vigas 40 full of air

[henfruit]

put the air to the system today.found 3 leaks all a at unions 1 iron took a turn seems to be ok. the other 2 are at copper unions they are not responding to a turn? Will have to drain down the air and look at the seats? I hope i dont have to replace them.One side is threaded in place the other is sweat, so we may have to cut them out if needed. i hope not.

 

[in hot water]

copper unions are notorious leakers. Do you really need a union? If so, draindown, open the unions and make sure the alignment is perfect. Teflon paste the faces after you get them dried off and lube around the threads so the nut turns without binding.

If it is a seep or small drip they may take up when the system warms to temperature and they expand.

Usually solder gets between the faces of the halves when you solder them into place. Ideally you would solder the two pieces to the tube, then assemble them after they cool off.

Or my old, copper union fix.... apply solder flux between the faces and around the nut and solder them into an expensive coupling

hr

 

[Sawyer]

I had one leak and the bubbles appeared to be from the threads. I put Loctite 55 on the threads, reconnected the union and the leak was gone.

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

What HR said except you might try an anerobic sealant such as Seals Pipes & a few others. Dry as instructed & apply to faces & threads & let set up. This should seal it positively, although the standard teflon will probably work too. I'm not a boiler man, I've been the route with hot oil leaks on rotary compressors though, Randy

 

[bigburner]

check the seat for solder on it "my guess" if it's clean or needs cleaning -- put it back together - couple wrenches - then dump in a can of boiler liquid - this isn't a stop gap measure it's standard practice in the industry, I have seen brand new section type boilers leak out of the box add some heat and the stop leak and life will be good.

 

[ewdudley]

I've always had success with smearing the faces of problem unions with Permtex pipe dope (the black tarry version) or plain old Permatex form-a-gasket. I'm not claiming it's the best solution, just that it has never not worked for me.

--ewd

 

[henfruit]

I have about 27 psi holding every where else. The unions are set up for the danfoss if i have to remove it for service. Iam going to look at the seats and retighten them and recheck them ,before i put ant thing on them.I will keep you posted.

 

[woodsmaster]

I have about 27 psi holding every where else. The unions are set up for the danfoss if i have to remove it for service. Iam going to look at the seats and retighten them and recheck them ,before i put ant thing on them.I will keep you posted.

You can service the danfoss inline without taking it out by valving it off if I understand correctly.

 

[salecker]

Hi
How high do you plan to test it? I was told to test to 2 1/2 times working pressure Just curios what others are going to?
Thanks Thomas

 

[henfruit]

I do have valves to isolate it. But to remove it i put unions around it. WE opened the leaking unions inspected spread a little pipe dope on the seats.so far so good all is holding, next step is water and gettig things wired up. I think working pressure is 15 psi so at 25 psi ishould be good for testing.

 

[woodsmaster]

I don't have much experience pressure testing, but from my limited experience I've found it will leak at very low pressure like 5 or 10 psi if it's going to leak. and if it don't leak by 10 psi it dont leak at 50 either.