Borescope for plumbing leak?

[Will the chippy]

I have a leak somewhere in my plumbing. I'm having to top up the water pressure too regularly, I've tried a leak sealer in the rad and I'm still loosing pressure, was daily now weekly.
The only thing I can think of is to inspect all the pipework, which I really could do without. I re-plumbed the house when we moved in 10years ago. Mostly in copper and some speedfit.
I thought a borescope might save me from pulling up the floors just in case. Are there any scopes that just plug into my phone or iPad? Any recommended brands? Or any other bright Ideas?

 

[Stevie/P]

Are you sure it’s the pipe work do you have a combination boiler?
If you suspect pipe work try doing a pressure check shouldn’t be too difficult to track down any signs of water on ceilings or walls any damp spots.

 

[artschool]

I bought something like this to find a plumbing leak under some stairs and it did the job.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Endoscope-Inspection-Hopefox-Flexible-Waterproof/dp/B0BWF7QLGP/ref=sr_1_7?crid=YLC2JQ9Y2LH3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.QizVL7sEEFR-WvAW4GNDfWnVUNlPIcQhE7x7N8mYFUI-5yD5-9EVKtJhZMc7B5N5WISJErsUYc_o3SGaU7NHfN8jO47b97M9t4nBYhlQJhc4lMrveGlbVZ4ACwgaJKnrIz520ZO0Kh9YjtrGf8XzlNh-uHnN5_V69hd2KtzC8xu4kT6jleymvR_LFbGfZXVJaD7V1h9ESOZcZ7X59cskYG14IRB52BodGeva2U-OSG3p7B1KM83ue-LlHbaLEzQU3NBGc6NQ9ow51qt6_j6qqvRtkqGi6bvjN4MUphjM9DBwKd31A047Vn1CK17AKus7CBkOb7tyOWgfdqFyHi9e8RmZQzaYSq11bWOLcajyLIRvNiTIzf3xYeb6lsd-3eHcdKL8Df0nTOZUZ3InFi8aAkgbVOnJMdI0PTK-8HH2vMbNVhtv5ztBpAOKvu0WFIeJ.pk2jOoZ9oHaDlQ2dEZE9PAQJPLx8RaVMQeQn4AFXyi4&dib_tag=se&keywords=Borescope+usb&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1734638842&sprefix=borescope+usb%2Caps%2C112&sr=8-7

 

[Will the chippy]

I'm loosing about .25 bar a day. Was about .5bar. from 1.5bar down to 1.
It's a combi boiler. 2 story house, The pipes go up into the ceiling then down to the downstairs rads and up to the upstairs rads. I'd pressure tested it to 6bar with air before I had it commissioned 10years ago. No sign of any water or damp anywhere. There are no pipes at all in the ground floor. The pressure vessel is pumped up to 1bqr. And the pressure relief valve isn't showing signs of it dripping outside.
It's been going on for about a year. It's not been much bother during summer but now it's doing my head in.

 

[The Fat Hunter]

Isolate the boiler over night and see if the pressure drops, if it does you may have a pin hole in the main heat exchanger which is running down the condense pipe.

 

[Brighty3006]

Also check the expansion vessel. I have a pressurised system and the vessel failed

 

[Will the chippy]

Isolate the boiler over night and see if the pressure drops, if it does you may have a pin hole in the main heat exchanger which is running down the condense pipe.

Thankyou. Thats the sort of thing I was wondering, if there was an internal leak somewhere.

 

[johnnytheboy]

Same with mines it was blowing out a pipe outside the house, I looked everywhere in the house for a leak, there was a rusty stain on the rough cast that gave it away! I’m no plumber but hope this helps

 

[User00056]

Could be a leak in the pressure vessel diaphragm, or a sticky PRV

 

[Will the chippy]

Could be a leak in the pressure vessel diaphragm, or a sticky PRV

Thankyou, the pressure vessel is holding air, so assuming this is ok, I’ve bought a new prv to fit but there’s no water coming out the pipe outside.
I’ve had a plumber out and a boiler man. Both said same as you or there’s just a leak somewhere. None wanted to investigate further. The boiler man said he’d fit me a new one…… not till you find the root of the problem you don’t.

 

[Will the chippy]

Same with mines it was blowing out a pipe outside the house, I looked everywhere in the house for a leak, there was a rusty stain on the rough cast that gave it away! I’m no plumber but hope this helps

What was the remedy? New pressure relief valve?

 

[johnnytheboy]

What was the remedy? New pressure relief valve?

The boiler has long passed it service life guess buying scopes is on hold for a bit!

 

[Will the chippy]

The boiler has long passed it service life guess buying scopes is on hold for a bit!

I have a sneaky suspicion that my boiler is older than I realise. It was in the house when we moved in, and we’ve been here 10 years. Might need to save some pennies.

 

[johnnytheboy]

I have a sneaky suspicion that my boiler is older than I realise. It was in the house when we moved in, and we’ve been here 10 years. Might need to save some pennies.

To be fair it’s running ok so topping it up is the option I’ll take as long as possible

 

[polester]

I had similar problem with a boiler turned out to be the valve on the expansion vessel. Same sort as a car tyre new valve core solved it

 

[johnnytheboy]

Thankyou, the pressure vessel is holding air, so assuming this is ok, I’ve bought a new prv to fit but there’s no water coming out the pipe outside.
I’ve had a plumber out and a boiler man. Both said same as you or there’s just a leak somewhere. None wanted to investigate further. The boiler man said he’d fit me a new one…… not till you find the root of the problem you don’t.

Try putting a rubber glove over the pipe outside! That’s how I found mines, it’s just slow overtime

 

[Bigcal]

To check the pressure in ur expansion vessel u need to release the pressure first then put a foot pump on and it should be at 1.5bar if. But if this was faulty ur pressure wud increase until ur prv kicked in and then dump ur pressure outside. Sounds like a leak. Like above said isolate the boiler underneath both flow and return and check ur pressure over night (without running it) if the pressure holds u don’t have a leak on ur heat exchanger if u then open the valves back up and ur pressure drops, it’s on ur pipework.

 

[Len the dog]

To be fair it’s running ok so topping it up is the option I’ll take as long as possible

Constantly topping it up is introducing oxygenated water into the system, this allows corrosion to take place and not only shortens the life of the system and boiler, but increases buildup of sludge which over time reduces the efficiency of the boiler.

 

[cjm1066]

Had that with mine at 5 years old, plumber raised preassure to find leak, defective o ring replaced under warranty.

 

[Pete6.5]

Add perfume to the heating water and let your nose find the leak. It works surprisingly well. I've done this a few times in 24 years as a heating engineer.