I guess this device enables a radiator circuit to be pressurised with air from a car pump??
Thanks
Mr F.
The relevant BS on pipe testing recommends that air testing should only be used as a last resort and that, if it is necessary, the area should be evacuated. I would strongly suggest that you pressure test with water.
Part of the purpose of pressure testing is to cause the failure of any weak joints. With air, a considerable amount of energy goes into compressing it and it is released explosively in the event of a failure. Bits of pipe or fittings could go flying. 5 or 6 psi could easily put someone's eye out. This device goes to up to 60 psi; ignorance is bliss.
I reckon testing it dry using about 0.5-1.0 bar this will show up major faults (you won't even get it started) and more minor ones can be found by listening and by using gas leak detector.
The put the water in and test to 3.0 bar.
Pressure testing with air is inherently dangerous. The BSI's panel of experts who compiled the BS on pressure testing recommended against it. Lots of people do it as routine, usually those who haven't seen a failure under air pressure.
There was some programme in which a bunch of trainees had to build a flat in a development. They got an 'expert plumber' in who tested their non-expert plumbing by connecting his 50 psi B&Q compressor to it and switching on. There were lots of leaks.
Eh? Gas detectors use sniffer type things, don't they. Do you have an ultra- sonic one (who from), or are you thinking in terms of gas pipes?
It's a spray-on foam that makes leaks easy to see.
Of course. I was thinking of an electric gadget.
The energy stored goes up with the square of absolute pressure, hence testing to a modest pressure should be _much_ less hazardous.
I have spent many years pressure testing pipes in aircraft with compressed gas and I have never seen anything explode. Leak a lot, yes, but never explode. This includes 3 to 4 inch aluminium, thin wall, pipes pressurized to 50 PSI.
No, it is to expose a weak joint, not to cause its failure. Proper pressure testing is done in stages, by increasing the pressure slowly, to establish that joints are secure. Any one in their right mind would never apply a high pressure to an unknown pipe network without bringing up the pressure slowly.
Dave
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