CH pipe leak?

I've excavated a bit of concrete floor (where I'd reported dampness in another thread), where the concrete had started to disintegrate under the harder top layer.

There's CH pipe buried here, it was covered with blue and green stuff, that had also permeated into the now powdery concrete. At places it was also wet! Although there was no actual water gushing anywhere.

It this likely to be an actual leak of the pipe? Or could it just be clamminess it's picking up from moisture already in the floor?

The coloured areas are either side of T-joint (where a pipe offshoot goes across the hall to some mysterious destination, as as far as I know there are no CH radiators or pipe work on that side of the house).

On another matter, how do you drain a Primatic CH system? I can't see any relevant pipes going in or out of the hot water cylinder (which has 'Primatic' embossed on it).

(I was thinking of just replacing that bit of pipe, once I find where the offshoot goes to. Or I might just replace the boiler and CH pipes anyway, as they're pretty old. Using pipework above the concrete this time!)

Reply to
BartC
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Does it look like this pipe was just laid in the concrete without any sleeving or tape around it?

(concrete and unprotected copper don't always mix well!)

It could be the pipe is pin holed all over the place....

Sorry, no idea.

That or some variation seems like a good plan!

Reply to
John Rumm

i'd replace with plastic *in* the concrete frankly - if its hot water insulate it with a sleeve..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Nothing that I could see. Unless it's now dissolved.

(At least I found where probably the true DPC is (a darker, harder layer two inches below the surface with some gauze over it), so the thin paint-like coating of bitumen(?) on the floor surface likely isn't it. Although oddly the floor surface matches up with the DPC in the exterior walls.)

I'll have a closer look tomorrow. Also I might bleed a radiator, and see if the water coming out leaves the same rust-tinted stains on the vinyl.

Didn't they already know this in 1968? And who decided that embedding pipes, cables etc in concrete, making fault-finding and maintenance a nightmare, would be a good idea?

Reply to
BartC

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