new K-6 Leaking????

I'd be amazed if the ThermoPex is leaking. I used the same stuff to run my setup 125' to the house and unless you backed over it with a D-9 Cat, the stuff is just about bomb-proof. The outer jacket is extremely thick and combined with the foam and pex, it is a solid, unitized and very stiff pipe. Only chance WOULD be a defect in the pex itself prior to having it be foamed inside the outer jacket, but I would think they pressure test each roll after it's assembled and foamed.

Chris

Can I attach pics? Some forums require a certain amount of posts before a member is allowed. thanks bob

Show us your pictures.

Like was said before, this would seem to be a much more significant leak than a pin hole. A real mystery. Do me a huge favor. So many folks come to the forum to enlist the mental energy of the brain trust here and then never report back what the solution or problem was. Regardless of how it turns out, please let us know. It can be helpful to folks down the road.

Coalkirk; I'll gladly keep the members in the loop on this problem. I tried shutting down the stoker for a while and turning off valves to isolate the loop. House side lost pressure as soon as I turned off the pipeline feed with all the other loops closed which i found odd. I'm seemed the stoker keep the 17.5 psi over a hour to 2, so that's good. We still wonder what happened to our "pink" water which is now clear.....Pic of the pump wall

drzbob wrote:House side lost pressure as soon as I turned off the pipeline feed with all the other loops closed which i found odd.

If the house side was isolated from the expansion tank and allowed to cool, the pressure would drop pretty quickly.

Is there a backflow preventer in the domestic water feed to this boiler? Also if you shut off the domestic feed to the boiler, does the pressure in the boiler system drop?

coalkirk; no water feed on the boiler but in the house. The only connections to house are the 2 pex pipes (hot in and cold out) and a power line. No thermostat wire or anything else. And not in the pic ( top side ) but on the right side of pump wall is the water feed with a new backflow preventer. bob

Did you isolate the house by shutting valves in the house or at the boiler?

coalkirk wrote:Is there a backflow preventer in the domestic water feed to this boiler? Also if you shut off the domestic feed to the boiler, does the pressure in the boiler system drop?

drzbob wrote:coalkirk; no water feed on the boiler but in the house. The only connections to house are the 2 pex pipes (hot in and cold out) and a power line. No thermostat wire or anything else. And not in the pic ( top side ) but on the right side of pump wall is the water feed with a new backflow preventer. bob

I believe what *coalkirk* is trying to find out w/ valving off the water feed to the system is, does the pressure go zero and stay zero???
Hence, there is a leak, (or maybe not)...somewhere...because there would be no make-up water available.
This should be the very first mystery that gets solved before moving on.
If a leak was not detected...the search is over...if a leak was detected, then it needs pin-pointed by a process of elimination by various isolating methods.

Hi guys; so after some busy times, I've had the water feed to our system shut off, and after 11 days, low in behold the pressure is stable at 20 lbs......... I'm really happy that we have the stable pressure as I think it says we have no leak.
but I'm still puzzled about the loss of color of the anti-freeze in our pipeline. I guess the air in the lines over the first 2-3 weeks caused the pressure to change so much..... Thanks for your reply's. bob

drzbob wrote:Hi guys; so after some busy times, I've had the water feed to our system shut off, and after 11 days, low in behold the pressure is stable at 20 lbs......... I'm really happy that we have the stable pressure as I think it says we have no leak.
but I'm still puzzled about the loss of color of the anti-freeze in our pipeline. I guess the air in the lines over the first 2-3 weeks caused the pressure to change so much..... Thanks for your reply's. bob

Sounds like a backfeed on the fill line. Say if you are on a well operating at 20 to 40 psig, and the boiler is heated and pressurized to 25 psig, the water could backfeed from the boiler to the well system. This is why backflow preventors are recommended and sometime required by code. Constant filling and back feed could have diluted the antifreeze.

The color is an additive to the antifreeze. I don't know how "colorfast" it is.

Is boiler anti freeze safe to drink What is the difference between boiler and rv anti, I was told rv would be safe but I wouldn't try At work we have a high pressure pump for a dirt and sand washer in a 500 gallon tank. The pressure is 200 psi with a good pump. I asked the old plant super if he would drink the water ? With a funny look he said no, I asked if he was shure he didn't drink it with his coffee. Their was no back flo preventer on it and shure enough he watched the water level drop if the fill ball valve was cracked open. Needless to say there is a flo check on the line now.

The two basic anti-freeze elements used are ethylene glycol and propylene glycol. Ethylene glycol is toxic. It is most used in automotove antifreezes. It is very bad to dump it down the drain.

Propylene glycol is non-toxic. While non-toxic, I would not recommend ingesting it as the stuff for boiler fluids is not as refined or handled with sanitation. Also other chemicals are added for inhibitors and stabilizers.

There is food grade propylene glycol available.

http://www.ehow.com/list_6962663_foods- ... tml#page=0

I used to read it on the ingredient list in some sodas. I don't see it as often anymore due to bad press.

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The color is an additive to the antifreeze. I don't know how "colorfast" it is.[/quote]
I have some anti-freeze at work that we use for boilers and it will loose it's color over time. You can't see it in the water but if you get it on you hands you can "feel it". The color is just food coloring. The only real way to know is to test it with the proper tester.