manifold. Try and isolate which circuit(s) has the leak(s). Then you can decide whether you want to work around it or resolve it.
 
Upvote
  #3  
Old 04-18-08, 12:30 PM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 6
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I also noticed that the expansion tank will go into a vacuum. I thought it did this when the pump was left on, but apparently it does it while the system is only used for hot water. Does that add a twist into the situation? Could there be something in the boiler?

The expansion tank is a regular tank with an airtrol fitting. I've noticed that they aren't the most popular, been known for leaking, but I haven't noticed any water coming out??
 
Upvote
  #4  
Old 04-18-08, 01:14 PM
Who's Avatar
Who
Who is offline
Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: San Jose
Posts: 2,066
Upvotes: 0
Received 2 Upvotes on 1 Post
It's possible that the boiler could be leaking.

Pressurize everything.
Isolate everything.
Monitor everything.
 
Upvote
  #5  
Old 04-18-08, 06:14 PM
X
Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 2,338
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Take some pictures. Host them at photobucket. Link to them here. Truly catastrophic leak (like a whole system going to 0 in a couple hours) is probably not in the embedded tubing.
 
Upvote
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
Cookie Settings

DoItYourself.com®, founded in 1995, is the leading independent home improvement and repair website. We welcome your comments and suggestions. All information is provided "AS IS." Website operating problems contact webmaster@doityourself.com. Questions of a Do It Yourself nature should be submitted to our "DoItYourself.com Community Forums". Copyright© 1995-2023 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. You may freely link to this site, and use it for non-commercial use subject to our terms of use. View our Privacy Policy here.

 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: