A separated fitting hidden inside kitchen boxing
The boiler pressure was at zero, but the leak was out of sight. Tracer gas and an endoscope led ADI to a heating fitting inside the kitchen boxing.
Signs of the leak in Exeter
A barn conversion with radiators, towel rails and an underfloor heating circuit was losing heating pressure. The boiler gauge read zero on arrival, with no obvious external sign of the leak.
How the hidden leak was located
Thermal imaging mapped the pipe routes. Initial tracer gas readings by the sink and acoustic checks were inconclusive. Raising the tracer gas test pressure from 2 to 2.4 bar produced a clearer indication at the kitchen boxing. An endoscope confirmed pipework inside before the boxing was opened.
Why this area was opened
The clearer gas indication at the kitchen boxing, followed by camera inspection, supported opening that enclosure rather than the floor routes visible on the thermal image.
The investigation, step by step
- 01Pressurised the system, turned the heating on and checked the pressure relief valve.
- 02Mapped moisture and pipe routes, then drained and cleared the circuit.
- 03Introduced tracer gas and investigated intermittent readings near the kitchen sink.
- 04Increased the test pressure and checked a small opening in the kitchen boxing with an endoscope and gas detector.
- 05Opened the boxing, exposed the separated fitting and replaced it with new inserts and a fitting.
What was found
- Found
- A fitting had come apart on a central heating pipe inside the kitchen boxing.
- Repair
- The failed fitting was removed, the pipework cleaned and cut back, and new inserts and a replacement fitting installed on the same visit.
- Recommended afterwards
- Flush the system and introduce fresh inhibitor because the system water was heavily contaminated.
- Worth knowing
- The source does not record a completed flush or a post-repair pressure-test duration.
What this investigation shows
Mapping a pipe route was only the start. The initial gas and sound checks did not identify the failed fitting; the later indication and inspection changed the access decision.
Read about agreeing access and repair work and understanding the recorded outcome.
