Pressure water leaking under the heads

[Rolf.kristensen]

Hi,

I have a leak in my cold water pipe in the pressure system. As soon as I turn on the pressure pump I can see the water coming out from the floor under the toilet somewhere.

It is from some very inflexible plasting pipeping, and I can't get close enough to the source of the leak. I've tried to access it from both under the sink in the heads and in the drying cabinet in the heads. But it isn't very accessible.

Does anyone have a good suggestion as to how I should attack the issue?

Best regards
Rolf

[Yngmar]

The red and blue Whale quick connect pipes don't normally ever leak, they're very robust - unless maybe it chafed through somewhere (sharp corners). So I would check the fittings first and see if it isn't just running down on the outside of the pipe. Get a small mirror to inspect the side you can't see, or shove a smartphone in there with the camera app running. That should help you spot where the leak is.

Once found, it should be a matter of either replacing a damaged fitting or a section of pipe.

[Klausen]

I hat 3 times leaks  from the tubes,  but every time at the hot water line. There were little holes in it, the diameter of a needle. Therefore I carry sparetubes and connectors with me.

[Salty]

If it's the blue pipe that is leaking, I would give it a gentle pull from each end that you can get to in order to check that the pipe once disconnected will pull through. If you can move it,  then it's  likely the pipe will pull out from the other end once disconnected. Switch off the pump, cut the pipe if there is no connection nearby, drill through the freshly cut end so that you can attach a pull through cord. With the cord in place pull the blue pipe from the other side where it is accessible, ensuring that your pull through cord is following the pipe under those areas that are otherwise inaccessible. Don't pull all of the cord through ! Attach a new section of pipe to your cord, and pull the new pipe back through the otherwise inaccessible area and couple the pipe back in with some new connector couplings. Check the old pipe to be sure that it was the pipe that was leaking. It could be worthwhile to re-route the new pipe if possible to ensure that it does not chafe and start leaking in a few weeks time..

[Yngmar]

I hat 3 times leaks  from the tubes,  but every time at the hot water line. There were little holes in it, the diameter of a needle. Therefore I carry sparetubes and connectors with me.

You might want to fit a thermostatic mixing valve at the calorifier. The hot water pipes are only rated to 65°C and we had the fitting nearest to the calorifier fail in the way you describe (but not the pipe itself). Which isn't surprising as the water in the calorifier easily reaches 90°C from the engine coolant running through it.

[Klausen]

I have a mixer. The holes were certainly in the pipe.

[Rolf.kristensen]

If it's the blue pipe that is leaking, I would give it a gentle pull from each end that you can get to in order to check that the pipe once disconnected will pull through. If you can move it,  then it's  likely the pipe will pull out from the other end once disconnected. Switch off the pump, cut the pipe if there is no connection nearby, drill through the freshly cut end so that you can attach a pull through cord. With the cord in place pull the blue pipe from the other side where it is accessible, ensuring that your pull through cord is following the pipe under those areas that are otherwise inaccessible. Don't pull all of the cord through ! Attach a new section of pipe to your cord, and pull the new pipe back through the otherwise inaccessible area and couple the pipe back in with some new connector couplings. Check the old pipe to be sure that it was the pipe that was leaking. It could be worthwhile to re-route the new pipe if possible to ensure that it does not chafe and start leaking in a few weeks time..

Thanks for the answer, I gave it a thorough pull and got the pipe free, it was indeed the pipe which was broken. I'm guessing that it got into a tight spot and was squashed between the bathroom floor and the hull.

I'll be replacing the pipe tomorrow when the chandlery opens and hopefully has what I need.

[Salty]

Thanks for the answer, I gave it a thorough pull and got the pipe free, it was indeed the pipe which was broken. I'm guessing that it got into a tight spot and was squashed between the bathroom floor and the hull.

I'll be replacing the pipe tomorrow when the chandlery opens and hopefully has what I need.
[/quote]

Thanks for your reply, and I’m glad you found it helpful.
In regard to the chandlery, you could also try your local plumbers merchant as they will stock plastic pipe and plastic connector fittings.
All the best.

[nightowle]

Do you have enough room around the pipe to put some sort of wrap around it?  This would help with further chaffing issues.  If you look up plumbing pipe wrap you'll see a variety of types that may help.

[Jeffatoms]

We too had a similar problem.  When replacing the blue PEX line and related fittings make sure you replace with Whale 15mm and not 1/2 inch.  They appear to be identical but are not and will fail in short order.

[captain kev]

I hat 3 times leaks  from the tubes,  but every time at the hot water line. There were little holes in it, the diameter of a needle. Therefore I carry sparetubes and connectors with me.

I had this same issue at the hot water line with pin hole leaks.  Can give quite the scare.

[Jeffatoms]

Speaking of PEX failures we were out of port for one hour last Friday for the three day Labor Day weekend when Su said she was going to get a bite to eat.  She went below and shouted back that we had no water pressure and the pump access for in the shower was warm.  She took the helm and I found 55 gallons of topped off water in the bulges.  It was warm which told me the source so I went to the engine room and found the plastic Whale fitting to the back of the shower's hot water fitting had cracked up the middle.  We keep tons of spares and it was a really easy fix with new fittings.

Leson:  plastic whale fittings are only good for 20ish years.